Seahawks wrap up Rams, 24-7

ST. LOUIS — The Seattle Seahawks opened the game with a 55-yard trick play followed by an interception by Tarvaris Jackson.

No matter. A defense led by Chris Clemons made sure they didn’t need too much scoring to put away the St. Louis Rams.

Wide receiver Sidney Rice completed a 55-yard pass to open the game, caught a touchdown pass and drew a pass interference call to set up a field goal as the Seahawks beat the Rams 24-7 on Sunday.

Clemons had three of Seattle’s five sacks on Sam Bradford and also forced the Rams quarterback to fumble twice, both of which led to touchdowns.

Marshawn Lynch scored for the fourth straight week, although he missed on a third straight 100-yard game, finishing with 88 yards on 27 carries . The Rams (2-8) totaled 185 yards.

The Seahawks (4-6) won on consecutive weeks for the first time, following up on an upset over Baltimore, and have won 12 of 13 in the series.

Seattle improved to 2-4 on the road in a game notable for sloppy play and 19 punts, including a season-high 10 by the Rams’ Donnie Jones.

Lynch scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter, five plays after Bradford fumbled at the St. Louis 25, and Justin Forsett broke several tackles on a 22-yarder on third-and-11 to clinch it with 4:21 to go. The clincher came three plays after Red Bryant intercepted a pass tipped at the line by Brandon Mebane.

Running behind an injury-riddled line, St. Louis’ Steven Jackson had 42 yards on 15 carries to end a run of three straight games of 125 or more yards.

The Rams opened without starting tackles with Rodger Saffold (pectoral) and Jason Smith (concussion). Practice squad callup Kevin Hughes was called on to play after fill-in tackle Mark Levoir injured his right shoulder in the first half.

With under seven minutes to go in the first quarter, the Rams had two interceptions, a blocked punt and their first touchdown in the opening quarter since Jackson scored on a 47-yard run on St. Louis’ first offensive snap of the season against the Eagles.

After that, they couldn’t get going. A defense that totaled four sacks kept it close for a while, but the Rams never made it to the red zone and crossed the 50 only three times.

Seattle took a 10-7 lead on Steven Hauschka’s 19-yard field goal to end the half, one play after Justin King was called for interference in the end zone against Rice.

Rice executed a flea-flicker on the game’s first play, hitting Mike Williams in stride with a step on King for a 55-yard gain to the Rams 30. On the next play, Jackson was intercepted by Chris Chamberlain.

The Rams didn’t cash in on that turnover, but Quintin Mikell’s pick on the Seahawks’ next series set up Brandon Lloyd’s 30-yard touchdown catch. Lloyd fell down on his route and then sprang to his feet to catch cornerback Richard Sherman by surprise.

Rice made his second big play on a 14-yard catch that tied it 7-all midway through the second quarter.

The Rams’ 10 first-down snaps in the half produced minus-2 yards.

SEAHAWKS 24, RAMS 7

Seattle 0 10 7 7–24

St. Louis 7 0 0 0– 7

First Quarter

StL–Lloyd 30 pass from Bradford (Jo.Brown kick), 9:15. Drive: 2 plays, 27 yards, 0:42. Key Play: Mikell 11 interception return to Seattle 27. St. Louis 7, Seattle 0.

Second Quarter

Sea–Rice 14 pass from Jackson (Hauschka kick), 8:36. Drive: 6 plays, 40 yards, 2:32. Key Plays: Washington 25 punt return to St. Louis 40; Jackson 12 pass to Rice; Lynch 10 run. Seattle 7, St. Louis 7.

Sea–FG Hauschka 19, :00. Drive: 9 plays, 69 yards, 2:26. Key Plays: Jackson 35 pass to Baldwin on 3rd-and-2; Lynch 12 run on 3rd-and-10; King 25-yard defensive pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-21. Seattle 10, St. Louis 7.

Third Quarter

Sea–Lynch 3 run (Hauschka kick), 5:58. Drive: 5 plays, 25 yards, 2:14. Key Play: McDonald 2 fumble return (Bradford). Seattle 17, St. Louis 7.

