A visit from the division rival San Francisco 49ers to CenturyLink Field was just what the doctor ordered for Earl Thomas III and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon.

Seattle (2-1) was dominant on both sides of the ball in a 37-18 rout of the 49ers (1-2). ET III and the defense suffocated the 49ers all afternoon while the offense piled on the points. The Seahawks even it did it through adversity. Quarterback Russell Wilson was forced from the game with a leg injury early in the third quarter, but Seattle stayed composed and came away with an important win.

No. 29 was happy with how the defense played overall, but emphasized that the unit needs to finish stronger. The Hawks were stout on D for three quarters, holding the San Francisco offense to a mere three points the majority of the day until surrendering a couple of late-game scores.

“As a defense we played great. We just want to finish a little bit better,” Earl explained afterward. “The thing that we can take from today is just the finish, we’ve got to grow in that area. I don’t care what the score is, we’ve just got to finish.”

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The Seahawks offense got things going quickly on the opening drive of the game with a three-play series capped off by a 41-yard Christine Michael touchdown run. Earl and the defense did their part to keep the momentum rolling when they forced a three-and-out on the 49ers’ first possession.

Seattle didn’t take its foot off the gas and followed up with a lengthy 14-play scoring drive that chewed nearly eight minutes off the clock. Michael found the end zone for the second time on a four-yard score that gave the Hawks a 14-0 first quarter lead. From there, the Legion of Boom continued to hold the San Francisco offense in check by the Legion of Boom. Despite the big lead early, the Seattle defense kept up its determined play and forced a second consecutive three-and-out to start the game.

Things were going smoothly for the Seahawks until the 11:46 mark of the second quarter when Wilson connected with Jimmy Graham for a nine-yard reception. 49ers linebacker Navorro Bowman was there to create a momentum swing when he knocked the ball loose and recover the fumble at the Seattle 30-yard line. The 49ers capitalized on the field position and scored their first points of the contest on a Phil Dawson 22-yard field goal that made it a 14-3 game. However, the Seahawks responded to their miscue with an electric four-play scoring drive on the ensuing possession to extend their lead.

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Wilson and Doug Baldwin hooked up for a massive 59-yard reception and that was followed closely by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Graham. With eight minutes to play before the half, Seattle led 21-3. The Seahawks were able to tack on another field goal before halftime to extend their lead to 24-3.

“We just executed at a high level,” Baldwin said. “We were able to get our running game going. We really focused on that during the week, because that’s where everything starts. We were able to do that and just feed off of that. Obviously we struggled in the past two games against good defenses. We wanted to come out here and be successful, especially on third down, and we were able to do that today.”

ET III and Co. didn’t let up in the third as they forced another quick three-and-out to open the second half. After consecutive punts from both teams. However, the Seahawks were dealt a blow when Wilson went down with a leg injury with about 10 minutes to go in the quarter. The quarterback went down awkwardly after an Eli Harold sack where it appeared that the linebacker fell on Wilson’s left leg.

The injury forced the Hawks signal caller to miss play for the first time in his career, but he returned to the game and attempted one more pass, which he completed to set up Hauschka’s third field goal. That give Seattle a commanding 27-3 lead.

Wilson didn’t see the field again as the big lead and the injury combined to compel coach Pete carroll to give the ball to rookie Trevone Boykin to finish the game.

Seattle’s D came up big on the next San Francisco series when Bobby Wagner picked off Blaine Gabbert on a ball that deflected off the hands of receiver Quinton Patton.

“It’s just great for us trying to get the ball because we’ve been struggling trying to get the ball and we got our first tip and overthrow today, Bobby was there to get it,” Earl said. “We’ve just got to keep building. They always come in bunches, that saying. So we just need to keep building on this.”

The Hawks first forced turnover of the season set up another Hauschka field goal, this time from 22 yards out to give Seattle a 30-3 edge with 2:32 remaining in the third. Early in the fourth, Boykin, the rookie quarterback from TCU, tossed the first touchdown pass of his career when he found Baldwin for a 16-yard score to make it 37-3 after the extra point was true. With the game already out of reach, Carlos Hyde and the 49ers scored a couple of late touchdowns in the final frame, but Earl and the Seahawks held on to win by a final score of 37-18 against their divisional foes.

“I know our guys are upset because that’s not the way they want to finish a game. But we have a really good-looking defense and they’re playing terrific ball together,” Coach Pete Carrol explained. “You can ride a long way on those guys.”

NEXT UP

Earl and the Seahawks will aim to register their first road win of the season when they head across the country to take on the New York Jets next Sunday at MetLife Stadium, site of Seattle’s Super Bowl XLVIII triumph.

The Jets (1-2) enter Sunday’s contest off a dreadful performance on offense against the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday that will have Earl and the LOB licking their chops to get back on the field. New York quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was intercepted six times in the team’s loss to Kansas City. The Jets offense is headlined by a talented group of wide receivers, including veterans Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, so the LOB will still have their hands full keeping New York in check.

Sunday’s game will kick off at 10 a.m. PT from MetLife Stadium and will be aired on FOX.