Seahawks do what they do best
Rawls’ 161- yard effort, Wilson’s 2 TD passes complement tough ‘ D’
Associated Press
SEATTLE — The formula that has led the Seattle Seahawks to success during the last five seasons returned.
A healthy dose of Thomas Rawls rumbling on the ground. A few timely passes by Russell Wilson helped by some remarkable catches. And a defense that never allowed the Detroit Lions a sniff of the end zone.
‘‘ This felt like old times,’’ Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said. ‘‘ This felt great.’’
Rawls rushed for a franchise playoff- record 161 yards, Paul Richardson made one of the catches of the year for his first postseason touchdown and the Seahawks beat the Lions 26- 6 in an NFC wild- card game Saturday. The result means the Seahawks will visit the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round.
‘‘ It kept the chains going,’’ Rawls said of his 27- carry performance. ‘‘ 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.’’
The Seahawks won their 10th consecutive home playoff game, and the Lions’ long history without postseason success continued. They haven’t won a playoff game since 1992 and haven’t won a road playoff game since 1957.
‘‘ We’re walking away with nothing,’’ said Lions cornerback Darius Slay, whose team lost three games in a row to end the regular season before falling in the playoffs.
Rawls was the workhorse as the running game the Seahawks became known for when Marshawn Lynch was in the backfield finally found the consistency that had been missing all season. Rawls’ longest run was a 32- yarder late in the third quarter, and he highlighted his night with a four- yard touchdown run that gave the Seahawks a 19- 6 lead in the fourth. He was the first player with at least 150 yards rushing in a playoff game since Lynch did it in the NFC Champion- ship Game against the Green Bay Packers in January 2015.
While Rawls did the grunt work, Richardson filled the highlight reel with a trio of catches. None was better than his two- yard touchdown in the second quarter that opened the scoring.
Richardson went nearly horizontal and reached out with his left hand to cradle a pass from Wilson as he was being interfered with by the Lions’ Tavon Wilson. What wasn’t called on the play was Richardson’s right hand yanking on Wilson’s facemask as he reached to make the catch.
‘‘ I didn’t know that I had it until I got it, honestly,’’ Richardson said.
Wilson also threw a 13- yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin and finished 23- for- 30 for 224 yards.
The Seahawks’ defense, meanwhile, dominated the Lions. Hampered by a handful of dropped passes and some untimely penalties, the Lions could manage only two long field goals by Matt Prater. Matthew Stafford was 18- for- 32 for 205 yards and was sacked three times.