Seahawks fall in preseason finale

OAKLAND, Calif. – Russell Wilson and Seattle’s first-team offense needed just four plays to show they are ready for the regular season. Wilson ended his night after capping a quick opening drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Luke Willson before the Seahawks lost the exhibition finale to the Oakland Raiders 41-31 on Thursday night. Wilson opened the game with a 44-yard pass to Jermaine Kearse and finished 3 for 3 for 77 yards. He finished the exhibition season with a 78.6 completion percentage, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 133.8 passer rating. “When I look back at this preseason the thing that jumps out at me is what our offense was able to do when the first group was in there,” coach Pete Carroll said. “Russell had a phenomenal preseason statistically in every way. That group looks ready to play.” Rookie Derek Carr threw three touchdown passes to make a case he should be Oakland’s starting quarterback. Carr was almost perfect in the start in place of Matt Schaub, completing 11 of 13 passes for 143 yards and led Oakland (2-2) to four touchdowns in four drives. “Let’s not bury our head in the sand,” coach Dennis Allen said. “But I haven’t changed anything. I think we’re in good shape where we’re at with all of our quarterbacks and I feel good about being in the position we’re in.” Schaub was anointed the starter after being acquired in an offseason trade from Houston. Coach Dennis Allen hasn’t deviated from that plan even as Schaub struggled in the preseason before resting this game with a sore throwing elbow. Now the question will be if Carr’s strong performance that included one touchdown drive against Seattle’s first-team defense or Schaub’s health will be enough to change that plan before the opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 7. “That’s up for coach Allen to talk about,” Carr said. “My job is to come in and compete my tail off and help this team win.” The Seahawks (2-2) have no questions about their starting quarterback as Wilson is playing even better than he did a season ago when Seattle won the Super Bowl. “That’s what we want to do, we want to be explosive and make plays,” Wilson said. “We got into a really good rhythm. I thought we did a really good job all preseason with that. Hopefully we can carry that into the regular season.” The bigger question for the Super Bowl champions coming into this game was whether former Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor could show enough to earn a spot on the roster as a third quarterback. Pryor, booed by his former fans, played his best game of the preseason, going 11 for 17 for 134 yards and a 33-yard touchdown pass to Phil Bates. He also ran for 12 yards on four carries. DeShawn Shead also scored on a 55-yard interception return on a pass thrown by Matt McGloin. But this night was all about Carr. “He was really good,” Carroll said. “The Raiders tore us up in every way. They did everything well. They just took it to us. “Whatever they needed to do, they did.”