TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) — From coach Marc Trestman’s view, everything exposed about the Chicago Bears can be fixed.
It appears to be a lot of corrections to make with just one preseason game remaining.
Russell Wilson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score, helping the Seattle Seahawks to a 34-6 rout of the Bears on Friday night.
Seattle scored touchdowns on its first four possessions, and Steven Hauschka hit a 59-yard field goal — what would be a franchise record in the regular season — on the final play of the first half.
Wilson was behind center for nine straight scoring drives going back to last week’s win over San Diego, a run of 55 points. It nearly reached 10 on the first drive of the second half before Hauschka’s 53-yard attempt clanged off the left upright.
“The good thing about it is that we are going to be able to make some corrections; we think a lot of this is fixable,” Trestman said. “We’ll do that and we’ll be able to see how we are tied together in all three phases, because it was (clear) we lost the game in all three phases. That’s a credit to Seattle.”
Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler played the entire first half and appeared to throw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett late in the second quarter only to have Bennett ruled down at the 1 on video review.
Two plays later, after an offensive pass interference call on Brandon Marshall wiped out another touchdown, Cutler was intercepted at the goal line by Jeremy Lane.
Cutler finished 12 of 20 for 157 yards, and Alshon Jeffery and Marshall had four receptions. But the Bears’ run game was again absent with just 21 yards on six carries in the first half.
And they were playing catch up from the start.
“I think anytime you go out there early on and it doesn’t go the way you want, you’re going to be a little surprised,” Cutler said. “But, at the end of the day we aren’t going to lose our confidence offensively. I though the guys handled themselves well.
“We were never shell-shocked out there, I thought we handled the noise well, we got to our checks in a reasonable time, we just missed a few plays out there that could have changed the game for us.”
Jordan Palmer got the first chance in the competition to be Cutler’s backup, but struggled managing the huddle. Palmer was twice penalized for delay of game, and Chicago had only 51 yards and two first downs in the third quarter. Jimmy Clausen played the fourth quarter and led Chicago to its only points on a pair of field goals by Robbie Gould.
The bigger concern was Chicago’s inability to get Wilson off the field.
Wilson completed 15 of 20 passes for 202 yards, including scoring tosses of 12 yards to Jermaine Kearse and 7 yards to Christine Michael. He found Percy Harvin and Kearse four times and spread passes to seven receivers in the first half. Wilson also had a 7-yard touchdown run.
Marshawn Lynch got his first taste of the preseason with three carries for 16 yards and capped Seattle’s opening drive with a 7-yard TD run before putting on basketball shoes and a baseball hat.
A week after rolling up 260 yards of offense and 24 points in the first half against San Diego, the Seahawks had 250 yards and 31 points versus the Bears. Seattle converted all seven third-down opportunities in the first half.
“The sky is the limit for this offense,” Harvin said. “We got a lot of weapons on offense and we can get you from a lot of different directions. … We’re hitting on all cylinders right now. We’ve just got to keep building each week.”
Chicago played without defensive end Jared Allen (shoulder), rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller (ankle) and right tackle Jordan Mills (foot). Safety Ryan Mundy left in the first half with a head laceration, and Chris Conte sustained a concussion making his debut after missing OTAs and part of training camp following shoulder surgery.
“Defensively as a unit we are going to sit back and be really critical of ourselves,” Chicago linebacker Jon Bostic said. “Obviously there are goals we set for this defense. We have to do the things we have to do to get those goals. Get back, be critical of ourselves and make sure the things we talk about in the meeting room is carried over to the field.”
NOTES: Chicago RB Matt Forte had three carries for 17 yards after having seven carries for (minus)-7 yards the first two weeks. … Seattle LB Heath Farwell sustained a groin injury in the fourth quarter. TE Cooper Helfet, competing for the third spot at his position, injured his shoulder and knee in the first half, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
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