SEATTLE — The final preseason game is supposed to be when those on the fringes of making the roster get one last chance to show the team they belong in the NFL.
However, it was a player who already proved his worth this preseason who stole the show for the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.
Rookie Tyler Lockett put his explosive speed on display yet again as the Seahawks closed the preseason with a 31-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders at CenturyLink Field.
Lockett, a third-round draft pick out of Kansas State, was already the revelation of the preseason, returning both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns during Seattle’s first three games.
But Thursday he did his damage as a receiver, catching a 63-yard touchdown pass on Seattle’s second play from scrimmage, helping the Seahawks build a 17-0 first-half lead. Oakland got back into the game once the third-stringers were on the field, pulling within 17-14 in the third quarter. But the Seahawks regained control with a pair of drives led by quarterback B.J. Daniels to pull away.
For the most part the teams didn’t play their first teams. The Seahawks began the game on defense with a unit made up completely of back-ups. On offense, quarterback Russell Wilson and the first-team offensive line played the first series, then departed following Lockett’s TD — which, by the way, was Wilson’s only pass attempt. Meanwhile, the Raiders fielded just one of their 22 listed starters.
Former University of Washington receiver Kasen Williams, battling for a roster spot, also got in on the act, catching a 15-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The Seahawks also had by far their most effective running game of the preseason, amassing 224 yards. Seattle had just 284 yards on the ground in its first three preseason games combined. Thomas Rawls led the ground game with 87 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown.
The Seahawks completed the preseason 2-2. Seattle’s regular-season opener is Sept. 13 at St. Louis.
Oakland finished the preseason 1-3.
The Seahawks’ first-team offense hadn’t managed a touchdown through the first three games of the preseason. It needed just two plays to find the end zone Thursday, and once again it was Lockett who provided the spark. Lockett blew past his man on a go route down the left sideline, and Wilson hit him in stride for a 63-yard TD less than five minutes into the first quarter. It was Lockett’s third touchdown of 60-plus yards of the preseason, the other two being a 103-yard kickoff return and a 67-yard punt return.
While Lockett was the offensive star his fellow rookie, defensive end Frank Clark, was the dominator on defense for the Seahawks. The second-round pick out of Michigan was in the Oakland backfield the entire first half. His first-half stats included four tackles, including one for a loss, a sack that forced a fumble and resulted in a touchdown, and another quarterback hit. Raiders third-string QB Matt McGloin will likely see Clark in his nightmares.
If there was a unit that had a difficult night for the Seahawks it was the secondary. With all three core members of the Legion of Boom absent — Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas were given the night off, and Kam Chancellor continues his holdout — Thursday was an opportunity for others to show they could become junior members of the LOB. Instead, Seattle had trouble slowing down McGloin, who finished the game 16-for-24 for 186 yards and two TDs.
After Seattle’s first-team offense departed following the opening series, the second string set up Steven Hauschka’s second long-distance field goal in as many weeks. He followed up last Saturday’s 60-yard game winner by connecting from 55 yards to give the Seahawks a 10-0 lead at 3:12 of the first quarter.
If the offense wasn’t enough, Seattle’s defense decided to chip in on the scoreboard, too. Clark, ever the menace, was at it again 1:15 into the second quarter. With the Raiders backed up inside their own 10, Clark blew around the right end and stripped McGloin of the ball in the end zone. The ball rolled toward the corner, where Jordan Hill fell on it for a touchdown to give Seattle a 17-0 lead.
Oakland got back into the game with McGloin TD passes on either side of halftime. First he found Seth Roberts in the corner of the end zone on a 10-yard pass with 4:27 remaining in the first half. Then 4:56 into the third quarter, Rod Streater beat Marcus Burley on a 28-yard TD to get the Raiders within three.
But Daniels, a former college quarterback who’s on Seattle’s roster as a receiver, came in and engineered a 14-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a 15-yard touchdown pass to Williams, feathering a perfect fade to the left corner to regain control of the game for the Seahawks.
Rawls put it out of reach after another long drive engineered by Daniels, going up the middle from 6 yards out to make it 31-14.
Oakland got a consolation TD in the final minute when Michael Dyer punched it in from inside the 1 to complete the scoring.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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