Packers vs. Seahawks Final Score 36-16: Lynch Scores Twice In Victory

The Seattle Seahawks under a regular-season high attendance of 68,424 at Century Link Field marched their way to a 36-16 win over the Green Bay Packers Thursday night. Running back Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 20 times for 110 yards and scored two touchdowns. Green Bay struggled throughout the game on offense, only accumulating 255 total yards.  The Packers fall to 0-1 on the season after dropping their third straight season-opener.

We recap everything from the game below:

First Quarter

The Packers loss the coin toss but Seattle elected to defer and give Green Bay the ball first, probably a smart move by a team that's 15-1 in its last 16 home games that was looking to jump out with their advantage early. Mike McCarthy and his staff wasted no time with the no-huddle offense. After four straight runs, quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed a screen pass for no-gain to Jordy Nelson. Shortly after, on 3rd and 10, Rodgers was taken down by O'Brien Schofield after the pocket unfolded and Rodgers stepped up. The Seahawks used Schofield to spy on Rodgers and he immediately was there for the hit.

Seattle's first offensive possession nearly came to an end twice on back-to-back plays. On 3rd and 2, Brad Jones intercepted a pass from Russell Wilson after a Micah Hyde deflection, but couldn't fully hang onto the ball on his way down. He never established possession, and it was ruled incomplete. On the very next play, the Seahawks punted the ball to Green Bay, but Mike Daniels idiotically ran into punter Steve Hauschka that resulted in a roughing of the kicker to set up a fresh set of downs.

Wilson completed a pass on another 3rd down to Doug Baldwin, but good positioning from Tramon Williams prevented another set of downs. Seattle settled for a field goal, and made the score 3-0 with 6:03 left in the first. The Packers unfortunately had to burn a timeout though, as the special teams unit had more than 11 players on the field.

After a unmanageable 3rd and 15, the Packers punted once again but caught a break. Earl Thomas muffed the return, allowing Green Bay to set up from the 34 (recovered by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix). Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb for 8 yards near the sideline. Nelson hooked up with Rodgers on consecutive plays that led to a 2nd and goal. Daniels subbed in at fullback (he was eligible), and paved the way for a John Kuhn 2-yard score. Green Bay scored the first touchdown of the season and made the score 7-3.

Second Quarter

Seattle practically never threw the ball downfield in the first quarter. That changed at the start of the first after Wilson delivered a pass to Percy Harvin for 33 yards to bring Seattle's offense to the 33. On the very next play, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell ran a read-option pass that went to Ricardo Lockette 33 yards for the score. The Packers were completely fooled by the fake and it was capped off by a "welcome to the NFL, rookie" moment for Clinton-Dix who missed low on a tackle near the 10. The score put the Seahawks up 10-7.

On Green Bay's fourth drive, a 44-yard penalty by linebacker Bobby Wagner brought the Packers all the way up to the 7 yard line. A few quick passes out to the flat practically moved the ball no-where. Lacy was handed the ball looking to push the ball even closer, but nothing was able to work. Mason Crosby came on, and the Packers were forced to settle for a field to tie the game up at 10 a piece midway through the second.

Shortly after, the Seahawks easily marched right back for a score. Wilson connected with his tight end Zach Miller on the first play of the drive. That was followed two plays later by a 6-play, 70-yard drive from Wilson and company that ended after a Marshawn Lynch 9-yard cakewalk rush. On the 6-play drive, the Seahawks went to the ground 4 times, while only passing twice.

That's all she basically wrote for the first half, as the Packers headed to the tunnel down 17-10.

Third Quarter

The Legion of Boom created their first turnover of the night on Green Bay's first offensive possession. Nelson cut across the middle on a slant route and after a deflection off his hands, the ball fell into the bread basket of Byron Maxwell. The Seahawks took over from the 8 yard line to start a goal line situation. They weren't able to convert, and settle for another field goal to increase their lead to 20-10.

A bit of frustration started to settle in on Green Bay's sixth and second-longest drive. The Packers were able to complete passes for 9 and 23, but it stalled after turnovers on downs. On a 3rd and 5 out of the shotgun, Rodgers rolled out to his right and launched a bomb down field to Nelson in double coverage. Right after, backup Derek Sherrod was easily beat by Cliff Avril who sacked Rodgers. The rough night continued for Sherrod on the next Packers drive after he was beat by Michael Bennett who stripped the ball for a fumble. Green Bay recovered the ball in the end zone, which resulted in a safety, and that made the score 22-10 with most of the third quarter in the books.

Fourth Quarter

To capitalize on the Packers' miscue, Wilson and Lynch beat down Green Bay's defense for an 8-play, 53-yard touchdown drive that was finished off by a 3-yard scamper by Lynch. The Seahawks scored 19 unanswered at that point, and took a commanding 29-10 lead.

For the first time since the 6:52 of the third, the Packers put points on the board trying to cut Seattle's deficit. Rodgers and the offense had arguably their best drive of the game that resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Cobb. Per ESPN, the touchdown to Cobb was the first pass thrown to the right side of the field. James Starks rushed the ball 3 times on the drive for 23 yards. Starks came on for Lacy who left the game to be evaluated for a concussion. 

That all didn't matter once again. Wilson drove the Seahawks 80-yards down the field that ended in a 15-yard touchdown pass to his fullback Derrick Coleman. Seattle cruised down the field to put the nail in the coffin in this one, making the score 36-16.

Injuries

Right tackle Bryan Bulaga left the game with a left knee injury suffered during a collision with tight end Richard Rodgers. Bulaga did not return.

Tight end Richard Rodgers was injured as well in that collision. He was replaced by Andrew Quarless. Rodgers was seen throwing the football on the sideline before the second half, but did not appear to play in the second half.

Running back Eddie Lacy was being checked for concussion symptoms late in the fourth quarter after taking a big hit from Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor.

UPDATE: the team confirmed that Lacy suffered a concussion. Hopefully the long week off helps him get ready in time for the game against the Jets in 10 days.

Eddie Lacy suffered a concussion against Seahawks

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) September 5, 2014