The San Diego Chargers (5-2) will visit the Seattle Seahawks(4-3) Sunday afternoon for a 1:05 p.m kickoff after a four-year break. The last time the two teams faced off against each other was 2014 when the Charges were still playing in San Diego and prevailed 30 to 21.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN:
(On what he sees out of the Seahawks and how they’ve been playing this season)
They look like one of the hottest teams in the league right now, winning four out of the last five (with) the way that they are playing defense collectively and creating turnovers. Offensively, Russell (Wilson) had a perfect quarterback rating last week, they are rushing the ball as good as anyone in the league.
A hot team, very dangerous right now. I’ve been to Seattle. I know what it’s like to play there. The fans do an outstanding job with that crowd noise. It’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us. I think it’s one that will be a good test to see exactly where we’re at.”
(On what has stood out about Phillip Rivers this season)
“His conditioning. He’s in great condition. He came back this offseason, he looked a little different to me than when I saw him in the first offseason. You mentioned his age, he will be 37 this season but he’s done an outstanding job of connecting intentionally, connecting with his teammates and being a leader.
Guys respond to that. He leads them by example, but he also can get vocal. I just think he came back in great shape. This is our second season together (and) we have a little bit of stability this year. We weren’t moving and looking for places to live and trying to decide if you’re going to live here, live there. Everyone’s settled in, everything’s not a first. I just think a lot of guys doing their job around him is allowing him to have his best season ever. It’s definitely a group effort. It’s not just a one man show, I want to be clear about that.”
(On Brandon Mebane and Russell Okung’s impact)
“They’re solid, glad to have them. Mebane is a captain on our team, he’s on that defensive line. Russell Okung is a captain on our team. He’s one of the better left tackles in the game, very dependable. We’re definitely a better football team with those two.”
SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH PETE CARROLL
(On the upcoming game against the Los Angeles Chargers)
“Okay, well here we go. Wednesday is upon us and it’s time to kick this thing into high gear for this week. We’re playing a really good football team. The guys have been really good. They’ve been on it. They’ve been winning for a good while now. You can go back into the end of last year when they got going and a four-game win streak now. Playing tough, playing good defense, scoring on offense, really solid team. This is a really difficult challenge with a great quarterback.
I can’t say enough about how good this guy is. He’s having a great year. He’s almost completing 70% of his passes, and they’re doing it in a nice, balanced offense too because they’re running the ball well. Their running backs are averaging over five yards a carry and it just makes it really hard. Very similar to what we saw last week in a really experienced quarterback and a good running game.
These guys are on it. Probably the biggest extent of the issue is that they’ve got a really good receiving group too and they’re big and they can make the plays and they’ve got great averages if you look at it so really, there’s nowhere to turn. We’ve just got to play great to have a chance to win.”
(On Philip Rivers)
“He’s so smart. You just can’t fool the guy. He just sees everything. He’s got great sense. That’s kind of where it starts, but he also has extremely great accuracy. He throws the ball in all kinds of situations whether he’s in trouble or not. He’s not a guy that’s going to run around a lot, but he moves really adeptly in the pocket and then he finds ways to make great throws. We saw him in preseason.
He made a couple of great throws in about a six-play sequence, but he’s doing it. He’s doing a great job to get the ball out so you can’t sack him, because he’s so smart and so fast with the football. Just, as hard as it gets.”
(On the offensive line)
“I think the sense we have for who we’ve become has exceeded (expectations). It’s really clear what we’re trying to do and we’re a little bit unique in how we’re going about it. Our ability to kind of capture that – and we’re pretty clear about how we’re going about it – that’s surprised me a little bit.
I had hoped it would be here even earlier, but I think that it’s so clear and we’re so direct on how we’re going to try to play these games and that’s a surprise. It’s a pleasant surprise.”
(On what the success of the defense can be attributed to)
“I think it has to do with a couple of things. The experienced guys setting the tone and the expectation of what it takes and how we have to go about the details of it because run defense in particular, it’s always about discipline.
That’s repetition, clear expectations of what you want and the standards you set and then the way that the repetitions go will allow guys to learn how to do their stuff and I think the messaging from Ken (Norton Jr.) on throughout – Clint (Hurtt), Andre (Curtis), John (Glenn) – all the guys, has to be really solidly consistent as well. The point really gets hammered home when your leaders make that point clear and they stand for it. That’s Bobby (Wagner) and K.J. (Wright) and J. (Jarran) Reed and those guys. They’ve done a great job to set things in motion.”
(On Tyler Lockett’s spike in touchdowns)
“That’s a good question. I feel like we’re utilizing him really well. I think he’s getting the good opportunities. He’s had phenomenal throws, but the concepts of him getting open and running through stuff, he’s really, really fast and he has great on the field speed and ability to accelerate to catch up with the ball.
I think it’s just using him and I would go back, you’ll hear me – it goes back to the running game too. We continue to run it and can work the field a little bit more so because of that. But really, he’s a terrific player. He’s such a natural athlete and football player that you’ve just got to give him chances and we’ve been able to give him good opportunities so far.”
