Improbable comeback returns Seahawks to Super Bowl

SEATTLE — Silencing doubters fuels the Seattle Seahawks.

But few gave Seattle much chance as the clock ticked toward the end of Sunday’s NFC Championship against Green Bay.

Trailing by 12 points with less than three minutes to play, the Seahawks mounted one of the most improbable comebacks in NFL playoff history.

Somehow, the Seahawks beat the Packers 28-22 in overtime to advance to Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz. Seattle will defend its NFL crown Feb. 1 against New England.

When Russell Wilson hit Jermaine Kearse for a 35-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of overtime, it sent the 12th Man into a frenzy.

Or should it be the 11.5 Man, as even some Seattle fans left CenturyLink Field early.

“This game was indicative of our season,” Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin said. “Being down 16-0 in the first half was like when we were 3-3. Everybody doubted us.”

The 16-point deficit was the largest overcome in championship game history. Therefore, there aren’t many game plans to pull it off.

But Seattle’s went something like this:

First, jumpstart a dormant offense with a 19-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal. Punter Jon Ryan rolled to his left before lobbing a pass to seldom-used Gary Gilliam, a rookie who hadn’t caught a pass since playing tight end at Penn State.

Then score on a 1-yard Wilson touchdown run with 2:09 left to pull within 19-14.

Next, recover an onside kick. Never mind Seattle hadn’t successfully done that since 2009 and hadn’t tried one since 2012. Seahawks receiver Chris Matthews grabbed the loose ball after it bounced off Green Bay’s Brandon Bostick.

Then, cover 50 yards in four plays with a 24-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch giving Seattle its first lead. Just for good measure, tight end Luke Willson grabbed a jump ball on a two-point conversion to give the Seahawks a 22-19 lead.

Just like the Seahawks drew it up, right?

Not exactly. Scoring 15 points in 44 seconds left Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers 1:19 on the clock. The MVP favorite used six plays to cover 48 yards and set up Mason Crosby’s 48-yard field goal to force overtime.

Green Bay never got another shot. Facing third-and-7, Wilson lobbed a pass to Baldwin for 35 yards.

One play later, it was over. Wilson hit Kearse on a streak route over the middle. With Packers defender Tramon Williams on his back, Kearse caught his only pass of the game.

Earlier, two passes that slipped through Kearse’s hands had ended up as interceptions.

“I’m just thankful for my teammates who stuck by my side when things were down,” Kearse said. “Positivity, we always preach it, goes a long way. Life is not always going to be perfect. There’s going to be lots of ups and downs. But the real test is how you respond to that adversity.”

Though many others did on Sunday, Wilson never doubted his teammates. He never questioned himself despite a career high four interceptions Sunday.

“I’ve been around a lot of sports, but the character of this team is unmatchable,” Wilson said. “The ball didn’t bounce our way the whole day, but it bounced our way at the right time. If I’m going to go down, I’m going down swinging.”

Most of the game followed a familiar script for the Seahawks, but in reverse.

It was Green Bay whose defense dominated. Seattle didn’t have a first down until the second quarter was more than halfway over. Wilson didn’t complete a pass until 3:58 before halftime.

But despite four first-half turnovers, Seattle stayed in the game thanks to its defense. Twice, Green Bay settled for field goals from inside the 2-yard line. Richard Sherman prevented another touchdown by intercepting Rodgers in the end zone on the game’s first drive.

Earl Thomas described the halftime locker room as “chippy” and “aggressive.”

“The coaches did a good job of calming everyone down,” he said. “That’s human nature to be upset, especially with the young guys who have never been in this situation. But we never lost faith.”

The Seahawks say they thrive on doubters. But after a rally that will go down as one of the best in NFL postseason history, doubters are becoming few and far between.

SEAHAWKS 28, PACKERS 22 (OT)

Green Bay 13 3 0 6 0 –22

Seattle 0 0 7 15 6 –28

First Quarter

GB–FG Crosby 18, 8:07. Drive: 5 plays, 18 yards, 2:21. Key Plays: Clinton-Dix 26 interception return to Seattle 4; A.Rodgers 12 pass to R.Rodgers. Green Bay 3, Seattle 0.

GB–FG Crosby 19, 5:07. Drive: 6 plays, 22 yards, 2:54. Key Play: Burnett fumble recovery (Baldwin). Green Bay 6, Seattle 0.

GB–Cobb 13 pass from A.Rodgers (Crosby kick), :00. Drive: 7 plays, 56 yards, 3:39. Key Plays: A.Rodgers 15 pass to Nelson; Kuhn 3 run on 3rd-and-1; A.Rodgers 11 pass to R.Rodgers. Green Bay 13, Seattle 0.

Second Quarter

GB–FG Crosby 40, 9:37. Drive: 6 plays, 11 yards, 3:41. Key Plays: Hyde 29 punt return to Seattle 33; Avril 5-yard illegal use of hands penalty on 3rd-and-13. Green Bay 16, Seattle 0.

Third Quarter

Sea–Gilliam 19 pass from Ryan (Hauschka kick), 4:44. Drive: 11 plays, 78 yards, 6:09. Key Plays: Lynch 11 run; Lynch 12 run; Lynch 11 run; Wilson 29 pass to Baldwin on 3rd-and-19. Green Bay 16, Seattle 7.

