A Recipe for Beating San Diego

Did San Diego’s Week One Monday night loss on the road in Kansas City offer any insights as to how Seattle can beat the Chargers today in Seahawks Stadium?

 Not really. That game was an ugly win, a case of hare beats tortoise. San Diego generally outplayed Kansas City, but the Chiefs made a few big plays that swung the contest their way, with a big assist from the weather.

The Chiefs struggled to pressure Philip Rivers. Despite a driving rainstorm, Rivers threw for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns. Kansas City sacked him only once, and forced one fumble. San Diego’s ground game performed respectably, gaining about 100 yards.

Yet, the Chiefs’ D stopped the Chargers when it counted, shutting them down in the red zone at the end of the game to avert overtime.

Kansas City’s offense ran well (about 140 rushing yards, 1 TD), but Matt Cassell threw for a mere 68 yards and one score.

Both teams struggled to sustain drives. San Diego punted eight times; while Kansas City ceded possession nine times on fourth down.

Chiefs wideout Dexter McCluster’s 94-yard punt return provided the margin of victory.

None of this amounts to a recipe for victory today. We can’t rely on rain to work as an equalizer, nor can we count on big plays to save us from sloppy defense or anemic offense.

Last week’s pitiless evisceration of Jacksonville shows what the Chargers can do when they’re firing on all cylinders.

On offense, the Seahawks need to establish the run, sustain drives, avoid turnovers, score, drain the clock, and stick with a balanced attack.

Seattle’s run defense has looked impressive so far this year, but San Diego’s ground attack is fierce. If we can hold the line of scrimmage against their tough O-line, and shut down Mike Tolbert and Darren Sproles, we could justifiably boast one of the league’s best run defenses.

Last week, we let Kyle Orton look like Kurt Warner. Seattle can’t afford to let Rivers operate with similar impunity. Our defense needs some innovative blitz packages to pressure the passer, punish him physically, and force him to make mistakes.

To put it quite bluntly, San Diego is a better team with more talented athletes and wiser coaches. Winning today will require a truly inspired performance from every Seahawk, including the 12^th Man.