NFL season begins

The Seattle Seahawks gave an early indication of how tough it will be to displace them as Super Bowl champions with a dominant 36-16 win over the Green Bay Packers, as the new NFL season kicked off on Thursday in Seattle.

Marshawn Lynch rushed for two touchdowns, quarterback Russell Wilson threw for two more, and Seattle's defense was also rock solid in the defending champs' comfortable victory in front of a boisterous home crowd at CenturyLink Field.

The game started slowly for the hosts, with the Packers taking a 7-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. But Seattle's quarterback then threw a 33-yard touchdown (30.2 meters) to Ricardo Lockette in the second to move ahead.

Seattle's Lynch scored his first touchdown to give the hosts a 17-10 lead at halftime before the Seahawks added a field goal and a safety in the third quarter to go up 22-10. Lynch's second score of the night made it 29-10 early in the fourth.

Then Green Bay's quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a three-yard touchdown to Randall Cobb to give the Packers some hopes of a comeback, but Wilson answered with a drive of his own and tossed a 15-yard pass to Derrick Coleman to make sure of the game, taking the score to 36-16.

"We played physical and made some big plays," said Seahawks quarterback Wilson after the game. "Our receivers had a great night."

After thumping the Denver Broncos 43-8 to win the Super Bowl in February, the Seahawks are vying to become the first back-to-back champions since the New England Patriots managed it in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. They have now won 16 out of their last 17 games at home in Seattle.

"We are off to a good start," said Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. "But that is just one game. We are just getting started."

al/hc (AFP, Reuters)