LANDOVER, Md. (AP) – Russell Wilson ran for 89 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown, and threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Jermaine Kearse, and the Super Bowl champion Seahawks overcame eight penalties to take a 17-7 halftime lead over the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
Seahawks receiver Percy Harvin, who had two apparent TDs erased by flags, hobbled off the field with 25 seconds left in the half. It wasn’t immediately clear how seriously he might have been injured.
Wilson showed off his versatility late in the second quarter, scrambling to avoid the rush before connecting with tight end Cooper Helfet for 36 yards to set up first-and-goal at the 9. On the next play, Wilson pulled off a perfect zone-read option keeper and scampered into the end zone to make it 17-0.
Washington, which punted on its first four possessions, finally got going on its fifth, with Kirk Cousins hitting DeSean Jackson for a 60-yard TD.
The Seahawks started the game with a six-play, 65-yard drive for a 7-0 lead. Wilson ran twice for 45 yards, a 16-yard scramble and a 29-yard designed sweep, then capped the possession with his scoring toss to Kearse.
Running back Marshawn Lynch stood on the sideline, helmet on, during that first drive, but entered the second time Seattle had the ball.
The Seahawks made it 10-0 on Steven Hauschka’s 40-yard field goal with about 9 minutes left in the second quarter. That came after penalties on consecutive plays erased what would have been scores by Harvin.
First, Harvin’s 16-yard run to the end zone was wiped out because of a holding call on left guard James Carpenter. Then, Harvin’s 26-yard catch-and-run was wiped out by a flag for a false start on Harvin, a penalty that gum-chomping Seahawks coach Pete Carroll wandered onto the turf to argue.
Wilson was 11 of 15 for 131 yards passing in the half. His rushing total, on six carries, left him just 13 yards shy of the career-high 102 he gained exactly a year ago, on Oct. 6, 2013, against the Colts.
Seattle had a 267-118 edge in total yards after two quarters. But it also was penalized 50 yards in the half.
The last time these teams played each other, in a playoff game at Washington in January 2013, Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III tore up his right knee and Wilson led the Seahawks back from a two-touchdown deficit for a 24-14 win.
On Monday, Griffin was out with a dislocated left ankle, and Cousins was 7 for 17 for 93 yards with no turnovers in the first half.
The Seahawks entered with a 2-1 record, coming off their bye week and a victory in their last game, a Super Bowl rematch with the Denver Broncos.
The Redskins, meanwhile, were in danger of falling way behind in the NFC East.
Last in the only NFL division with a pair of 4-1 teams, the Cowboys and Eagles, Washington came into Monday’s game with a 1-3 record after a 31-point loss to the Giants on Thursday night in Week 4. Cousins had five turnovers, including four second-half interceptions, in that one.
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