Best Seahawks performances of 2015: Russell Wilson throws 5 TDs against Steelers

Headed into their Week 12 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Seattle Seahawks were 5-5 and desperate for a win. They had been struggling to score for most of the season up until that point, and going against a Steelers offense considered perhaps the best in the NFL, it seemed unlikely that they would win in a shootout; But little did we know at that point that Russell Wilson was just getting ready to exercise his second amendment rights.

Playing at home, the Seahawks fell behind 10-7, 18-14, and trailed 21-14 midway through the third quarter. At that point, Wilson had thrown "only" two touchdowns, one to Doug Baldwin and one to Jermaine Kearse. Following a Richard Sherman interception early in the fourth quarter, Wilson hit Kearse again for a nine-yard score to take a 26-21 lead with a failed two-point conversion. Just :30 seconds of game clock later though, Ben Roethlisberger found Markus Wheaton for his favorite amount of yardage -- 69 -- and Pittsburgh went back up 27-26.

The Seattle team we had become accustomed to watching all season would not have seemed equip to mount a comeback win against the Steelers potent offense, but this was not the Wilson we had become accustomed to seeing through an already brilliant career. Wilson wasted no time in finding Baldwin for a 30-yard touchdown, then after a Chris Boswell field goal made it 32-30, Wilson and Baldwin came out with a dagger: An 80-yard catch-and-run that sealed the 39-30 win and sent the Seahawks back above .500.

Wilson finished the game with five touchdowns, no interceptions on 21-of-30 passing with 345 yards. It was a season-high in yards per attempt, adjusted yards per attempt, yards and passer rating. Two weeks later, Wilson had five touchdowns and no interceptions again against the Baltimore Ravens.

Overall, Wilson had 24 touchdowns and one interception over the final seven games of the year with a rating of 132.8. It's the highest passer rating ever by a QB over his team's 10th to 16th game of the season. The 24 touchdowns are the second-most ever over that span, bested only by Drew Brees, who had 25 touchdowns and three interceptions over the Saints final seven games of 2011.

Wilson had a lot of incredible games in 2015, but his performance against the Steelers wasn't only his best statistical performance of the season, but he carried the team in a really difficult game that they absolutely had to win. There were also a few more opportunities for scores that didn't quite come to fruition for whatever reason, and he lost Jimmy Graham midway through the game.

You can watch the highlights here. Sorry, the NFL YouTube page doesn't let me embed.