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Packers take 7-3 1st quarter lead over Seahawks

SEATTLE -- John Kuhn dived for a 2-yard touchdown and the Green Bay Packers took a 7-3 first-quarter lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFL opener Thursday night.

Both teams were clearly rusty in the opening quarter. The Packers erred on Seattle's opening drive when Mike Daniels ran into punter Jon Ryan, giving Seattle a first down.

Percy Harvin gained 13 yards on the next play and the series ended with Steven Hauschka's 35-yard field goal to give the Seahawks the lead.

On Green Bay's ensuing series, Seattle's Earl Thomas fumbled a punt return to hand the ball back to the Packers. Aaron Rodgers led the team down to the 2. Kuhn punched it in for the early lead.

Thomas was made Seattle's primary punt returner this season earlier this week even though he hadn't done the job since college.

Rodgers, who said this week he'd combat the deafening noise at CenturyLink Field by using sign language to call plays, completed six of eight passes for 34 yards.

It was the first meeting between the teams since the infamous "Fail Mary" game two years ago. A disputed touchdown throw from then-rookie Russell Wilson to Golden Tate as the clock wound down gave Seattle the 14-12 victory and paved the way to a resolution between the league and its locked-out game officials.

This time around, both teams are favored to win their divisions and push each other for the NFC title.

Wilson completed five of six passes for 29 yards in the first quarter.

The Seahawks celebrated their Super Bowl title with a pregame concert featuring Soundgarden and Pharrell Williams, then raised the championship banner.

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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL