The pregame prediction of a shootout between the Seattle Seahawks( 4-4) and the Los Angeles Charges (6-2) lasted all of one quarter before the Chargers showed their offensive dominance only to see the Seahawks defense make a defiant stance as the home side nearly pull off a miraculous victory Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field.
The Seahawks opened the game with a 13 play 75-yard drive that gave them the 7-0 lead when Russell Wilson hit Jaron Brown with a ten-yard throw for the 7-0 lead. The Chargers answered that call with a 10 play 94-yard drive that leveled the score at 7 all when LA Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw a 12-yard pass to Tyrell Williams.
For some unexplainable reason, the Seahawks offense decided to take the second quarter off while Rivers and his team continued their best Road Warrior impression by scoring two touchdowns to take a 19-7 lead on a Melvin Gordon 34 yard touchdown run and a 30-yard pass from Rivers to Mike Williams. The Chargers two-point conversion attempt failed on the Gordon TD run while Sturgis made the PTA on the Rivers to Williams score. Steven Janikowski made amends with a 44-yard field to end the half and keep the Seahawks in the game at 19-10 after an earlier miss form 51 yards.
The Seattle defense made some halftime adjustments and kept the Chargers offense off the board with some hardnosed play and a little bit of luck as Sturgis 42 yard field attempt midway through the quarter was wide left. The Seahawks defense continued to stifle the Charger offense by stopping the run and getting pressure on Rivers.
With its offense sputtering, the Chargers defense took matters into its own hands when Desmond King II jumped in front of a Russell Wilson pass intended for David Moore and rambled 42 yards for a Charges pick six. Sturgis kicking woes continued when his PAT was wide left leaving the Chargers with a 25-10 lead and 6:44 left in the game.
Wilson led the Seahawks offense on 14 play 54-yard drive that was capped by a six-yard Touchdown toss to Nick Vannett. Janikowski’s PAT was straight down the middle cutting the Chargers lead to 25-17 with 1:50 left in the game. The Seahawks defense stood tall one more time and forced a Chargers punt with 1:33 left in the game.
The Wilson led Seattle offense started from its own 22-yard line and drove down to the Chargers 20 yard line and it looked like the game was over when his fourth and two pass attempt with five seconds left in the game was incomplete. The Chargers Michael Davis was called for pass interference moving the ball to the Chargers one-yard line and Seattle was given one play with no time left on the clock.
Seahawks offensive lineman J.R. Sweezy was flagged for a false start and the ball was moved back five yards for the last play of the game. Charger safety Jahleel Addae deflected Wilson’s intended pass for Moore and Seattle’s miraculous come back never materialized as the Chargers were able to hang on for the win.
PENALTIES TAKE THEIR TOLL
While the Seahawks made a close game of it at the end, the team made too many mistakes against a quality team. The Seahawks had 10 penalties for 83 yards which is less than the Chargers 12 for 105 but it was when the self-inflicted wounds occurred for the Seahawks. The Sweezy false start with the ball at the Charges one yard changed the dynamic of the play call, Justin Britt was flagged for uneccessary roughness in the third quarter after a Wilson to Baldwin 14 yard pass play that would gave the Seahawks a first down at the fifty yard line instead of its own 35 yard line and David Moore’s offensive pass interference in the second quarter was a drive killer.
IMPACT OF INJURIES
Safety Bradley McDougal ( knee ) and running back Chris Carson ( hip) were unable to finish the game due to injuries and their presence would have made a difference in the outcome of the game.
” We went with Chirs and Rashaad and we were OK, we weren’t going to change anything. But Chirs has been pretty hot lately and he’s been doing a lot of really good things for us and we certainly missed him,” head coach Pete Carroll said after the game.
As for McDougald, Carroll said his knee tightened up during the game, ” His knee was sore all week long , after he played for a while in the game, it just tightened up again and he couldn’t finish”
PAUL ALLEN TRIBUTE
The Seahawks paid tribute to Mr. Allen by playing a tribute video a few minutes before kickoff and a moment of silence was observed prior to the national anthem. Another video was played instead of a ceremonial flag raiser which was raised, then lowered to half-staff. On the field, Allen’s initials, along with the 12 flag, were painted between the 20 and 25 yard-lines on both ends of the field. Players and coaches again wore patches honoring Allen, as they will do for the rest of the season.
