Offense finds its footing as Seahawks beat Raiders 31-21

Tyler Lockett hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson in the first quarter, and Thomas Rawls rushed into the end zone in the fourth as the Seahawks defeated Oakland 31-21 in their preseason finale.

BY DANNY O

Sep 3, 2015, 10:15 PM Updated: Sep 4, 2015, 1:23 am

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Thomas Rawls scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter of Seattle's win in its preseason finale. (AP)

(AP)

The first touchdown for the Seahawks’ starting offense was a long time coming.

It figures that Tyler Lockett would be the one to score it then since he has specialized in long shots this preseason.

He scored on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson on Seattle’s second play from scrimmage against Oakland. It was Lockett’s third touchdown of the preseason but the first time Seattle had reached the end zone with Wilson at quarterback.

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It was also Wilson’s last play of the game, which Seattle won 31-21 at CenturyLink Field. Ready or not, here comes the regular season after Seattle finished the preseason 2-2.

The defense looks like it could be even better than it was a year ago. Seattle’s special teams is definitely going to be better with the addition of Lockett and the suddenly big-booted Steven Hauschka, who made a 55-yard attempt on Thursday after kicking a 60-yarder last week.

It is the offense that is a question mark entering the season. That’s the reason Seattle had its first-string offensive line on the field to begin the game while the Seahawks’ starting defense got the night off. It’s the reason that left guard Justin Britt, center Drew Nowak and right tackle Garry Gilliam were the last starters on the field Thursday night.

The opening drive marked progress. It was only Seattle’s second offensive touchdown this preseason, and the first one scored while Wilson was in the game. The Seahawks offense found the end zone a couple more times, first when B.J. Daniels threw a 15-yard pass to Kasen Williams with 3:50 left in the third quarter and then when Thomas Rawls scored on a 6-yard run.

That gave Seattle’s offense a scoring edge over its defense. Finally. The Seahawks offense scored four touchdowns in the preseason, three of them against Oakland. Meanwhile, Seattle’s defense logged its second touchdown of the preseason. Linebacker Bobby Wagner returned an interception in Kansas City two weeks ago, and on Thursday against Oakland, Frank Clark came rushing off the edge and knocked the ball loose from quarterback Matt McGloin in the end zone where it was recovered by Jordan Hill for a touchdown.

Overall, the Seahawks scored seven touchdowns in the preseason. Lockett was responsible for three of them. In fact, he scored in three different ways. There was the 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos. Not bad, considering this team didn’t return a kickoff for a touchdown in any game last season. Then, Lockett returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown last week in San Diego. Not bad for a team that hasn’t had a punt returned for a touchdown in a regular-season game since 2007.

On Thursday, Lockett showed what he can contribute as a receiving threat, lining up on the outside and beating the cornerback over the top.

Now, the Seahawks can only hope that is the touchdown that puts Seattle over the top heading into the regular season.