Sweet Second: Seahawks grab second place in West with win over Raiders

The Seattle Seahawks defense forced three first-half turnovers, Steven Hauschka made a trio of field goals and the Seahawks improved to 5-3 with a big 30-24 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

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The win, combined with the San Francisco 49ers loss, gave the Seahawks sole possession of second place in the NFC West.

The game started close but Seattle’s defensive outburst kept the Raiders from doing damage for the majority of the game. Unfortunately, the Seahawks offense had an off day that made the game look closer than it was.

Derek Carr, who finished the game with 194 yards and a pair of both touchdowns and interceptions, led the Raiders on a 12-play drive on their first possession of the game, settling with a 48-yard field goal from Sebastian Janikowski.

That gave Oakland a 3-0 lead before the Seahawks countered with a touchdown drive of their own that was led by Marshawn Lynch. Lynch rushed for 21 yards on the drive and took the ball in for his first rushing score since Week 3.

Seattle’s 7-3 lead was extended when Bruce Irvin tipped, caught and returned an interception 35 yards to the house to give the Seahawks a 14-3 advantage.

On the Raiders next possession, Richard Sherman intercepted his first pass of the year, which led to a Seahawks field goal to extend their lead to 17-3. Sherman also had a pair of tackles.

Nov 2, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Bruce Irvin (51, bottom), Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Tony McDaniel (99) and Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright (50) tackle Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden (20) during the first quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

On the ensuing kickoff, the Raiders fumbled and Seattle recovered, but they couldn’t score points in Oakland territory, as Hauschka missed the field goal following a 3-and-out from the offense. It was just his second missed field goal of the season.

Seattle’s defense looked impressive the entire game, stepping up in ways it hadn’t all year, forcing three turnovers on consecutive possessions. Unfortunately, Seattle’s offense couldn’t carry it’s share of the bargain, managing only three points off the turnovers.

As the half came to a close, Seattle put together an 11-play, 78-yard drive that concluded when Lynch ran in for his second touchdown of the game. He would finish the game with 67 rushing yards on 21 carries.

Seattle looked in control at the intermission, up 24-3, but the Raiders came out strong in the third quarter to make it a game again.

They blocked a Jon Ryan punt early in the quarter and returned it for a touchdown to make it a 24-10 game. It was the first time the Seahawks had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown since 2003.

Later in the quarter, Carr hit Mychal Rivera in the back of the end zone on a 4th and goal to make it a 24-17 game with fewer than three minutes left in the third quarter.

But Seattle pulled away in the fourth when a pair of Hauschka field goals made it 30-17.

Oakland scored again with fewer than two minutes left in the game, another Carr to Rivera connection, but Seattle recovered the onside kick and ended the game.

The Seahawks had 100 more total yards than the Raiders (326-226), and dominated the rushing yards category (149-37).

But Seattle hurt themselves with nine penalties, while Oakland had only five.

Luckily, the Seahawks defense carried the team and the offense played just well enough to get the win.

Russell Wilson only completed 17 of his 35 passes for 179 yards and did not have a touchdown pass for the second time this season.

Doug Baldwin and Lynch led Seattle receivers with five catches. Lynch’s were for 76 yards, Baldwin’s were for 38.

Next week the Seahawks will host the New York Giants (3-4) with the chance to keep their winning streak going.

Seattle is still two games behind the 7-1 Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West.