Seattle, WA – Russell Wilson threw two touchdowns and Marshawn Lynch ran for 124 yards and a score, as the Seattle Seahawks dispatched the New York Jets, 28-7, to stay undefeated at home.
Wilson completed an efficient 12-of-19 passes for 188 yards and Golden Tate caught a score and threw for another for Seattle (6-4), which has strung together back-to-back wins heading into its bye week.
"Good game for us today, a lot of guys played well," said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. "This is a big day for us, we wanted to come into the break with a big push."
The Jets scored their only points on a 21-yard fumble recovery by Muhammad Wilkerson in the first quarter. Mark Sanchez, who has led New York (3-6) to just one offensive touchdown in its last eight quarters, continued to make poor decisions on Sunday.
He completed just 9-of-22 throws for 124 yards while throwing an interception in the end zone and losing a fumble in the fourth quarter for New York, which is off to its worst start since 2007.
"Obviously that's a brutal loss right there," said Jets coach Rex Ryan. "We had some opportunities, especially early in the game. We made some critical errors, but we still thought we'd be able to overcome it in the second half. Obviously that wasn't the case."
Jeremy Kerley caught a game-high five passes for 57 yards for the Jets, who have dropped three straight and five of their last six.
Despite their offensive ineptitude, the Jets trailed just 14-7 by the end of the third quarter, but sparked by Wilson's 18-yard run on the final play of the period, the Seahawks marched down the field and extended their lead to double-digits.
Lynch picked up 17 yards on a carry to push the ball past midfield before Wilson hit a streaking Sidney Rice for a 31-yard touchdown to give Seattle a 21-7 advantage with 13:40 remaining in the game.
New York reached the Seattle 32 in three plays, highlighted by a 32-yard catch by Dustin Keller, but again Sanchez was the culprit of a costly turnover. On first down, Sherman blitzed and had a clear path to the quarterback. He sacked Sanchez and while trying to get rid of the ball at the last minute, he fumbled and Seattle recovered.
The Seahawks put the game out of reach following the turnover. After Lynch ran for 15 yards to get inside the Jets' 10, he scored on an 8-yard carry, but it was negated due to a holding penalty.
Faced with a long 1st-and-goal following a false start on former Jet Braylon Edwards, Seattle ran an end-around pitch to Tate, who threw a 23-yard strike to a wide open Rice in the end zone, making it 28-7 Seattle.
Trying to ignite an offense that struggled so mightily in the loss to the Dolphins two weeks ago, New York decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 on the opening drive of the game, but came up short. Shonn Green got stuffed for no gain and the Seahawks took over on their own 41.
They needed just three plays to score on their first drive, as Wilson found Tate for a 38-yard score and a 7-0 lead.
After punting on their next two touches, the Jets forced fumbles on consecutive Seattle drives.
On the second play of the drive for Seattle, Mike Devito got to Wilson and knocked the ball out of his hands. Wilkerson then picked up the loose ball and ran 21 yards untouched to end zone to tie the game at 7-7.
Wilkerson then forced the ball out of Lynch's hands on the next Seattle possession and Calvin Pace recovered to give New York's offense the ball back, but they couldn't capitalize.
Sanchez threw a deep bomb to Jeremy Kerley for a 43-yard gain, moving the Jets inside Seattle's 10-yard line. But three plays later, Richard Sherman picked off Sanchez, who was trying to get the ball to Keller in the front right corner of the end zone.
Seattle's next two touches were three-and-outs, but the second one saw Kerley muff the punt and Seattle recovered at the Jets' 42. Wilson threw a short pass to Lynch, who ran 27 yards to New York's 20. Five plays later, Lynch broke the goal line on a 1-yard touchdown plunge to give Seattle a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Game Notes
Seattle dominated the time of possession, maintaining the ball for nearly 13 minutes more than the Jets ... The touchdown pass from Tate was the first throw of his NFL career ... Zach Miller led the Seahawks with five catches for 37 yards.
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