National Football League

Russell Wilson's five interceptions are a new career worst

Published Dec. 14, 2016 8:38 a.m. ET

Dan Graf

It took Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson only 2 ½ quarters Sunday to do something he’d never done in the regular season before: throw four interceptions in a game. He then added a fifth in the final period of a 38-10 loss, topping even the career high he had set in the playoffs.

In fact, before he threw his fourth of the day Sunday – a pass that should have been caught but instead ended up ricocheting off Doug Baldwin and into the hands of Green Bay Packers cornerback Damarious Randall – Wilson had thrown three interceptions during the regular season only one time, during the fourth game of his career back in 2012.

It was the second of Wilson’s five picks that came off a deflection. In the first half, Quinten Rollins stopped Seattle’s trip into the red zone on another tip.

Even Wilson's fifth interception -- to Micah Hyde with 6 minutes left in the game -- was tipped by his receiver.

Before Sunday, Wilson had never thrown even four picks in 76 regular-season games, but Seahawks and Packers fans may remember that he once was intercepted four times in a playoff game – the NFC Championship two years ago against Green Bay.

In that game, the Packers squandered a 16-7 lead with three minutes left and ended up losing in overtime. Given that Wilson’s four picks spotted Green Bay a 28-3 lead Sunday, there was little chance of a replay of that finish.