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What you need to know from 'Monday Night Football'

The Seattle Seahawks got a career-best rushing day from quarterback Russell Wilson and overcame a downpour of penalty flags in a 27-17 win over the Washington Redskins. Our takeaways:

  1. Russell Wilson continually beat the Redskins with his legs, rushing for 122 yards, the most for a quarterback in the history of Monday Night Football. Wilson ran for seven first downs and continually took advantage of a Washington defense that looked unprepared for a well-known facet of the quarterback's game.
  1. DeSean Jackson pretty much represented the whole of the Redskins offense, with receptions of 60 and 57 yards. The former went for a touchdown, the latter set up a field goal. Jackson has 19 plays of 50-plus yards since 2008, the most in football during that time.
  1. It was really impressive to watch the Seahawks' special teams. ESPN cameras followed Ricardo Lockette -- perhaps the NFL's best gunner -- as he blazed down the field to force a fair catch in the second quarter. Later, a beautifully placed punt by Jon Ryan was greeted by Jermaine Kearse, who beat coverage and tapped the ball out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Ryan capped an excellent night with a fake punt run for a first down.
  1. Percy Harvin had three (as in 1, 2, 3) touchdowns called back by penalty. The third penalty -- a fairly heinous unnecessary roughness call on guard James Carpenter -- wiped away a 41-yard score. Keep all Harvin fantasy owners in your heart tonight.
  1. Kirk Cousins didn't come close to replicating his performance against the Eagles in Week 3, but he wasn't the fiery train wreck we saw against the Giants on *Thursday Night Football*, either. He connected on two pretty deep balls to Jackson and did a better job reading coverages against the league's best defense. It wasn't a spectacular performance, but it did show some resilience.
  1. The Seahawks remain prone to inconsistency on offense. The same unit that looked unstoppable on the game's opening possession also had nine three-and-outs.
  1. The Seahawks continue to play extremely sloppy football. Seattle was flagged for 13 penalties for 90 yards. The offensive line had a particularly rough day with several holding penalties and Carpenter's personal foul. You just don't expect that from the best team in football.
  1. We were impressed when Wilson sprinted 35 yards across the field before he connected on a 36-yard pass to tight end Cooper Helfet. Then Wilson effectively ended the game by doing this ...

That boy can play.

The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps every Week 5 game and unveils our long-awaited choice for Team of Around The NFL. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL Now.

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