Seahawks stifle Lions
RB Thomas Rawls leads way as Seattle dumps Detroit 26-6
SEATTLE — The formula that has led the Seattle Seahawks to unmatched success over the past five seasons returned.
A healthy dose of Thomas Rawls rumbling on the ground. A few timely throws by Russell Wilson helped by some remarkable catches.
Rawls rushed for a franchise playoff-record 161 yards, Paul Richardson made one of the catches of the year for his first career post-season touchdown and the Seahawks beat the Lions 26-6 on Saturday night in an NFC wild-card game.
The win means the Seahawks will face the No. 2 seed Atlanta Falcons next Saturday.
“It kept the chains going,” Rawls said. “We want to end like this. We want to end with a great mark running the football, which is our identity, playing tough hard-nosed Seahawks football, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Seattle won its 10th straight home playoff game, continuing Detroit’s miserable conclusion to the season that finished with four straight losses. Detroit’s history without post-season success also continued: no wins since 1992. No road wins since 1957.
Rawls was the workhorse as the run game the Seahawks became known for when Marshawn Lynch was in the backfield finally found consistency that was missing all season. Rawls bettered Lynch’s 157 yards in the 2014 NFC championship game against Green Bay. Rawls had runs of 12, 14, 26 and a 32-yarder late in the third quarter, when Wilson ended up being his lead blocker.
Wilson finished 23-of-30 for 224 yards for Seattle, while Matthew Stafford was 18-of-32 for 205 yards for Detroit.
Stafford was sacked three times and the Lions never ran a play inside the Seattle 33-yard line.
“We definitely knew if we came in and focused, we’d be fine,” said Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner. “We knew they got some great players on the other end, but we were just locked in all week and we prepared very well. We knew were going to play well.”
TEXANS 27, RAIDERS 14
HOUSTON — Brock Osweiler finally looked like the player Houston spent $72 million on, throwing for a touchdown and running for another to lead the Texans to a 27-14 wild-card playoff win over the Oakland Raiders on Saturday.
Osweiler, benched on Dec. 18, got his job back this week with Tom Savage out with a concussion, and played his best game of the season to give the Texans their first playoff victory since the 2012 season.
Houston bounced back after an embarrassing 30-0 wild-card loss to Kansas City last season to advance to face either the Chiefs or New England.
The Raiders’ first trip to the playoffs since the 2002 season, when they went to the Super Bowl, ended with a thud behind the struggles of third-string rookie Connor Cook. He threw for 161 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions against the NFL’s top-ranked defence.
He became the first quarterback to make his first start in a playoff game after MVP contender Derek Carr broke his leg two weeks ago and Matt McGloin injured his shoulder on Sunday.