Packers wouldn’t let Seahawks run out the clock, so Seattle scored on them instead

With 53 seconds left in the first half, the Seahawks got the ball on their own 11-yard line and dialed up a run, content to run out the clock and head to the locker room. The Packers, armed with only two timeouts and no real way to bully their opponent into a three-and-out punt, stopped the clock anyway.

One C.J. Prosise run later, they did it again, stopping the clock with 43 seconds to play. At this point, any play longer than three seconds would effectively have given the Seahawks the opportunity to close out the half without giving the ball back to their opponent — the only opportunity this realistically created was for Seattle.

And that’s when the Seahawks made the Packers pay.

Russell Wilson took advantage of the Packers’ curious time management, using the extra time granted to rumble deep into Green Bay territory. He gained 34 yards on a deep strike to Doug Baldwin down the right sideline, then compounded that damage with a 29-yard scramble into the red zone.

The Seahawks, with two timeouts in their pocket, had enough time to properly game plan for their newfound offensive success, though it would all be for naught. The Seahawks threw a pair of incomplete passes before calling on Blair Walsh to kick a 33-yard field goal as the clock ran out.

Those points were the only ones scored in a defense-dominated first half in Wisconsin.