Seahawks Fly Into San Diego Looking For Second Win
By Dave Thomas
Following their 36-16 dismantling of Green Bay last Thursday evening in the season opener, the Seattle Seahawks fly into San Diego this Sunday looking to pick up where they left off just over a week ago.
The defending Super Bowl champions looked in 2013 form when they took apart the Packers last week, something many around the NFL (especially the San Francisco 49ers) can't be happy about. While some may have thought Seattle would come back to reality this season, it appears Russell Wilson and company are serious about defending their first-ever championship.
As for the Chargers, heartache came in the form of an 18-17 setback to the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale Monday evening.
Leading 17-6 in the second half, San Diego's defense could not keep Carson Palmer and company from scoring 12 unanswered points, as the home team avenged a 12-9 preseason loss to the Bolts just weeks earlier.
Seattle Appears Strong Once Again
The Seahawks look to be just as strong, if not stronger, on both sides of the ball this time around.
In the win over Green Bay, Wilson finished with a quarterback rating of 110.9 (2 TD's), while running back Marshawn Lynch rushed for 110 yards and a pair of TD's. In all, Seattle amassed close to 400 yards of total offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, strong safety Kam Chancellor (eight solo tackles) and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (six solo tackles) led the way, respectively. Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers was held to a scant 189 yards passing on the night, something that San Diego's Philip Rivers hopes to surpass this Sunday afternoon.
When you take a look at Seattle's schedule over the next two months, it is not over-hyping this team to think they could very well be undefeated or just having a lone loss by the time Halloween rolls around, something that has to be a scary thought for the rest of the league.
After visiting San Diego, the Seahawks have a Super Bowl rematch at home versus Denver (Sept. 21). By far, that looks to be Seattle's toughest test anytime soon.
The schedule goes relatively soft after that, with games at Washington (Oct. 6), home to Dallas (Oct. 12), at St. Louis (Oct. 19) and at Carolina (Oct. 26). And it doesn't get overly interesting until the two dates with the rival Niners, set for Nov. 27 (in San Francisco) and Dec. 14 (in Seattle).
For Charger players and fans, an upset win at home this Sunday could go a long way in giving everyone confidence that blowing an 11-point lead in Arizona will not become the norm again this season.
In 2013, San Diego was unfortunately all too familiar with not being able to finish games.
For more Chargers news and updates, visit Chargers Central.
Dave Thomas has been covering the sports world since his first job as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper in Pennsylvania back in 1989. He has covered a Super Bowl, college bowl games, MLB, NBA and more. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
