National Football League

Seattle holds off Baltimore for 22-17 victory

Published Nov. 14, 2011 6:34 a.m. ET

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Even during Seattle's most crucial drive, Marshawn Lynch was busy joking with his teammates in the huddle about making sure his Skittles were waiting for him on the sideline.

Lynch earned his treat after the thumping he took and handed out Sunday against Baltimore.

''The man walks aggressively. Everything about him is moving forward aggressively and trying to gain yards. You've got to love that,'' Seattle fullback Michael Robinson said.

Lynch finished with 109 yards rushing and Seattle's lone touchdown, Steven Hauschka matched a franchise record with five field goals, and the Seahawks forced three turnovers in a 22-17 win over the Ravens.

Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak and picked up a second surprising win over a division leader after beating the New York Giants last month. And they added yet another flop to Baltimore's resume that already included slip-ups earlier this season at Tennessee and at Jacksonville, all three losses coming after important wins for the Ravens (6-3).

Lynch was at his best in the closing minutes when Seattle finished off the game in control of the ball, a perfect punctuation to a game the Seahawks mostly controlled. Seattle ate up the final 5:52 of the game, never giving Baltimore one last chance after Joe Flacco's 11-yard touchdown pass to Ed Dickson pulled the Ravens within five.

The Seahawks final drive ate up the final 5:52, advancing 62 yards and picking up four first downs before Tarvaris Jackson closed out the win by taking a knee. On the last possession, Lynch touched the ball on eight of the 12 plays. Seven of those were runs for 32 yards and he caught a crucial 8-yard pass on third-and-5 at the Baltimore 46 with 3:10 remaining.

But it wasn't a simple catch. Lynch added to his career highlight reel. He caught the pass three yards short of the first down, faked out Ravens linebackers Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson so bad they were left grasping at air, and scampered ahead for the needed yardage.

''All he was talking about the middle of that last drive was somebody give him some Skittles,'' Robinson said. ''That's the type of guy he is. He's a fun guy and I love blocking for him.''

Hauschka kicked field goals of 22, 38, 39, 35 and 30 yards. Jackson was 17 of 27 for 217 yards and Lynch had another five receptions and 58 yards receiving. He became the first Seattle running back to record consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Julius Jones early in the 2008 season, following up on his 135 yards rushing last week against Dallas. Lynch carried a career-best 32 times, and most of those equaled short gains, but the types of yards Seattle needed against Baltimore's defense.

That proved to be enough thanks to Seattle's stout defense and special teams mistakes by the Ravens. David Reed fumbled twice on kickoff returns, leading to six points for Seattle. Flacco's lone interception was returned by David Hawthorne inside the Ravens 10 and eventually led to another field goal from Hauschka. Along with Reed's two fumbles, Billy Cundiff missed field-goal attempts of 52 and 50 yards in the first half.

Flacco was 29 of 52 for 255 yards, the 52 attempts for Flacco setting a new career-high. Ray Rice, who was visibly upset after the Ravens had to settle for a 35-yard field goal late in the third quarter, had five carries for 27 yards and the Ravens had eight total carries by their running backs. Rice did catch eight passes for 54 yards, but receivers Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin had five combined catches.

Carroll said he hoped Baltimore would abandon the run and try to throw its way past the Seahawks.

''I was kind of hoping that it would go like this, where they wouldn't feature (the run) as much so they wouldn't be balanced out,'' Carroll said. ''We got up enough at halftime they decided they were going to throw.''

The loss left the Ravens trying to explain a third flop this season against a losing team, this one coming a week after staking claim to the lead of the AFC North with a thrilling last-minute win at Pittsburgh.

After routing Pittsburgh in their opener, the Ravens were dominated in a loss at Tennessee. Just a few weeks ago, after an impressive win over AFC South-leading Houston, the Ravens were beaten by Jacksonville.

These moments have been rare since John Harbaugh took over in 2008, but three of them have popped up this season.

''There's the hard way and there is the easy way and there is the way we do it. It's like, let's see how much we can spot them before we come back and win the game,'' Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs said. ''We can't do that in this league.''

Dickson had a career-high 10 catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns for the Ravens, including a 1-yard TD pass from Rice in the second quarter. But Seattle's secondary locked up the Ravens' receivers and played as well as Baltimore's more lauded defense.

''"It felt great. Especially when you've got big names out there. I'm just excited,'' Seattle safety Earl Thomas said. ''I feel like our defense played well. We were the best defense out there today and it showed and we got the W.''

NOTES: Seattle lost G John Moffitt (knee), WRs Sidney Rice (concussion) and Doug Baldwin (concussion), DB Atari Bigby (hamstring), DE Anthony Hargrove (hamstring) and SS Kam Chancellor (concussion) during the game. None returned. ... Baltimore gave up just one sack of Flacco despite 52 pass attempts. ... Seattle and Baltimore are tied 2-2 all-time.

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Follow Tim Booth on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth

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