The Seattle Seahawks (3-1) might have slipped against the Washington Commanders as heavy favorites last week, but they made sure that wouldn’t happen against the Los Angeles Chargers (0-4) this week… even though they tried their hardest to lose.
Seattle forced four turnovers off of the Chargers, including three on Justin Herbert. What was a 27-6 lead for the Seahawks became a scary close 30-23 win after some insane penalty issues and some rare defensive miscues. The offense was not nearly as good
as the 30-point performance suggested, with Sam Darnold throwing a first-play interception and looking shaky in other stages of the game. Darnold did throw touchdowns to Emanuel Wilson and Tory Horton, while Wilson and Rashid Shaheed added rushing TDs.
Former Chargers pass rusher and Seahawks star Uchenna Nwosu sealed a win/held off a ridiculous fourth quarter collapse by strip-sacking Herbert, with Derick Hall recovering for the game-clinching play.
There were 30 accepted penalties for a combined 280 yards. Many of those flags were justified, while some were plain ticky-tack to the point of fictitious. Make no mistake about it, though: Seattle played sloppily and almost paid the price from a comfortable winning position.
Seahawks vs. Chargers 1st half recap
The Chargers started on offense after the Seahawks won the coin toss. Drake Thomas immediately got the crowd pumped with an interception off Justin Herbert on the game’s opening play!
Sam Darnold’s first pass was picked off by Tuli Tuipolotu. Two plays, two throws, two interceptions from the starting quarterbacks.
A sloppy start by both offenses, but the Chargers were able to turn this takeaway into a field goal. 3-0 Chargers.
After Seattle went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Chargers were poised to get the ball back. Unfortunately for them, Derius Davis signaled for a fair catch and failed on the “catch” part of the assignment. Connor O’Toole scooped it up for the second takeaway of the quarter by the Seahawks!
On the next play, there was no disaster to be had! A screen pass from Darnold to Emanuel Wilson
The rest of this quarter was largely forgettable. There were 10 possessions in total in the first 15 minutes thanks to the turnovers and rapid-fire punts. Drops, ticky-tack roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and lackluster rushing attacks defined one slog of an opening stanza. Things didn’t really get much better into the second quarter, which made for very tough viewing.
Seattle looked like it would punt yet again on 3rd and 15 after Sam Darnold took a sack earlier in the drive. When Jaxon Smith-Njigba is on the field, anything is possible. Darnold threw a dart to JSN for 28 yards to move into Chargers territory. Emanuel Wilson had some effective runs and a 3rd and 1 conversion to move the stick. At the Chargers 28, Rashid Shaheed turned a left-sided toss play into the equivalent of a punt return. Shaheed’s first offensive touchdown as a Seahawk put the champs up 13-3 after Jason Myers missed a PAT.
Any thought of the Chargers getting a first down on their next drive evaporated quickly. They were gifted great field position after Jason Myers had an illegal kick short of the landing zone, but it didn’t matter because Ernest Jones IV came on the blitz.
On the other side of the two-minute warning, the Chargers had a chance to add some points before the break. Justin Herbert threw a pass directly into Ernest Jones for another interception. I can’t even fathom what inspired Herbert to throw this.
After a Sam Darnold fake double screen and pass down the middle to A.J. Barner, Emanuel Wilson waltzed in for his second touchdown of the afternoon. 20-3 Seahawks.
To Herbert’s credit, he did scramble out of pressure on 3rd and long for a 26-yard gain into field goal range. A silly headbutt by Nick Emmanwori gifted the Chargers a much shorter field goal attempt to end the half, which Cameron Dicker converted. 20-6 Seahawks.
Seahawks vs. Chargers 2nd half recap
Seattle came out firing in the second half after a sputtering first half. An 8-play, 68-yard drive had a mixture of positive run plays and double-digit gains to Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Faced with 3rd and 1 deep in the red zone, a slant to Tory Horton easily scored for his first touchdown of the season! 27-6 Seahawks.
The Chargers pretty much had to score or else any thought of coming back would be over. Justin Herbert led a penalty-aided, 11-play, 81-yard drive to get Los Angeles in the end zone. Hebert survived a Leonard Williams hit on 4th down to complete a juggling pass to Orande Gadsden to keep the series alive. Two plays later, Herbert’s shovel pass to Kimani Vidal was finished off powerfully by the running back, who fought through contact for a touchdown. 27-13 Seahawks.
Seattle caught a big break when Jason Myers missed a 53-yard field goal, which would’ve given the Chargers a short field and a chance to make it 27-20. Tuli Tuipolotu, however, was dinged for a rare leverage penalty for holding down Grey Zabel and then jumping to block the kick. Myers made good on the 35-yarder to make it 30-13 Seahawks.
In a drive that almost defied belief, the Chargers got back into the game with the most penalty-aided sequences ever seen. DeMarcus Lawrence was flagged for roughing the passer on a second and long, giving the Chargers a new set of downs. After a Nick Emmanwori sack and a delay of game, the Chargers faced 3rd and 24 and threw a screen pass just to get the ball out of Herbert’s hands. Guess what happened? Derick Hall was called for roughing the passer as Herbert took a shot to the ribs. Omarion Hampton eventually scored a 1-yard touchdown to make it 30-20 Seahawks after a nine-minute drive. Leonard Williams suffered an ankle injury that made matters worse for Seattle.
Seattle picked up one first down and then punted away, but at least the Seahawks backed the Chargers up. Herbert had 4th and 7 to convert or else it’s game over, and he escaped DeMarcus Lawrence for a deep shot to Quentin Johnston, which was caught for a 44-yard gain. Another long throw to Tre Harris put the Chargers in field goal range without having to burn any timeouts. Harbaugh had Cameron Dicker kick a field goal to make it 30-23 Seahawks with over two minutes left.
A HUGE late hit penalty on Justin Eboigbe gifted Seattle a first down. Sam Darnold gave himself up and Eboigbe hit him late for the 15-yard flag. Just a killer, but the Chargers still had two timeouts and the two-minute warning. Darnold’s rollout to Barner was dropped to put the game at the two-minute mark. On 3rd and 8 with the game pretty much at stake, Darnold was sacked on a blitz.
With 1:42 and no timeouts left, the Chargers had an extraordinary chance to tie or even win the game with a two-point conversion. A run for Vidal gained nine, a catch by Gadsden moved the sticks. A strip sack by Uchenna Nwosu was recovered by Derick Hall. One more penalty for good measure was called, but this one was on the Chargers. What a mess. 30-23 Seahawks final.
Seahawks injury report
- DL Leonard Williams suffered a left foot injury in the fourth quarter.
Full Seahawks-Chargers box score
Next week’s opponent
The Seahawks stay at home for a big divisional matchup with the San Francisco 49ers (4-0) on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1:25 pm PT on FOX.
