Seattle Seahawks defeat Detroit Lions in NFC wild card game

Jan 7 (The Sports Xchange) - Thomas Rawls ran for 161 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown as the Seattle Seahawks continued their home playoff success with a 26-6 victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday.

Seattle advanced to an NFC Divisional playoff game at Atlanta after winning their 10th consecutive home postseason contest. The Seahawks have not lost a postseason game at home since 2005.

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The winner of Sunday's Green Bay-New York Giants game travel to Dallas to face the top-seeded Cowboys in the other NFC Divisional game.

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, playing without a knee brace for the first time since Week 3, completed 22 of 30 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Rawls had 107 of his 161 rushing yards before halftime and broke the game open with a 4-yard touchdown run with 8:49 remaining. That score, which was followed by a failed point-after kick, put Seattle up 19-6.

Rawls had 27 carries on Saturday after an injury-plagued regular season that saw him accumulate just 349 rushing yards.

The Lions failed to get across midfield on their next possession, and Seattle ate up almost four minutes of clock before Wilson threw his second touchdown pass to put the game away with 3:36 remaining.

Detroit held Seattle to one touchdown over the first three quarters and pulled within 10-6 on Matt Prater's 53-yard field goal with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

Seattle's Steven Hauschka kicked a 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

Prater, who booted a 51-yarder just before halftime, became the first kicker in NFL history to make two field goals of at least 50 yards in a playoff game.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 18 of 32 passes for 205 yards for the Lions, who have lost their last nine playoff games -- an NFL record -- and are 1-11 in postseason play since 1957.

Detroit's only playoff win in a span of nearly 60 years came in 1992 over Dallas.

The Lions had only 231 yards of offense. Detroit scored only one second-half touchdown during its season-ending four-game losing streak.

Wilson threw a pair of highlight-worthy touchdown passes to Paul Richardson and Doug Baldwin. Richardson's one-handed catch of a 4-yard touchdown was one of two receptions the wide receiver made with one hand while a defender was called for pass interference.

Wilson finished off his day by throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, who reached out to take the ball away from intended target Jermaine Kearse with 3:36 remaining.

Baldwin caught 11 passes for 104 yards, while Richardson added three receptions for 48 yards and the touchdown.

Seattle advanced to the divisional round for the fifth year in a row and play a playoff game in Atlanta for the second time since the 2012 postseason. The Falcons beat the Seahawks 30-28 at the Georgia Dome in a 2012 divisional game. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)