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Seattle • As the noise grew, coach Pete Carroll looked up through the rain at the deafening home crowd fueling the blowout his Seattle Seahawks were putting together on the field.
After three seasons of breaking down and reconstructing the Seahawks roster, Carroll doesn't have a team that is just going to the postseason. His club reinforced the notion that no one in the NFC wants to see Seattle when the playoffs begin, even as a wild card.
"That crowd was crazy. They were great," Carroll said Sunday night. "And I'm so thrilled we were able to share it with them. They deserve a playoff team and they got it."
Russell Wilson threw a career-high four touchdown passes to move into second place for most TD passes by a rookie. Marshawn Lynch scored two first-quarter TDs, and the Seahawks routed the San Francisco 49ers 42-13.
Seattle will likely be the No. 5 seed in the NFC. There remains a slight chance of winning the NFC West, if the Seahawks beat St. Louis in the season finale and Arizona can upset the 49ers in San Francisco.
San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick had already proven himself capable of winning on the road. But Seattle is a different beast, widely regarded by players as the loudest venue in the NFL. His inexperience playing in such an environment showed. He was flustered and disorganized at the line of scrimmage, letting the noise from Seattle's fans affect him. He finished 19-for-36 for 244 yards and a late TD pass.
"I think we could have done better," Harbaugh said. "I don't think there was any part that we can really feel good about right now." Seahawks 42, 49ers 13
San Francisco 0 6 0 7 — 13
Seattle 14 14 7 7 — 42
First Quarter
Sea • Lynch 24 run (Hauschka kick), 13:48.
Sea • Lynch 9 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), 4:26.
Second Quarter
Sea • Sherman 90 blocked field goal return (Hauschka kick), 14:05.
SF • FG Akers 33, 10:19.
Sea • McCoy 6 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), 1:58.
SF • FG Akers 54, :31.
Third Quarter
Sea • Baldwin 4 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), 3:22.
Fourth Quarter
Sea • Baldwin 6 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), 7:02.
SF • Walker 18 pass from Kaepernick (Akers kick), 1:40.
Attendance • 68,161.
SF Sea
First downs 17 22
Total Net Yards 313 346
Rushes-yards 19-82 39-176
Passing 231 170
Punt Returns 0-0 2-17
Kickoff Returns 7-176 2-63
Interceptions Ret. 1-2 1-0
Comp-Att-Int 19-36-1 15-22-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-13 1-1
Punts 3-51.7 1-41.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-58 4-45
Time of Possession 24:51 35:09
Individual Statistics
Rushing • San Francisco, Kaepernick 7-31, Gore 6-28, James 4-15, Dixon 2-8. Seattle, Lynch 26-111, Turbin 3-38, Wilson 6-29, Robinson 1-1, Flynn 3-(minus 3).
Passing • San Francisco, Kaepernick 19-36-1-244. Seattle, Wilson 15-21-1-171, Rice 0-1-0-0.
Receiving • San Francisco, Crabtree 4-65, Walker 4-54, Moss 3-44, Celek 2-41, James 2-14, Miller 2-(minus 1), V.Davis 1-27, Manningham 1-0. Seattle, Baldwin 4-53, Tate 2-27, Turbin 2-20, Lynch 2-19, Miller 2-15, Kearse 1-17, Rice 1-14, McCoy 1-6.
Missed Field Goals • San Francisco, Akers 21 (BK).