SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For about a minute or so Sunday, there appeared legitimate reason to worry that the Seahawks really could fall victim to what would have been one of their most disastrous defeats in years.

With Seattle facing a third-and-nine at its own 30 midway through the third quarter after the 49ers had just cut Seattle’s lead to one point, control of the game seemed in danger of slipping away.

But then two of Seattle’s most reliable players — quarterback Russell Wilson and receiver Doug Baldwin — teamed up again for the kind of play that has come to define their on-field relationship. This time, Baldwin reached for a diving catch for 23 yards and a first down.

The Wilson-Baldwin hookup jump-started a quick 71-yard touchdown drive, and from there Seattle cruised to a 24-13 victory over San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium.

The victory improved Seattle’s record to 7-4 and kept the Seahawks on the footsteps of the Rams in the NFC West. It also was Seattle’s ninth consecutive victory over San Francisco (1-10) dating to the 2013 season.

Wilson, who was erratic in the first half, finished 20 for 34 passing for 238 yards, tossing touchdowns in the second half to Nick Vannett and Jimmy Graham. Graham’s touchdown was his seventh of the season and 16th of his career, each setting Seattle franchise records for a tight end.

The two third-quarter touchdowns were more than enough room for a Seattle defense that dominated the 49ers throughout — San Francisco’s only touchdown came on the final play of the game on a 10-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to Louis Murphy, a few plays after starting quarterback C.J. Beathard left with an injury.

The Seahawks led 7-3 at the end of a first half that featured more combined punts (11) than points.

Seattle’s only first-half touchdown came early in the first quarter and was fittingly set up by the defense when middle linebacker Bobby Wagner stole the ball away on a pass to San Francisco tight end Trent Taylor for an interception at the 49ers’ 16-yard line.

Wagner hit Taylor as the ball arrived, and as the two fell to the ground he wrested the ball away. He got up and ran in for a touchdown, but it was ruled he was down at the 16 on contact.

No matter. For the only time in the first half, the Seattle offense proved efficient. It needed just two plays — a 14-yard gain by J.D. McKissic when he took a pitch and ran around the left end, and then a 2-yard run by Wilson — to convert the turnover into a touchdown.

Otherwise, the Seattle offense spent much of the first half in neutral.

Seattle had eight possessions in the first half, but gained 6 or fewer yards on six of them.

Seattle moved 43 yards into San Francisco territory the second time it had the ball, but the drive stalled at the 30 and Blair Walsh missed a 48-yard field goal — his fifth failure in his past 10 attempts.

Seattle made a concerted effort to get its running game going, but had only intermittent success in the first half, finishing with 49 yards on 16 attempts.

Eddie Lacy led the way with 25 yards on eight carries while McKissic had 19 on two. Thomas Rawls played just one snap in the first half as the Seahawks decided to try to get Lacy going.

Wilson appeared to miss or throw late to open receivers, such as a long pass in the end zone for a momentarily open Tyler Lockett that was broken up.

He also had passes dropped by Graham and Paul Richardson.

But the Seattle defense time and again put the clamps on the 49ers, forcing punts on six of their first seven possessions (the other ending in Wagner’s interception) before San Francisco was able to move it enough on its final possession of the first half to set up a 38-yard field goal by Robbie Gould with four seconds left.

Seattle made it a priority to contain San Francisco running back Carlos Hyde — who had 124 yards in the first game between the two teams, the most against the Seahawks this year. The Seahawks made good on that goal in the first half as Hyde had just 9 yards on eight carries.

The 49ers got to the Seattle 24 to open the second half before the drive stalled. Gould kicked a 42-yard field goal to make it 7-6 early in the third quarter.

And after Seattle picked up just 1 yard on two plays to start its next drive, what was mostly a serene crowd stirred to life.

But then Wilson rolled and hit Baldwin, who to that point had just one catch for 2 yards.

Then came a 24-yard pass to Tanner McEvoy to set up a 17-yard touchdown to Vannett to make it 14-6.

And just like that, a brief moment of danger had again turned into a comfortable Seattle lead.

The Seahawks defense forced a three-and-out and then the Seahawk drove quickly for another score.

The key plays were a Wilson escape of a rush and a pass to Graham for 8 yards on third-and-seven and then Baldwin coercing a pass interference penalty in the end zone out of Dontae Johnson on third-and-eight.

The latter play set the ball at the 1 and on second down the Seahawks tried a slant pass — yep, the same scenario as Super Bowl XLIX.

But this time it worked for an easy touchdown to Graham to make it 21-6 on the first play of the fourth quarter and blow the game open.