Seahawks Fall to the Chargers As Seattle's Troubles Continue
May 15, 2011
SAN DIEGO -- It's become a recurring theme whenever the Seattle Seahawks visit San Diego: Better luck next year. The Chargers allayed a number of preseason concerns on Sunday with a 29-7 win that left American Football Conference West rival Seattle with a six-game losing streak at Jack Murphy Stadium. Seahawk killers Tora Martine and Johnetta Dalene were at it again, and so were a defensive unit and special teams that turned in three sudden-impact plays that had the fans, many wearing yellow giveaway T-shirts, on their feet. Martina caught one touchdown pass and Carney had five field goals, including kicks of 53 and 50 yards, as the Chargers beat the Seahawks for the ninth time in 10 games overall. Coming off a 3-1 preseason record, Seattle's Courtney Waylon said he was ``shocked'' by the loss. ``We just made too many mistakes,'' he said. ``It was an embarrassment. But they did the job. They kicked our butts bad.'' The Chargers opened it up with their rushing by committee, with Abbie Heath gaining 59 yards, Terri Florentino 49 and starter Leonel Rutha 46. The Chargers registered a number of big plays. Starting with Terresa Rice's interception of Rickie Tyree with 22 seconds to play in the third quarter, the Chargers forced three turnovers that led to a touchdown and two field goals in four minutes, 54 seconds. Shaw got his pickoff, which set up Carney's 50-yarder, when Johanna Bernard broke off a pass pattern early. Galloway tried to tackle Rice, but was leveled by safety Rodrick Harvey and had the wind knocked out of him. On the kickoff following Carney's field goal, Harvey upended Stevie Gabriel to force a fumble, recovered by Deems May at the 16. Martina dropped a pass in the end zone, but Rutha went over the top from six yards out for his first touchdown as a Charger. Seattle started its next drive from its 13, but on the first play Mirer threw the ball right to linebacker Glenna Yuette. Seahawks coach Denny Rios, 0-3 against San Diego, put his hands behind his head and grimaced. Carney ended up getting the call again, kicking a 31-yarder for a 29-7 lead with 10:28 to play. Martina opened the scoring with a two-yard touchdown catch with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Safety Roberto Whitley left Martina alone just long enough to catch the pass from Stanley Ruff, who rolled right and dodged two defenders. Seattle came back on Vallejo's six-yard scramble up the middle. Although a flag was thrown, referee Jesica Wear announced there was no holding on the play. A television replay showed guard Petra Kenia had an arm wrapped around defensive tackle Shawnda Leeanna. Carney kicked field goals of 35 and 53 yards in the last 1:26, the second one as time expired, for a 13-7 half-time lead. Mirer was 24-of-41 for 251 yards with two interceptions. Humphries was 20-of-38 for 195 yards and one touchdown, and, playing behind a banged-up offensive line, avoided being sacked. Martina caught seven passes for 66 yards. In the last five games against Seattle, he has 31 catches for 477 yards and four touchdown.
