WEDNESDAY NIGHT FIGHT
Schaub Throws 3 TDs in Relief of Jones
San Diego, April 7th, 2021: Charger head coach Hank Sienzant started his post-game press conference - before any questions were asked - by answering the biggest question on everyone's mind: "Daniel is still our starting quarterback. We felt - I felt, it was my decision - the team needed a goosing, a spark of some kind, and for that reason, I told Matt to put his helmet on and go into the game at halftime. It was a seat-of-the-pants kind of decision."
This was the second time in the last four weeks the swap was made and Jones was benched for Schaub. But this is the first time the 38-year-old veteran Schaub has engineered a win. After the game he had, does he deserve a start?
The Chargers' 34-24 victory guarantees San Diego a winning season, as they are now 9-5 with two games to go. Their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread however as they need to win out and hope both the Bears and Cardinals lose or tie at least once. The loss by the Seahawks didn't hurt Seattle any, as they still own the third seed in the AFC and one more win by Seattle or one more loss by the 49ers locks up the AFC West for Seattle.
Schaub threw three touchdown passes in the second half to guide the Chargers to the 34-24 win. Tied at 3-3 at halftime, Sienzant inserted Schaub and the team responded with a touchdown drive to start the second half and never looked back, with the touchdown coming on a seven-yard run up the middle by David Montgomery. The drive covered 75 yards in seven plays and featured a Steven Sims catch-and-run for 33 yards on a short pass.
After the Seahawks drove 75 yards in just five plays for what should have been the tying touchdown on a Wilson to Pascal six-yard connection but wasn't because of a missed extra point by Aldrick Rosas, the Chargers came right back with another touchdown to expand their lead to 17-9, with Schaub throwing the first of three touchdown passes, this one to Steven Sims from seven yards out to end the ten-play, 60-yard drive. A Schaub to Sutton hookup for 26 keyed the drive.
Down by eight, the Seahawks mounted a drive, but after two quick first downs, they got stopped on a fourth and three when a perfectly timed safety blitz by Vonn Bell brought Russell Wilson down on a sack at the Chargers 48.
After 20 yards on three touches by David Montgomery, a 20-yard pass interference call against star cornerback Casey Hayward put the ball at the Seahawk 12. But the Chargers could get no closer than the Seahawk seven and had to settle for the second Stephen Hauschka field goal, this one from 26 yards out to make it 20-9 early in the fourth quarter.
But any thoughts of an easy finish were quickly quelled when the Seahawks roared right back to score another touchdown and convert the two-point play to cut the Chargers' lead to 20-17 with 7:26 left in the contest.
"Everyone on the sidelines remembered what happened last week when we led by 14 early in the fourth quarter and lost by four," Hank Sienzant said afterward. "I heard shouts of 'Not Today!' No one wanted a repeat of last week, so we came out firing."
It caught the Seahawks off-balance as Schaub hit Courtland Sutton for a 51-yard bomb on the first play of the Chargers' next possession. After Hayward was called for pass interference on the next play for another 15 yards, Schaub went right back to Sutton and drilled a pass into double coverage for the 22-yard touchdown and the 27-17 lead with just 6:11 left in the game.
The Seahawks responded with two first downs before getting stopped on a fourth and eight at the Charger 47 with under four minutes left.
But the Chargers - still smarting from the Arizona comeback last week - never took their foot off the pedal and drove 53 yards in five plays to yet another touchdown, this one from Schaub to Sutton from eight yards out to make it 34-17 with just 1:52 left in the contest.
Time to relax? Not at all. It took only two plays for the Seahawks to cover 86 yards for another touchdown of their own to cut the Chargers' lead to 34-24.
It was only over when the Seahawks' onside kick attempt was returned 23 yards by Keelan Cole to the Seahawks 23 that the game was finally in the Chargers bag. Three kneel-downs by Schaub ended the contest and gave the Chargers their ninth win of the season.
The first half was scoreless through the first seven possessions - a veritable punt fest - until the Chargers broke the ice with a Hauschka 29-yard field goal with 4:21 left in the half. The Chargers scoring drive started when Montgomery put the ball on the ground at his own eight, but guard Jenkins recovered the loose pigskin to save Montgomery's - and the Chargers - bacon. The Chargers marched 84 yards in eight plays and featured consecutive completions by Daniel Jones of 53 and 16 yards to Courtland Sutton after Jones started zero for six. But the possession bogged down inside the red zone and the Chargers had to settle for three. Seattle came right back to tie on their next possession, with Aldrick Rosas matching that with a 29-yard field goal of his own with 25 seconds left in the half.
