Seahawks Pounce On Redskins

Steve Broussard got the unbeaten Seattle Seahawks off to a perfect start. Then their defense kept their record perfect against the winless Washington Redskins.

Broussard ran back the game's opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and the Seahawks ran their record to 3-0 -- their first such mark since 1986 -- with a 24-14 victory over the Redskins on Sunday.

"It was blocked perfectly," Broussard said. "I ran through a hole as big as a truck."

The Seahawks also took advantage of three turnovers on a day when their offense came up short statistically.

"Our goal every game is to get three turnovers," safety Jay Bellamy said. "There's nothing like taking the ball away to deflate your opponent."

Ricky Watters had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game and scored his first touchdown for the Seahawks. Warren Moon threw his sixth TD pass of the season.

The Redskins (0-3) are off to their worst start since 1981, when they dropped their first five games.

"There's no question our team is as frustrated as you can be," downcast Redskins coach Norv Turner said. "When you start the game out with a kick return for a touchdown, that really hurts."

Said Washington linebacker Ken Harvey: "It would be easy to give up. But we have 13 gams left and we have to believe we can win all 13 games."

Washington lost despite getting a 300-yard passing game from Trent Green. Green was 27-of-54 for 383 yards and two touchdowns. The Redskins had 27 first downs to Seattle's 16 and 465 yards to the Seahawks' 299.

"Stats are stats," Seattle coach Dennis Erickson said. "But the scoreboard is the scoreboard. That's what it's all about."

"We had a lot of good performances, but we still didn't win," said Green, Washington's starter the past two weeks.

Watters ran 24 times for 146 yards and one touchdown, while Moon was 16-for-33 for 141 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions.

The Seahawks intercepted two passes by Green and also recovered a fumble that cost the Redskins a chance for a second touchdown.

Seattle's defense had three sacks, giving it 19 in three games. The Seahawks have outscored their first three opponents 95-28.

Broussard, 31, gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead 15 seconds into the game when he took David Akers' kickoff at the 10 and sprinted 90 yards untouched for a touchdown.

Leading 10-7 at halftime, the Seahawks scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 24-7 lead.

Watters scored on a 13-yard run with 2:22 gone in the second half after Darrin Smith intercepted a pass by Green on the Washington 19.

Moon fooled the Redskins badly on a misdirection play for Seattle's second touchdown of the quarter.

After a 37-yard run by Watters on a splendid spin move, Moon had the Redskins' defense guessing wrong. On first-and-10 from the 21, Washington thought Watters had the ball and followed him on a sweep. But Moon kept it and found Mike Pritchard wide open for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 8:12 left in the third quarter.

The Redskins then drove from their own 14 to the Seattle 14, but Darryl Williams forced a Terry Allen fumble, and Bellamy recovered.

The Redskins got their second TD on a 26-yard pass from Green to Michael Westbrook with 31 seconds left.

After Broussard's TD, the Redskins tied the score on Green's 36-yard touchdown pass to Westbrook with 6:09 left in the first quarter.

Westbrook caught seven passes for a career-high 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Todd Peterson gave the Seahawks their halftime lead with a 32-yard field goal with 1:11 left before halftime. He missed a 52-yard attempt with 5:02 gone in the second period.

The Redskins brought in Akers as their kicker this week after cutting Scott Blanton. Akers missed 49- and 47-yard attempts in the second quarter.

"Our kicker just didn't work out," Turner said. "We still have to solve our kicking problems."

Notes