Fourth Quarter

GB–FG Crosby 48, 10:53. Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 5:02. Key Plays: Starks 32 run; A.Rodgers 7 pass to R.Rodgers on 3rd-and-7. Green Bay 19, Seattle 7.

Sea–Wilson 1 run (Hauschka kick), 2:09. Drive: 7 plays, 69 yards, 1:43. Key Plays: Lynch 14 run; Wilson 20 pass to Baldwin; Wilson 26 pass to Lynch. Green Bay 19, Seattle 14.

Sea–Lynch 24 run (Willson pass from Wilson), 1:25. Drive: 4 plays, 50 yards, 0:44. Key Plays: Matthews -1 onside kick recovery returned to Seattle 47; Wilson 15 run. Seattle 22, Green Bay 19.

GB–FG Crosby 48, :14. Drive: 7 plays, 48 yards, 1:11. Key Plays: A.Rodgers 15 pass to Nelson; A.Rodgers 15 pass to Cobb; A.Rodgers 12 run. Green Bay 22, Seattle 22.

Overtime

Sea–Kearse 35 pass from Wilson, 11:41. Drive: 6 plays, 87 yards, 3:19. Key Plays: Wilson 10 pass to Baldwin; Wilson 35 pass to Baldwin on 3rd-and-7. Seattle 28, Green Bay 22.

A–68,538.

GB Sea

FIRST DOWNS 19 20

Rushing 6 10

Passing 11 10

Penalty 2 0

THIRD DOWN EFF 3-14 8-16

FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 1-1

TOTAL NET YARDS 306 397

Total Plays 65 70

Avg Gain 4.7 5.7

NET YARDS RUSHING 135 194

Rushes 30 35

Avg per rush 4.5 5.5

NET YARDS PASSING 171 203

Sacked-Yds lost 1-7 5-25

Gross-Yds passing 178 228

Completed-Att. 19-34 15-30

Had Intercepted 2 4

Yards-Pass Play 4.9 5.8

KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 8-7-4 4-2-2

PUNTS-Avg. 5-39.4 5-42.4

Punts blocked 0 0

FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0

TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 115 84

Punt Returns 3-40 3-21

Kickoff Returns 1-18 4-58

Interceptions 4-57 2-5

PENALTIES-Yds 5-45 8-40

FUMBLES-Lost 1-0 2-1

TIME OF POSSESSION 32:15 31:04

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Green Bay, Lacy 21-73, Starks 5-44, A.Rodgers 1-12, Kuhn 2-3, Cobb 1-3. Seattle, Lynch 25-157, Wilson 7-25, Turbin 2-8, Lockette 1-4.

PASSING–Green Bay, A.Rodgers 19-34-2-178. Seattle, Wilson 14-29-4-209, Ryan 1-1-0-19.

RECEIVING–Green Bay, Cobb 7-62, Nelson 5-71, R.Rodgers 4-35, D.Adams 1-7, Kuhn 1-3, Starks 1-0. Seattle, Baldwin 6-106, Lockette 2-25, Willson 2-11, Kearse 1-35, Lynch 1-26, Gilliam 1-19, Tukuafu 1-8, Turbin 1-(minus 2).

PUNT RETURNS–Green Bay, Hyde 3-40. Seattle, Walters 3-21.

KICKOFF RETURNS–Green Bay, Hyde 1-18. Seattle, Baldwin 3-58, Jeanpierre 1-0.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS–Green Bay, Burnett 8-2-2, Matthews 5-1-1, Barrington 3-5-0, Clinton-Dix 3-2-0, Hayward 3-0-0, Guion 2-2-0 1/2 , Perry 2-2-0, Williams 2-2-0, Shields 2-0-0, Peppers 1-4-1 1/2 , Banjo 1-1-0, Bush 1-0-0, Cobb 1-0-0, Elliott 1-0-0, Hyde 1-0-0, B.Jones 1-0-0, Daniels 0-3-0, House 0-2-0, D.Jones 0-2-0, Neal 0-2-0, Bostick 0-1-0, Boyd 0-1-0, Hawk 0-1-0, Richardson 0-1-0. Seattle, Lane 5-2-0, Maxwell 5-1-0, Wright 4-2-0, Chancellor 4-1-0, Thomas 4-1-0, Sherman 3-1-0, K.Williams 3-1-0, Avril 3-0-1, Wagner 2-8-0, Bennett 2-1-0, Irvin 1-1-0, Baldwin 1-0-0, Dobbs 1-0-0, Kearse 1-0-0, Lockette 1-0-0, Sweezy 1-0-0, McDaniel 0-4-0, Schofield 0-2-0, M.Smith 0-2-0, Coyle 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS–Green Bay, Clinton-Dix 2-53, Burnett 1-4, Shields 1-0. Seattle, Maxwell 1-5, Sherman 1-0.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.

OFFICIALS–Referee Tony Corrente, Ump Dan Ferrell, HL Kent Payne, LJ Carl Johnson, FJ Jon Lucivansky, SJ Rob Vernatchi, BJ Dino Paganelli, Replay Paul Weidner.

Time: 3:24.