SEATTLE, Wash. — Russell Wilson's 15-yard touchdown catch that came on a Doug Baldwin-thrown ball in the Seahawks' 26-15 Week 11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles was the first ever for a Seattle quarterback, and by Wilson's estimation, the trick-play was one the Seahawks have been trying to call "for the past four or five years."
"We've called it several times and it wasn't the right look," said Wilson, who finished Sunday's game 18-of-31 for 272 yards and two total touchdowns, one throwing and one receiving. "But fortunately we got the right look today."
The right look came with Seattle's offense facing 1st-and-10 from the Philadelphia 15-yard-line with less than eight minutes to play in the third quarter. Wilson took a shotgun snap and faked a handoff to running back Thomas Rawls before pitching the football back to Baldwin, who started lined up to Wilson's left but came reversing across the backfield once the play began. Baldwin took the football and took several steps to his right before coming face to face with a Philadelphia defender and tossing the ball back across his body to Wilson, who had released up the left sideline toward the end zone. Wilson made the grab and dove to extend the football over the goal line to put the Seahawks up 23-7 after a successful extra point from kicker Steven Hauschka.
"I was talking to [Baldwin] about, 'You know, we can switch jobs if you want. It may not be pretty, but we can switch jobs,'" Wilson recalled of his sideline exchange with No. 89. "Obviously it was a great play by him, great throw. He got some heat over there on the right side and he still made a great throw. A good call by coach [Darrell] Bevell. We executed it well there."
Said head coach Pete Carroll: "It's a good call by Bev, good orchestration. It was beautifully done and a great throw, really. The throw makes it. Russell almost fumbled that ball, almost lost it, but he got in there. So we'll call it a good finish on the touchdown."
For Wilson, who caught a similar-looking score in college at Wisconsin, it was his third-career reception in the NFL, a number that moves him into second place all-time by a Seahawks quarterback behind Seneca Wallace's four career catches. The grab also represented just the fourth receiving score by a quarterback across the entire NFL since 2008.
"That's big time for us as a unit, to have records like that continuously go down is phenomenal," Baldwin said. "I'm glad I was able to be the one who threw it."
On Baldwin's end, the play signified the first time the 28-year-old wideout has ever thrown a pass in a football game, and after finishing with four catches for 104 yards against the Eagles, he becomes the first player with 100-plus receiving yards and a passing touchdown in the same game since 2008, when Mark Clayton did it for Baltimore.
"I'm a selfish player, so in that moment I want the ball thrown to me. I don't want to be throwing the ball to Russ," Baldwin joked. "Nah, it was fun, man. I've been begging for that play for the past two or three weeks and they doubted my arm ability. They doubted that I could make the throw. I'm glad I got to prove them wrong."
As for Baldwin's evaluation of his first-career throw?
"It was on point. You saw it. Perfect spiral, drop it in the bucket on the money," he said with a smile. "Honestly, I just kind of chucked it up there. Russell made it look pretty."
Added longtime friend and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman: "It felt like Friday Night Lights when they were talking about Boobie Miles, 'And he can throw!' Nah, it was awesome, man. We were having fun. We practiced it, we executed it in practice. He's a gamer, so he's going to be clutch in the moments he needs to be clutch."
The on-the-money throw means Baldwin now owns a perfect career passer rating of 158.3, but don't expect him to be vying for the team's emergency quarterback job anytime soon.
"We're not throwing any more ever again," Baldwin said. "I'll retire it there."
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Check out some actions photos from Week 11 vs the Eagles at CenturyLink Field.