Fourth Quarter

Sea–Forsett 22 run (Hauschka kick), 4:21. Drive: 3 plays, 21 yards, 0:57. Key Play: Bryant 5 interception return to St. Louis 21. Seattle 24, St. Louis 7.

A–56,400.

Sea StL

FIRST DOWNS 16 13

Rushing 7 1

Passing 8 10

Penalty 1 2

THIRD DOWN EFF 7-17 5-15

FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 0-0

TOTAL NET YARDS 289 185

Total Plays 68 62

Avg Gain 4.3 3.0

NET YARDS RUSHING 126 42

Rushes 39 17

Avg per rush 3.2 2.5

NET YARDS PASSING 163 143

Sacked-Yds lost 4-40 5-38

Gross-Yds passing 203 181

Completed-Att. 15-25 20-40

Had Intercepted 2 1

Yards-Pass Play 5.6 3.2

KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 4-4-3 2-2-1

PUNTS-Avg. 9-49.7 10-44.1

Punts blocked 0 0

FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0

TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 100 68

Punt Returns 7-74 3-23

Kickoff Returns 1-21 1-30

Interceptions 1-5 2-15

PENALTIES-Yds 13-100 5-50

FUMBLES-Lost 3-0 2-2

TIME OF POSSESSION 35:00 25:00

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Seattle, Lynch 27-88, Forsett 4-31, Jackson 2-10, Washington 6-(minus 3). St. Louis, S.Jackson 15-42, Bradford 2-0.

PASSING–Seattle, Jackson 14-24-2-148, Rice 1-1-0-55. St. Louis, Bradford 20-40-1-181.

RECEIVING–Seattle, Baldwin 3-60, Rice 3-35, Williams 2-62, Lynch 2-1, Tate 1-16, Obomanu 1-11, Miller 1-10, Robinson 1-6, Forsett 1-2. St. Louis, Lloyd 5-67, B.Gibson 4-37, Clayton 3-26, S.Jackson 3-19, Kendricks 2-21, Pettis 2-12, Spach 1-(minus 1).

PUNT RETURNS–Seattle, Washington 7-74. St. Louis, Pettis 3-23.

KICKOFF RETURNS–Seattle, Washington 1-21. St. Louis, Porter 1-30.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS–Seattle, Sherman 5-0-0, Chancellor 4-0-0, Mebane 4-0-0, Thomas 4-0-0, Clemons 3-2-3, Hawthorne 3-1-0, Hill 3-0-1, Browner 2-0-0, Farwell 2-0-0, McDonald 2-0-0, Smith 2-0-0, Wright 2-0-0, Lewis 1-2-0 1/2 , Bryant 1-1-0 1/2 , Brock 1-0-0, Cox 1-0-0, Jackson 1-0-0, Robinson 1-0-0, Williams 1-0-0. St. Louis, Laurinaitis 13-0-0, Stewart 8-0-1, Quinn 5-0-1, Mikell 4-2-0, Chamberlain 4-0-0, Gordy 4-0-0, C.Dahl 3-1-0, Hall 3-0-1, Bannan 2-1-0, Long 2-0-1, Ah You 2-0-0, Kehl 2-0-0, Poppinga 2-0-0, Robbins 1-1-0, Sims 1-1-0, Bell 1-0-0, G.Gibson 1-0-0, Goldberg 1-0-0, S.Jackson 1-0-0, Jones 1-0-0, King 1-0-0, Miller 1-0-0, Nixon 1-0-0, Pettis 1-0-0, Johnson 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS–Seattle, Bryant 1-5. St. Louis, Mikell 1-11, Chamberlain 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.

OFFICIALS–Referee Carl Cheffers, Ump Undrey Wash, HL Kent Payne, LJ Tom Symonette, FJ Jimmy Buchanan, SJ Laird Hayes, BJ Todd Prukop, Replay Larry Nemmers.

Time: 3:08.