SEATTLE -- Quarterback Russell Wilson did what he had to do to make sure the Seattle Seahawks didn't blow a fourth-quarter lead for the sixth time this season.
It wasn't easy.
Wilson threw a career-high five touchdown passes, including two to Doug Baldwin in the final 8:12, and the Seahawks held on for a 39-30 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson threw three touchdowns to Baldwin, including an 80-yard catch-and-run score with 2:01 left after Pittsburgh had trimmed Seattle's lead to 32-30.
"That was a lot of fun," Wilson said. "It can't get any more fun."
Baldwin caught a crossing route on third-and-10 at the 20, broke two tackles and raced for the clinching score. Baldwin also had a 16-yard TD catch in the first half and caught a 30-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter after Pittsburgh had taken a 27-26 lead.
Seattle held a fourth-quarter lead at some point in all five of its losses this season.
But Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor came up with interceptions for the Seahawks (6-5) to complement the touchdown catches of Jermaine Kearse and Baldwin.
Rookie Tyler Lockett received praise for his hustle downfield to block on Baldwin's late TD that gave Seattle a nine-point lead.
Wilson stood out, completing 21 of 30 passing for 345 yards, Wilson's most in a regular-season game, topped only by a playoff performance at Atlanta in his rookie season.
He finished with a 147.9 passer rating and was 7 of 9 for 164 yards and 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Wilson, who turned 27 Sunday, awoke at the team hotel feeling ill and needed three IVs to make it through game.
Wilson's performance helped push Seattle above the .500 mark for the first time this season and keeping the Seahawks in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt.
"It's kind of an unorthodox way to play and win the football game, but that's what we had to do today," Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said.
It was the first time in Wilson's career that the Seahawks won when the opponent scored more than 24 points, and the Seahawks needed every point with how Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger picked apart Seattle's defense.
Roethlisberger threw for 456 yards, the most ever against the Seahawks, topping the 455 of Philip Rivers in 2010. But that wasn't enough for Pittsburgh (6-5), which had its two-game win streak snapped.
Roethlisberger was pulled with 2 minutes left and taken to the locker room for concussion protocol. Coach Mike Tomlin provided no update after the game.
Roethlisberger was intercepted twice, including Sherman's first of the season, and Landry Jones' attempt at a late rally ended on Chancellor's intercepted at the Seattle 6 with 1:37 left.
Antonio Brown was hounded by Sherman most of the game so Markus Wheaton became the beneficiary with nine catches for 201 yards, becoming the second wide receiver to top 200 yards receiving against the Seahawks.
Brown finished with six catches for 51 yards, but the Steelers couldn't overcome four turnovers.
"We were going to take what they gave us," Tomlin said. "Obviously we had some success throwing the football."
The downside for Seattle was the loss of tight end Jimmy Graham for the season to a patellar tendon injury in his right knee that will require surgery.
Graham landed awkwardly as he attempted to reach behind him and catch a pass from Wilson in the end zone early in the fourth quarter. Graham immediately signaled for trainers and was in significant discomfort on the ground. Trainers placed an air cast on Graham's right leg and he was taken off the field on a cart.
But Seattle's offense didn't miss a beat. Wilson hit on his final six pass attempts of the game, three of them for touchdowns.
"It's about finishing the game and we did that today," Kearse said.
Sports on 11/30/2015