Wilson leads Seattle to 41-14 win over San Diego

TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (AP) — Russell Wilson’s first appearance at home since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy looked very similar to Seattle’s Super Bowl domination, even in a limited performance.

Wilson threw for 121 yards and ran for two touchdowns, leading Seattle to scores on all four of his possessions as the Seahawks beat the San Diego Chargers 41-14 on Friday night.

“I definitely believe we can be that explosive,” Wilson said. “It starts first of all with the offensive line and how well they’re doing … but then you think about our receivers and we have so many talented receivers.”

Wilson did a little of everything. He was pressured on the first snap of the game and avoided it to complete a pass. He scrambled when the pressure created clear running lanes. He threw sharp passes to open receivers and he operated Seattle’s offense with an efficiency missing in its preseason opener at Denver.

Wilson completed 11 of 13 passes, and connected on his first eight attempts. He ran for another 31 yards as Seattle finished the first half with 260 yards of offense, 255 of those with Wilson at quarterback.

Wilson was the first act. Terrelle Pryor and B.J. Daniels added their own chapters on a night Seattle’s quarterbacks combined for four touchdowns rushing.

Pryor got an extended look in the competition to back up Wilson and showed why Seattle is so enticed. Pryor was 1 of 4 passing, but ran away from San Diego’s defense on a 44-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

Daniels added a 6-yard TD run.

Marshawn Lynch made his preseason debut for all of two plays before giving way to backups Robert Turbin and Christine Michael. Lynch held out of the first week of training camp and did not touch the ball in his two snaps. Seattle did get some of its other stars involved, including Percy Harvin, who had four receptions for 31 yards after catching five passes all of last season.

Turbin finished with 81 yards on 12 carries. He showed open-field speed cutting back on the defense and racing for 47 yards on one carry, and displayed power bulling in for a 1-yard touchdown.

“The offense as a whole probably made some mistakes but I think overall we did well,” Turbin said. “It was continuing to get better and continuing to be disciplined as a runner. It’s not always going to be daylight. Sometimes you have to create some.”

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers played just one series before handing off to Kellen Clemens. San Diego kept most of its starting offense on the field with Clemens, but the Chargers could manage only 42 yards against Seattle’s defensive starters, 37 of those coming on the one drive Rivers led.

“There are some run-game things I’m still working through, some checks, that I know are going to come out today. Still some things that we can improve on in the pass game, me specifically,” Clemens said.

Just when it seemed Wilson’s night should be done, he took one more series as the Seahawks worked on their hurry-up offense. Harvin said that wasn’t the plan. Seattle’s starters were supposed to be done early in the second quarter.

The result: Wilson took Seattle 67 yards in under 4 minutes, capping the drive with a 5-yard touchdown scramble.

“We told Coach we were in a rhythm and wanted to stay in there,” Harvin said.

The drive provided the only moment of apprehension for Seattle when Doug Baldwin was knocked out of the back of the end zone on a big hit from San Diego safety Darrell Stuckey. Baldwin was slow to get up, but was laughing on the sideline when Wilson scrambled for the TD and a 24-0 Seattle lead.

Seattle also cleaned up its penalty problems from the preseason opener, when it was flagged 13 times, and was better on third down. The Seahawks were called for three penalties in the first half and were 5 of 6 on third downs.

“That was about as much as we could hope for,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.

NOTES: Seattle DE Michael Bennett did not play because of a tight hamstring. … San Diego DT Sean Lissemore left in the first quarter with an ankle injury, but walked off the field without help. S Jahleel Addae also left with a hamstring injury. … Seattle K Steven Hauschka made both his attempts including a 55-yarder in the third quarter.

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