TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) — Donald Butler and San Diego were not surprised by anything the Seattle Seahawks presented.
Yet, the Chargers could never get the Seahawks off the field.
“They did everything we thought they’d do,” Butler said. “They lined up and said, ‘Stop this’ and we couldn’t.”
Russell 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 Chargers 41-14 on Friday night.
Seattle never punted and the only two possessions it didn’t score came at the end of the first half and the end of regulation. The Seahawks finished with 403 total yards, including 260 in the first half.
And 255 of those yards came with Wilson in the game.
“There are no excuses. You got to get them to get off the field and punt, and we didn’t make them punt once,” San Diego coach Mike McCoy said. “So there’s obviously some breakdown somewhere, some lack of communication.”
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.
Rivers attempted just four passes in his limited stint. Clemens played through the third quarter and threw touchdowns of 13 yards to Keenan Allen and 3 yards to Jake Byrne.
By that point, Seattle was well in control.
“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,” said Clemens, who finished 14 of 21 for 149 yards.
Defensive end Corey Liuget made his first appearance of the preseason after missing last week, while Eric Weddle played one series before sitting out. Defensive tackle Sean Lissemore left in the first quarter with an ankle injury, but walked off the field without help. Backup safety Jahleel Addae also left with a hamstring injury.
“It starts with me as the head coach and I got to do a better job of coaching and a better job of playing,” McCoy said. “This is a good team, you can’t make little mistakes against good teams because it costs you.”
Wilson completed 11 of 13 passes, and connected on his first eight attempts. He ran for another 31 yards.
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. Turbin 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.
Terrelle 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. B.J. Daniels also had a 6-yard TD run as Seattle had four touchdowns rushing from its quarterbacks.
“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.”
Just when it seemed Wilson’s night should be done, he took one more series in the second quarter as the Seahawks worked on its hurry-up offense. The result: Wilson took Seattle 67 yards in under 4 minutes, capping the drive with a 5-yard touchdown scramble.
“We’ve got some work to do. We have work to do,” Butler said. “Got to stop the run, got to do a better job getting off blocks. I’m thankful it’s just the preseason.”
NOTES: After being penalized 13 times last week, Seattle had only three in the first half and eight in the game. … San Diego had 14 different receivers catch a pass, but none had more than two receptions. … Seattle K Steven Hauschka made both his attempts including a 55-yarder in the third quarter.
___
AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
