Seahawks rally, then hold on to defeat Falcons 26-24

SEATTLE – In the Seattle Seahawks locker room where they dress at adjacent stalls, quarterback Russell Wilson shared an improvised proverb with placekicker Steven Hauschka.

“Without rain,” Wilson told his recently redeemed teammate, “there’s no harvest.”

The harvest had just been completed – the Seahawks pulling out a wild 26-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons on a Hauschka field goal of 44 yards with just under two minutes remaining after an exhibition of whipsaw momentum.

But, man, did a hard rain fall – metaphorically, though some of the real stuff came down, too.

Having performed superbly in running up a 17-3 halftime lead and making the NFL’s most potent offense go “pfft,” the Seahawks (4-1) suddenly misplaced their defensive identity and surrendered three third-quarter touchdown passes to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan – and the lead.

Giving Wilson and the offense a rare opportunity to bail them out.

But even that took three cracks.

As the fourth quarter opened, the Seahawks drove down the field – even pulling out a cutesy flea-flicker – only to have the usually reliable Hauschka hook a chip-shot 29-yard field goal left. When the defense actually pulled off a three-and-out, Wilson tried again – and got the Seahawks into the end zone, only to see Hauschka’s tying PAT blocked.

Desperate for a turnover, the battered defense – missing safety Kam Chancellor (groin injury), Frank Clark (hamstring) and, since the third quarter, Michael Bennett (knee) – came up with one.

Not content with nursing the one-point lead, Ryan fired a slant pass at favorite target Julio Jones that bounced off his hands, then off the hand of Richard Sherman and into the cradle of Seahawks safety Earl Thomas.

“It was one of those ‘Angels in the Outfield’ type plays,” Thomas said, “where you didn’t see the angel, but the ball popped right into my hands.”

It also cast some doubt on Atlanta’s aggressiveness in that situation.

“It wasn’t a time we were going to run it and punt away and have Russ and that crew go again,” said Atlanta coach Dan Quinn, Seattle’s former defensive coordinator, whose team is now 4-2. “We’re going to win the game.”

Seattle needed one more miracle to get it into field-goal range, and got it when Wilson vaporized under the closing rush of Deion Jones and Kemal Ishmael and found backup running back Alex Collins for the last third-down conversion the Seahawks would need before Hauschka’s game-winner.

“I had to pick up a blitz and I felt the flow of the guys,” said Collins, who earlier scored his first NFL touchdown, “so in my mind I knew Russell had to scramble out. I just tried to be available.”

The Falcons had 1:57 to work with, but by this point the Seahawks defense had found itself again, and Thomas, DeShawn Shead and, finally, Sherman made pass breakups to seal the win – though the Falcons screamed hard for pass interference on Sherman’s tangle with Jones.

“Before I took off, he grabbed my right side and spun me around before I jumped,” said Jones. “It was just a missed call.”

Long before the late drama and controversy, there was just dominance.

The first dose was administered by the Seahawks, who held the NFL’s No. 1 offense to just 86 first-half yards. A strip sack by Cliff Avril deep in Atlanta territory set up Christine Michael’s 9-yard run for the first touchdown; Collins got his in the second quarter after another Wilson escape-and-throw to C.J. Spiller.

But the Falcons recovered their rhythm after halftime, taking advantage of two unsightly coverage breakdowns in the Seahawks secondary for two of their scores – a 36-yarder to Jones and a 46-yarder to Levine Tollolo. The first of those sent Sherman into a rage at his coaches and teammates.

“I think there was some impact,” coach Pete Carroll said of the sideline drama. “Guys were upset. We had to get through it, and we did.”

Those theatrics managed to overshadow some solid performances – tight end Jimmy Graham’s six catches, a 270-yard passing day by Wilson and spectacular defense by Thomas, Avril and Bennett, whose day ended on Atlanta’s tying touchdown on a cut block by tackle Jake Matthews.

“He just dove at my knee,” Bennett said. “If you’re big and in the NFL, you line up and play – why you got to cut somebody?”

Bennett said he should be ready to play next week. Tight end Luke Willson also suffered a knee injury of unknown severity.