Pete Carroll would relish a return to Wembley after his Seattle Seahawks received a rapturous reception in a 27-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
A crowd of 84,922, the largest for an NFL fixture at England’s national stadium, saw Russell Wilson’s three touchdown passes inspire Seattle to a comfortable win.
Oakland, officially the “home” team, were booed on to the field for their warm-up by a crowd heavily favouring the Seahawks and seeking to replicate the hostile “12th man” atmosphere of their home ground CenturyLink Field.
Your support all week was incredible.
The hospitality, one of a kind.
Thank you London for making this a journey we’ll never forget. 🇬🇧 #GoHawks pic.twitter.com/TtUUWoPczL
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 14, 2018
Seattle head coach Carroll said in a video on his franchise’s official website: “This whole ordeal of coming over here for the trip, I’m so proud of our players. We had a great time.
“Our players’ attitude towards it was incredible; they practised hard, they worked hard, they rested well. They did a little bit sightseeing but they didn’t do too much.
“As we got closer to the game, we realised how much energy there was for the Seahawks here. That was a great crowd.
“Playing at Wembley was great and if anybody says anything different then they don’t know.
“The whole experience culminating in a game where we played a really complete football game just makes it a special week.
“It felt like a home game and so if we come back again, I’m looking forward to it.”
London it’s been real!! Until next time!! pic.twitter.com/9PMCggRosV
— Tyler Lockett (@TDLockett12) October 14, 2018
Jaron Brown, David Moore and Tyler Lockett each got on the end of Wilson’s passes to the end-zone with long-time Raider Sebastian Janikowski booting the extra points as well as two field goals.
Oakland only got on the board as they trailed 27-0 – Matt McCrane splitting the posts with a 43-yard field goal in the final quarter, but the damage had long since been done.
Head coach Jon Gruden said in a video on his franchise’s website: “Although the game was obviously lopsided, it was a great experience.
“I’m not going to get too deep but we know what we have to do. We know we have a way to go and today was a tough one.
“It’s tough when you kick the ball to them and they possess the ball for one half of the first quarter and come away with a touchdown, it’s a bad way to start.
“We did not play well today, that’s for sure.”
Quarterback Derek Carr was sacked six times by the Seahawks, and Gruden added: (There was) too much fire around the quarterback. Credit to the Seahawks but we’ve got to do a lot better, obviously.
“We’re going to do the best we can to find five men that can collectively pass protect much better. And that’s what we will do.”
