SEATTLE — Russell Wilson threw for 243 yards and a touchdown before suffering a left knee injury as the Seattle Seahawks rolled to a 37-18 rout of the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Wilson was injured with about 10 minutes to go in the third quarter getting pulled down awkwardly on a sack by San Francisco’s Eli Harold. Harold was called for a horse collar penalty, but the bigger concern was how he fell on Wilson’s left leg.
Wilson stayed down on the field for a few moments before walking off. Wilson missed the first play of his career due to injury, but returned to throw one more pass. The completion led to the third of Steven Hauschka’s three field goals for a 27-3 lead and after that Wilson’s day was done.
Wilson had a brace placed on his left knee, and he never saw the field again, giving the final 1 ½ quarters of the blowout to rookie Trevone Boykin.
Wilson finished 15 of 23 passing, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jimmy Graham. Boykin also threw the first TD pass of his career, hitting Doug Baldwin on a 16-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Baldwin had eight catches for a career-high 164 yards.
It was a big day for Seattle’s offense that slogged through the first two weeks, scoring just 15 points in the first 120 minutes of the season. The Seahawks nearly matched that total in the first 11 minutes of the game thanks to the first two touchdowns of Christine Michael’s career.
Getting the start with Thomas Rawls out because of a shin injury, Michael had TD runs of 41 and 4 yards on Seattle’s first two drives. Michael rushed for 106 yards on 20 carries, the second 100-yard game of his career.
Carlos Hyde two TD runs in the fourth quarter for San Francisco, but the 49ers had just five first downs entering the fourth quarter and missed on their first 10 third-down attempts. Blaine Gabbert’s streak of 12 straight games with a touchdown pass ended as he was 14 of 25 for 119 yards and an interception.
The knee injury for Wilson comes on top of the Seattle quarterback suffering a sprained right ankle in the opener against Miami . Wilson never missed a snap against the Dolphins and played the entire game last week against Los Angeles, although his mobility was limited. Wilson appeared to have better movement on Sunday, but had only one official run for 3 yards.
Seattle may have not wanted a bye in Week 5 but it could end up being critical for the health of its quarterback.
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