It’s hard to say that the Monday Night Football encounter with the Washington Redskins was a difficult one for the Seattle Seahawks, as the defending Super Bowl champions came away with a 27-17 victory, led by non other than the constantly improving Russell Wilson, which could have been much bigger if it wasn’t for three touchdowns by Percy Harvin being called back.

Wilson was close to perfect against a Redskins defense (and team in general) still finding it’s way under a new head coach. Wilson was 18-of-24 for 201 when throwing the ball and rushed for 122 yards, including a touchdown. He got to 85 of those rushing yards on scrambles, but was also very accurate when pressure came to him, even though he was sacked three times. He completed 6-of-8 for 95 yards and a touchdown when under duress.

Earl Thomas thinks there might have been something other than simply calling the game as they see it going on, although he didn’t go into details, leaving his suggestion vague enough to not get punished by the league, probably: I just think it’s ‘Monday Night Football.’ You know, the fans are watching and everybody wants to see a good game, so they’re going to try to make it as close as possible. It’s a business.

The first touchdown taken away from the Seahawks was early in the second quarter. They were already up 7-0, and Percy Harvin ran the ball 16 yards for a touchdown, but it was nullified because of a James Carpenter holding call. On the next play, a short dump off from Wilson turned into a 26-yard reception and touchdown by the elusive Harvin, but this time a false start by Harvin himself was the reason for the canceling of the score. The Seahawks had to settle for a field goal instead.

In the fourth quarter, early on, with the Seahawks ahead by one touchdown, Harvin scored another touchdown, this time connecting with Russell Wilson on a deep pass for a 41-yard play. Yet the Seahawks were taken back once more. Why? Because James Carpenter was called for hitting a player while he was on the ground. The Seahawks still ended up scoring a touchdown on that drive which lasted 7 minutes and 33 seconds, as Russell Wilson showed incredible balance and poise to find Marshawn Lynch for the 9-yard touchdown pass.

The Redskins didn’t get a bad game from Kirk Cousins. He didn’t throw any interceptions against a very difficult defense and especially secondary to face, completing 21-of-36 for 283 yards and two touchdowns. The deep throwing worked very well for him, connecting five times with DeSean Jackson, who had five receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown. Andre Roberts also caught one touchdown pass, while Pierre Garcon was limited to just two catches, which got Richard Sherman talking again.

The running game was the bigger problem for the Redskins, or the offensive line and blocking on a bigger scale. The Redskins were held to just 32 yards on 17 carries, including Alfred Morris with just 29 yards on 13 attempts. The third-year running back has rushed for less yards with each game that he has played this season, beginning with 91 yards on week 1, and currently has just 345 yards with three touchdowns through the first five games.

This could have been a blowout, but three calls on touchdowns changed the whole game and gave the Redskins a chance to remain close, even though this was never really tight between the two teams. This was the first road win for the Seahawks this season, showing it’s not just about what happens on their home field, but more than anything it was another terrific performance from Russell Wilson, who simply can’t be ignored when discussing the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

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