Final
Seahawks harrass Walter, post shutout of Raiders
Nov 7, 2006 - 4:58 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Heavy rain pounded Qwest Field, but it was the Seattle Seahawks who poured on quarterback Andrew Walter.Craig Terrill, Rocky Bernard and Grant Wistrom combined for seven of Seattle's nine sacks as the Seahawks posted a 16-0 victory over the Oakland Raiders in an interconference game.
A second-year player with little mobility, Walter was dumped seven times in the first half alone when the Raiders totaled just 49 yards. Oakland finished with 185 total yards and was just 3-for-15 on third-down conversions.
Terrill, a third-year player who entered with two sacks in 25 career games, had three of the sacks - all in the first half. Bernard compiled his two sacks in the first half as well. Both of Wistrom's sacks came in the second half.
The shutout was the first for the Seahawks since a 42-0 win at Philadelphia last December 5. It figured it would come against the Raiders, who rank last in the league in offense and became the first team to be shut out twice in a season on Monday Night Football. The Raiders were blanked by San Diego, 27-0, on the first Monday of the season when they also yielded nine sacks.
Oakland has failed to score an offensive touchdown in five of eight games this season. The team proved to be the perfect remedy for Seattle, which had allowed 28 or more points in its previous five games.
"I think our defense took some criticism it was taking to heart," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren. "Our defensive guys have a lot of pride and they responded tonight. They concentrated, they kept the pressure on and I thought (defensive coordinator) John (Marshall) stayed aggressive with his defensive calls."
While Walter could not prevent himself from getting wrestled to the ground, Seattle's Seneca Wallace displayed his escapability, often dodging pass rushers and scrambling for 49 yards on three carries.
Wallace did most of his damage in the first half when the Seahawks (5-3) scored all but three of their points, completing 14-of-21 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Just 4:21 into the game, Wallace froze second-year cornerback Fabian Washington with a pump-fake before lofting a perfect 22-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to Deion Branch.
"Deion made a great move on the cornerback, it was a double move," Wallace said. "He got out in the open and I just made the throw."
Making his second straight start for injured Matt Hasselbeck (sprained knee ligament), Wallace directed scoring drives on Seattle's next two possessions, resulting in field goals of 20 and 25 yards by Josh Brown.
Brown kicked his third field goal of the game, a 20-yarder with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders (2-6) went three-and-out on their first two possessions, which included sacks by linebacker Julian Peterson and a half-sack each for defensive tackle Chuck Darby and linebacker Lofa Tatupu.
Oakland's third possession was the most pathetic. That was when Walter was sacked on three consecutive plays - the first by Bernard and the next two by Terrill.
"We obviously didn't do a good job of protecting the quarterback," Raiders coach Art Shell said. "Man on man, you've got to block people and we just didn't do a good job of that at all. I thought at times we had receivers open and he (Walter) didn't have time to throw. Then there were times when he could have gotten rid of the ball quicker."
Oakland had allowed 35 sacks in its first seven games.
Walter finished 16-of-35 for 166 yards and failed to get the ball deep to five-time Pro Bowler Randy Moss, who dropped four passes. Moss finished with six catches for 76 yards, but three of those for 38 yards came in the final minute after the outcome had long been decided.
Oakland's frustration showed in an ugly incident at the end when defensive end Tyler Brayton was ejected in the final minutes for kneeing Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens in the groin.
The Seahawks again played without reigning MVP and rushing champion Shaun Alexander, who has missed the last five games with a broken bone in his foot.
But Maurice Morris, who entered the game averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, produced a career-high 138 yards on 30 attempts. He gained 48 of those yards on Seattle's third scoring drive and added 42 more yards on the Seahawks' last scoring drive.
With the win, Seattle moved a game ahead of the St. Louis Rams in the NFC West. The Seahawks will host the Rams next week.
The Raiders were trying to become the first team since the 1985 Detroit Lions to beat both of the previous season's Super Bowl teams in back-to-back weeks. Oakland beat the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-13, last week despite managing just 98 total yards.
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