Seattle —Russell Wilson started Thursday’s game, it was the 145th consecutive of his career dating to his rookie season in 2012, the second-longest active streak in the NFL.
Wilson’s hand hit the arm of Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald on what turned out to be an incomplete pass to wide receiver Tyler Lockett on a play that was snapped with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter.
The injury was so severe that Seattle’s quarterback couldn’t compete against his division rival.
Carroll said he couldn’t confirm if his quarterback will miss any games.
“I wouldn’t put any timeline on it right now,” Carroll said, saying it’s something “we’ve got to figure out.”
It ended up with a 26-17 defeat to the Rams on Thursday night at Lumen Field that could end this year’s Super Bowl hopes if Wilson can’t get back under the center.
Matthew Stafford also hurt his hand but seemed fine, throwing for 365 yards and a touchdown for the night.
“It was just a little bit out of place and was able to put it back in and keep going,” Stafford said. “It didn’t affect me too much, to be honest with you.”
“He was trying to figure it out,” Carroll said. “They were working to figure it out and it took a while and then he just could tell it wasn’t right to go back out.”
Wilson had missed plays in only three games during his career due to injury, and none since a game in 2017 at Arizona. He had played every snap of every game since 2018 other than coming out late in a 40-3 blowout against the Jets last year.
Seattle took to a slim 7-3 halftime lead.
“It felt good and it’s a blessing. It’s even better when you can accomplish something like that coming off a divisional win,” Donald said of the record.
Wilson was replaced by backup Geno Smith, who led Seattle to a touchdown and a field goal on his first two possessions with the roar of a crowd chanting his name. Smith led a 98-yard drive, going 5-5 for 72 yards.
As Smith took the field for his second series, the crowd broke into chants of “Ge-no, Ge-no.’”
“The atmosphere was just electric tonight,” Smith said.
The Seahawks got the ball back with 2:09 left on the clock at its own 16-yard line, trailing 23-17, but penalties and lack of execution stalled the drive.
“With all of that, we still had a chance to win the football game,” Carroll said.
The Seahawks had no answers for Los Angeles in the second half as the Rams gained 301 yards.
With the loss, Seattle fell to 2-3 while the Rams improved to 4-1. The Seahawks could be three games back in the division if the 4-0 Cardinals win at home Sunday against the 49ers.
The biggest play came early in the third quarter as Los Angeles faced a third-and-10 at their own 20. Stafford dodged a few defenders and threw deep to wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Safety Jamal Adams was the closest defender but didn’t make the tackle, Jackson would wound up on the 12 yard line.
Carroll said “unfortunately on the big play we didn’t find our way to the ball” and that “I’m not going after any one guy or anything about anything right now.”
Diggs reiterated the same sentiment: “Those are plays we’ve got to have. We can’t have guys third-and-10 and we give up big plays like that. That’s unacceptable.”
Robert Woods had 12 catches for 150 yards which helped the Rams win their second straight in Seattle after last January’s playoff victory over the Seahawks.
“He was big when we were backed up, made some explosive plays,” Stafford said about Woods. “He played great tonight.”
Los Angeles finished the contest with 476 yards of offense, the most they’ve accumulated in their last 20 games since Week 3 vs the Buffalo Bills in 2020 when they had 478.
Smith had a chance to be the hero on the final drive, but his pass was intercepted by defensive back Nick Scott as wide receiver Tyler Lockett tripped coming out of his break. Smith was 10 of 17 for 131 yards in the fourth quarter.
“I really thought we had a chance and I thought we were going to come back and get it done. Unfortunately, we didn’t,” Smith said.
UP NEXT:
Rams: At the New York Giants on Sunday, Oct. 17.
Seahawks: At Pittsburgh on Sunday, Oct. 17.
