SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Chargers didn’t need a 12th man against the Seattle Seahawks.
The blazing sun sure helped, especially when the temperature on the field at kickoff reached 120 degrees.
“Heat was a big issue — that’s the first time it’s ever happened to me,” safety Earl Thomas said after the Seahawks lost 30-21.
Seattle’s vaunted defense was on the field most of the game, unable to stop the Chargers. At one point, Thomas received an IV.
“You have to fight through it, next man up and try to get out there as quickly as possible,” he said.
The Chargers used an old, familiar combo — Philip Rivers to Antonio Gates — to upset the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks.
Gates had three touchdown catches, including a spectacular, one-handed grab, and the Chargers controlled the tempo to keep Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch off the field to beat the Seahawks 30-21 victory Sunday.
The 34-year-old Gates scored on catches of 8, 8 and 21 yards.
The 21-yarder was epic, as the star tight end split two defenders and extended for Rivers’ pass, reaching out with his left hand to gather it in. Flat on his back in the end zone, he held up the ball to show the referee he’d made the catch that gave San Diego a 27-14 lead late in the third quarter.
The three touchdown receptions tied Gates’ career high. Rivers was 28 of 37 for 284 yards.
Seattle was efficient when it had the ball, but it just didn’t have it enough as the Chargers dominated time of possession on a steamy afternoon at Qualcomm Stadium.
“They had twice as many plays as we did today,” coach Pete Carroll said. “It was a great job by Philip and their offense. Antonio Gates was phenomenal today. They were moving it like crazy and they just kept the ball away from us.”
San Diego (1-1) had blown an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead and lost its opener Monday night at Arizona. Seattle (1-1) had nine days to prepare after an impressive 20-point opening victory against Green Bay.
After Gates’ third scoring catch, Wilson moved the Seahawks 70 yards, capping the drive with a 14-yard touchdown throw to Marshawn Lynch to pull to 27-21.
Seattle turned the ball over on downs on its 10 in the closing minutes and San Diego’s Nick Novak kicked his third field goal, from 28 yards, with 16 seconds left.
San Diego used long drives all day to control play and wear out Seattle’s vaunted defense.
“It was hot today, but they were playing in it, also,” Carroll said. “Unfortunately, the game wasn’t balanced out. We had a ton of plays on defense that wears them down, too. It was a factor in the game, but I don’t think that was the deciding factor in this football game.”
Percy Harvin gave the Chargers a big gift when he fumbled the kickoff at the 28 after Novak’s 43-yard field goal gave the Chargers a 13-7 lead with 4:40 to go before halftime.
After consecutive 10-yard penalties gave the Chargers a first-and-goal from the 23, Rivers completed a 15-yard screen pass to Eddie Royal before evading pressure and hitting Gates for their second scoring hookup of the quarter.
Wilson wasted no time in leading the Seahawks 61 yards in five plays, hitting Robert Turbin on a 3-yard TD pass to pull to 20-14. Turbin also had a 32-yard catch and a 10-yard run on the drive.
San Diego running back Ryan Mathews was carted off the field with an apparent right knee injury early in the fourth quarter.
Rivers hit Gates on an 8-yard TD pass early in the second quarter.
Dwight Freeney sacked Wilson to force the Seahawks to punt on their first drive. Novak kicked a 50-yard field goal for San Diego.
The Seahawks came back with a three-play, 60-yard drive capped when Harvin took a pitch from Wilson, got the edge and ran 51 yards down the left sideline for a 7-3 lead. But Harvin had stepped on the sideline during the run and the NFL said after the game the score was “incorrectly confirmed.” The league said the ball should have been spotted at the 21-yard line.
Seattle 7 7 7 0–21
San Diego 3 17 7 3–30
First Quarter
SD–FG Novak 50, 2:52. Drive: 14 plays, 48 yards, 8:01. Key Plays: Rivers 3 pass to Woodhead on 3rd-and-2; Rivers 10 pass to Ry.Mathews on 3rd-and-1; Ry.Mathews 2 run on 3rd-and-1; Rivers 14 pass to Woodhead. San Diego 3, Seattle 0.
Sea–Harvin 51 run (Hauschka kick), 1:27. Drive: 3 plays, 60 yards, 1:25. Seattle 7, San Diego 3.
Second Quarter
SD–Gates 8 pass from Rivers (Novak kick), 12:05. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 4:22. Key Plays: Rivers 20 pass to Gates; Rivers 16 pass to Ry.Mathews; Rivers 14 pass to Royal; Rivers 14 pass to Allen. San Diego 10, Seattle 7.