GAME NOTES: Schaub completed 14 of 17 for 248 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating in just one-half of action. Jones played the first half and was only four of 12 for 86 yards (59.7 passer rating). Jones was two of nine before completing two of three passes for 17 yards in the final 25 seconds of the first half.
Schaub was able to connect to his wideouts throughout the second half. Every completion went for at least a first down. Courtland Sutton was the biggest beneficiary, catching seven for 193 yards and two scores, with seven first downs. Steven Sims had four catches for 62 yards, including his longest gain of the season - 33 yards - on the Chargers' first possession of the second half. He also had the other Charger receiving touchdown and four first downs. Keelan Cole caught five for 52 yards and five first downs.
David Montgomery averaged just 4.3 yards per carry, with 19 for 82 and one touchdown on the ground. He also caught one pass for 15 yards and what else? - one first down.
Mike Evans would have been the probable MVP if Seattle had pulled out the win. He caught nine for 201 yards, while fellow wideout Zach Pascal complemented him well, catching nine for 95 and two scores.
Russell Wilson threw enough for two Charger games, with 25 of 43 for 341 yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating was 99.1. Early in the game, Wilson had trouble generating any offense - both teams did, the score was 3-3 at halftime - and Jeff Driskel was put into the game on occasion to put the Chargers off balance. Driskel was four of four for 46 yards in his spot duty (114.6). He ran once for two yards and was sacked once.
Adrian Peterson was the Seahawks leading rusher with 14-64 (4.6) but other than Peterson and Montgomery, neither team had much success on the ground.
Nickel Back Jimmy Smith got the start in the absence of the injured Marshon Lattimore and had 13 tackles to lead San Diego as he was targeted frequently. Former Charger Kareem Jackson had eight tackles for the Seahawks. Three sacks by the Chargers (Tyus Bowser got his sixth, Vonn Bell his second, and Uchenna Nwosu his first) helped thwart the Seattle offense at times.
TEAMS IN OPPOSITION: The Chargers never trailed in the game although it was tied at 3-3 at halftime. The Seahawks missed extra-point by former Charger Aldrick Rosas prevented a tied game at 10-10, and although the Seahawks made it close again in the fourth quarter at 20-17, they could never tie it up or take the lead in the second half.
Both teams had over 400 yards of offense, with the Seahawks piling up 472 on 76 plays (6.2 yards per play) and the Chargers getting 414 on 54 plays - 7.7 yards per play. Seattle had a better time of possession by 9:30 and out-first-downed the Chargers 26 to 22. But they were only one of four on fourth down attempts, which stopped three different possessions and cost them perhaps 120 yards of field position.
CHARGER SEASON TO DATE: Courtland Sutton, who wasn't in the top 25 in receptions a few weeks ago, is now 13th in the league with 64 catches. He's second in yardage with 1478, first in average with 23.1 yards per reception, and first in receiving touchdowns with 16. David Montgomery moved within 21 yards of a thousand-yard season and is at 193-979-5.1, good for tenth in the league right now. Josh Jacobs missed another game and has fallen to seventh in the league in rushing, although his 6.5 rushing average is good enough for second in the league. Daniel Jones is tenth among qualifiers in passing with a 107.4 rating.
The Chargers have beaten some very good teams this year, establishing their improvement. Among their nine victims this season at present, they can count 11-3 Dallas, 10-4 Seattle, 9-5 Arizona, and 8-6 San Francisco. And for the most part, they've also won the games they were expecting to win, with victories over 2-12 Atlanta, 4-10 Washington, 2-12 Detroit, 1-13 New Orleans, and 3-11 Kansas City. Many of those were narrow wins, but they were wins. Of course, the one that got away (a devastating home loss to Atlanta 17-16 in week 11), might be the one that denies them a playoff spot, showing once again that you cannot look past any team in this league. Over their last 16 games, the Chargers are 11-5, with additional wins over 14-2 New England in the final game of last season, and a victory over the 3-13 Steelers last year as well. They need to win their final two to match that 11-5 record.
NEXT MAN UP: Both teams lost three players during the game, with the Chargers losing two more defensive backs in safety Tracy Walker and cornerback Amani Oruwariye for the remainder of the regular season. They also lost starting tackle Marcus Cannon for the Seattle game and possibly beyond. Seattle lost defensive tackle Jurrell Casey, guard Stefen Wisniewski, and wideout Pharoh Cooper. Cooper's injury could extend into the playoffs, but the other two may be able to play next week.
A LOOK AHEAD: 10-4 Seattle finishes up their season with home games against 4-10 Tennessee and 8-6 San Francisco. The Chargers host the 2-12 Oakland Raiders next week before finishing up on the road against the 13-1 Los Angeles Rams.
Posted on 08 Apr 2021 by Hank-Chargers
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