On Sunday in Seattle, Philip Rivers became the 4th quarterback in NFL history to start 200 consecutive games. For the 112th time in that stretch he led the Chargers to a win.
Rivers also tied Eli Manning for the 11th-most regular season wins in NFL history with the Bolts’ 25-17 win over the Seahawks but, like most of the others, it did not come without consternation.
The Seahawks scored on their opening drive when Russell Wilson hit Jaron Brown for a 10-yard touchdown. The rest of the 1st half belonged to the Chargers offense. Rivers found Tyrell Williams for a 12-yard touchdown, connected with Keenan Allen for a 54-yard reception on 3rd and 15 to set up a 34-yard TD run by Melvin Gordon, and threw a dart to Mike Williams, who tiptoed his way down the sideline for a 30-yard TD (although replays showed he might have stepped out of bounds).
Of course, this is the Chargers so those three touchdowns only led to 19 points because kicker Caleb Sturgis missed an extra point on the first TD and the Chargers failed to convert on a 2-point conversion to make up for it. Sturgis also missed a field goal, becoming the first kicker in the NFL to miss a PAT and a field goal try in three consecutive games since Jim Breech in 1979.
Seattle’s defense held the Chargers offense scoreless after the break … but the Bolts defense picked up the slack. Desmond King picked off a Wilson pass and took it 42 yards for a touchdown and a 25-10 lead because (say it with me) Sturgis missed the extra point.
Wilson led a TD drive, connecting with Nick Vannett for a 6-yard score, and the Seahawks defense forced a 3-and-out to get the ball back with 1:33 to play. It looked like the game was over when Wilson’s pass was incomplete in the end zone but Michael Davis was called for pass interference so Seattle got an untimed down from the 1-yard line. It turned into an untimed down from the 6-yard line when the Seahawks were called for a false start.
Wilson scrambled and threw a laser to David Moore in the back of the end zone. Moore had the ball, which could not have been in a better spot for a receiver, bounce right off his hands to end the game.
The Chargers have won five in a row but this was their first over a team with a winning record. At 6-2 they are in the top AFC Wild Card spot and next week head to Oakland to face the reeling Raiders.