SD–FG Novak 43, 4:40. Drive: 10 plays, 31 yards, 5:08. Key Plays: Rivers 12 pass to Allen; Rivers 12 pass to Allen on 3rd-and-5; Rivers 4 pass to Woodhead on 3rd-and-2; Rivers 12 pass to Royal. San Diego 13, Seattle 7.
SD–Gates 8 pass from Rivers (Novak kick), 1:04. Drive: 6 plays, 28 yards, 3:30. Key Plays: Stuckey fumble recovery (Harvin); Woodhead 13 run; Rivers 15 pass to Royal. San Diego 20, Seattle 7.
Sea–Turbin 3 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), :12. Drive: 5 plays, 69 yards, 0:52. Key Plays: Wilson 16 pass to Baldwin; Wilson 32 pass to Turbin; Turbin 10 run. San Diego 20, Seattle 14.
Third Quarter
SD–Gates 21 pass from Rivers (Novak kick), 3:01. Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:24. Key Plays: Rivers 19 pass to Gates; Rivers 12 run; Rivers 16 pass to Royal on 3rd-and-9; Irvin 12-yard personal foul penalty. San Diego 27, Seattle 14.
Sea–Lynch 14 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), :03. Drive: 8 plays, 70 yards, 2:58. Key Plays: Lynch 10 run; Wilson 15 pass to Kearse; Wilson 17 pass to Walters. San Diego 27, Seattle 21.
Fourth Quarter
SD–FG Novak 28, :16. Drive: 4 plays, -5 yards, 1:30. San Diego 30, Seattle 21.
A–67,916.
Sea SD
FIRST DOWNS 14 26
Rushing 4 7
Passing 9 17
Penalty 1 2
THIRD DOWN EFF 3-8 10-17
FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-1 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 288 377
Total Plays 40 75
Avg Gain 7.2 5.0
NET YARDS RUSHING 108 101
Rushes 13 37
Avg per rush 8.3 2.7
NET YARDS PASSING 180 276
Sacked-Yds lost 2-22 1-8
Gross-Yds passing 202 284
Completed-Att. 17-25 28-37
Had Intercepted 0 0
Yards-Pass Play 6.7 7.3
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 4-3-3 7-2-0
PUNTS-Avg. 4-53.3 3-41.3
Punts blocked 0 0
FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 94 6
Punt Returns 0-0 1-6
Kickoff Returns 6-94 1-0
Interceptions 0-0 0-0
PENALTIES-Yds 8-53 6-53
FUMBLES-Lost 2-1 3-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 17:45 42:15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Seattle, Harvin 2-45, Lynch 6-36, Wilson 2-18, Turbin 2-7, Lockette 1-2. San Diego, Woodhead 8-32, Ry.Mathews 11-31, Brown 7-21, Rivers 11-17.
PASSING–Seattle, Wilson 17-25-0-202. San Diego, Rivers 28-37-0-284.
RECEIVING–Seattle, Kearse 4-61, Lynch 4-27, Baldwin 3-35, Turbin 2-35, Walters 2-17, Miller 1-22, Harvin 1-5. San Diego, Gates 7-96, Royal 7-69, Allen 5-55, Woodhead 4-28, Brown 3-10, Ry.Mathews 2-26.
PUNT RETURNS–Seattle, None. San Diego, Royal 1-6.
KICKOFF RETURNS–Seattle, Harvin 3-68, Willson 2-17, Baldwin 1-9. San Diego, D.Johnson 1-0.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS–Seattle, Wagner 9-1-0, Wright 6-1-0, Chancellor 6-0-0, Sherman 6-0-0, E.Thomas 5-2-0, Burley 4-2-0, M.Smith 4-1-0, Maxwell 4-0-0, Bennett 3-2-1, McDaniel 3-2-0, Irvin 2-0-0, Mebane 2-0-0, K.Williams 2-0-0, Shead 1-1-0, Hill 1-0-0, Johnson 1-0-0, Lockette 1-0-0, Schofield 1-0-0. San Diego, Wright 5-2-0, Verrett 5-0-0, Ingram 4-1-1, Weddle 3-1-0, Butler 2-1-0, Marshall 2-1-0, Ajirotutu 2-0-0, Stuckey 2-0-0, S.Williams 2-0-0, Gilchrist 1-2-0, Te’o 1-2-0, Lissemore 1-1-0, Liuget 1-1-0, Freeney 1-0-1, Attaochu 1-0-0, Conner 1-0-0, Walker 1-0-0, T.Williams 1-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS–None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
OFFICIALS–Referee Pete Morelli, Ump Darrell Jenkins, HL Dana McKenzie, LJ Carl Johnson, FJ Buddy Horton, SJ Rob Vernatchi, BJ Dale Shaw, Replay Tommy Moore.
Time: 3:05.
