Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes as the Oakland Raiders endured another miserable outing at Wembley following a 27-3 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks.
Four years ago, Oakland head coach Dennis Allen was fired following a one-sided loss to the Miami Dolphins in the English capital, and their latest visit proved just as humbling.
Jaron Brown, David Moore and Tyler Lockett were the grateful recipients of Wilson’s throws, with long-time Raider Sebastian Janikowski booting the extra points as well as two field goals.
All eyes were on Marshawn Lynch in his first game against Seattle since reversing his retirement decision last year to represent his hometown team Oakland.
Lynch was a key component of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning team in 2014 but he was on the margins against his former employers, contributing just 45 rushing yards in 13 carries.
Oakland, officially the “home” team, were booed onto 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.
An efficient first drive cheered the majority of the crowd, capped by Wilson’s five-yard touchdown pass to Brown and Janikowski’s extra point against his former club.
The Raiders went three and out on their first drive and their second ended with Frank Clark forcing a fumble from quarterback Derek Carr.
On the subsequent drive Wilson was unable to collect the snap cleanly but recovered superbly, feinting to throw and stepping inside before picking out Moore in the end zone to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Oakland’s woes continued as Branden Jackson sacked Carr to force a 48-yard field goal attempt, which Matt McCrane pulled wide left. Janikowski was more successful from 44 yards to put Seattle 17-0 up as the game reached half-time.
Things did not get much better for Oakland at the start of the third quarter, with Carr sacked twice early on before the Seahawks again extended their lead with an easy field goal.
That proved to be the only score in a slow third quarter but Wilson and Seattle put the game to bed at the start of the fourth.
Wilson stepped out from under pressure to pick out Lockett, with Janikowski knocking over the extra point to open up a 27-0 lead.
The Raiders finally opened their account in the final quarter, but the match was already well out of their reach by the time McCrane kicked the field-goal from 43 yards.
A wretched evening was compounded for the Raiders when Carr, sacked twice in the build-up to the kick, was forced from the field clutching his arm.