Russell Wilson has 15 game-winning drives since he came into the league in 2012.

But he has none this year -- having come up short in overtime games in St. Louis and Cincinnati. He had been 4-0 in overtime games before those tough losses.

So, what has happened to Wilson's comeback magic?

We know how the 34-31 loss to the Rams game ended: Marshawn Lynch was stopped on fourth-and-1 in OT. No comeback there.

But why couldn't the Seahawks beat the Bengals? After taking a 24-7 lead, Wilson & company had six more chances to score and put the game away -- and failed on every one. How?

Wilson barely missed Tyler Lockett twice on deep passes. Right tackle Garry Gilliam lost on three third downs, and Wilson messed up on two of the third downs.

"We had two third-and-4s and a third-and-2 that we couldn’t convert on a day when we were making some third-down conversions and handling those situations," Pete Carroll said. "By design, we were trying to stay in the third-and-6 or less against these guys. We got there, and then we didn’t finish them. Any one of those wins might have been the difference in the game. It’s just frustrating that we didn’t get any of them when we needed (them).”

Up 24-7 late in the third, Wilson went deep to Lockett with a 40-yard pass down the right sideline, but Lockett was not able to get his right foot in as he caught the ball. The Seahawks ended up in third-and-3, and Carlos Dunlap beat Gilliam and rag-dolled Wilson for the sack.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Seahawks faced a third-and-4, and Dunlap again got by Gilliam, pressuring Wilson into a quick downfield throw to Jermaine Kearse that fell incomplete.

The Bengals cut the deficit to 24-14 on the next drive, after Adam Jones' punt return set them up at the Seattle 33 and Tyler Eifert scored for the second time.

On Seattle's next drive, Wilson screwed up a third-and-2 when he bailed from the pocket too early and was chased into an incompletion. He had Jimmy Graham open on a shallow cross but retreated without looking his way.

"They covered it up pretty good, so I was just trying to find a way to extend the play and find a way to convert," Wilson said. "Unfortunately we weren’t able to, so I just threw it away."

The Bengals then drove 71 yards, capped by Andy Dalton's 5-yard TD run that cut their deficit to 24-21.

On its third drive of the fourth quarter, Seattle faced a third-and-4, and Wilson pulled the ball down after seeing no one open (all of his receivers did appear covered). He tried to run up the middle and was pulled down by Geno Atkins for another sack.  The Bengals then drove 69 yards with no timeouts in 2:17 for the tying field goal with no time left.

"We didn't execute in that fourth quarter. It starts with me," Wilson said. "We've just got to find ways to continue to convert. We just left the defense out there too long."

The Seahawks won the coin toss for overtime, but they couldn’t take advantage. On the first third down, with three yards to go, Wilson hit Lockett for a 7-yard gain.

But, a hold by Russell Okung put Seattle in a second-and-15 hole, and Wilson was pressured on the next play as he tried to hit Lockett downfield. Wilson was hit as he threw it, so the ball hung a bit and Lockett had to wait for it, which allowed two defenders to converge and blast him as the ball arrived.

"I thought I had it," Wilson said of the deep throw to Lockett. "I got hit pretty good on that one. I couldn't get enough oomph on it the way I wanted to, but I tried to give him a shot."

Carroll said Wilson should have thrown the ball to Doug Baldwin down the seam.

"Russell moved quickly and didn’t get the chance to see it the way that now he sees it on film. He would have loved to have taken that shot," Carroll said. "He moved again to take the throw, because Tyler got through the coverage and he was behind the safety. The safety left his area, he saw it late, went to him and just didn’t have enough to get the throw there.

"The ball easily could have gone to Doug. It was second-and-14 at the time, really had the chance to make a big play right there. We just got off rhythm. It’s what happens sometimes. You get off rhythm with the rush and then didn’t get to take advantage of the throw. He tried to go there late and couldn’t get the ball there.”

The Seattle defense gave the offense a second chance, and Wilson was sacked on third-and-8 to kill that drive. The Bengals blitzed into an empty backfield, and Wilson was trapped as the pocket collapsed. Dunlap beat Gilliam once again, getting in on the sack.

Carroll thought Wilson could have gotten the ball to Graham on that play.

"He had a couple of opportunities that we’re kicking ourselves over down the stretch on a couple third downs that we could have won," Carroll said, "and we just didn’t execute as cleanly as we needed to."  

Wilson summed it up: "If we can convert one or two third downs, the game's over. That's our fault on offense."

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