NFL Recap (San Diego-Seattle)
Posted: Sun December 13, 1998 at 9:28 p.m. EST
SEATTLE 38, SAN DIEGO 17
SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Terry McDaniel and Cortez Kennedy scored
defensive touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks set an
NFL record for most return touchdowns in a season and rolled to a 38-17
victory over the mistake-prone San Diego Chargers.
McDaniel returned one of Craig Whelihan's five
interceptions 43 yards to give the Seahawks a 14-7 lead in the first
quarter. Kennedy scooped up Ryan Leaf's fumble early
in the fourth quarter and rumbled 39 yards to extend Seattle's cushion to
35-17.
Bouncing back from last week's heartbreaking loss to the New York Jets, the Seahawks
(7-7) have 12 return touchdowns this season, breaking the previous mark of
11 set by the 1992 Kansas
City Chiefs.
Seattle forced eight turnovers and set a franchise record with seven
interceptions, picking off Leaf twice. Jay Bellamy, Darryl Williams and Shawn Springs each had two
interceptions for the Seahawks. The turnovers led to 31 points.
"It was a great win, a great defensive effort," said Seattle coach
Dennis Erickson. "When you get eight turnovers, that's unbelievable. We
blitzed quite a bit more than we have and put a lot of pressure on them.
The bottom line is that it was a nice win for us, particularly after what
happened last week."
Seattle suffered a controversial 32-31 loss to the New York Jets last
week as Vinny Testaverde
was awarded a touchdown on a five-yard quarterback keeper with 20 seconds
remaining, even though replays showed he was down at the 1.
Jon Kitna, who
completed 16-of-31 for 141 yards and a touchdown, overcame three
interceptions and improved to 2-1 since replacing Warren Moon as Seattle's
starting quarterback. The Seahawks climbed back to the .500 mark and trail
the New England
Patriots and Tennessee
Oilers by one game in the race for the AFC's final wild card berth.
"I think I'm growing every week, but it seems you grow more from
adversity," said Kitna. "We had a lot of adversity out there today. Things
didn't go the way we wanted. We were fortunate to get a win today and it
feels good."
Whelihan struggled through a nightmarish performance, completing just
8-of-28 passes for 142 yards before being replaced with 8:32 remaining in
the third quarter. He returned after Leaf's fumble, but was benched again
after throwing his fifth interception to Bellamy.
"I'm disappointed in my performance," said Whelihan. "I don't have
much to say about it right now. I'm disappointed and that's all I have to
say."
Leaf finished the game for Chargers, connecting on 9-of-14 for 93
yards. Terrell Fletcher gained 42 yards on 17 carries for San Diego (5-9),
which has lost three straight and is guaranteed a losing season.
"I almost have to apologize to the defense," said Leaf. "Those guys
showed character today. It's almost hard to look them in the eye when the
offense plays like we did."
Seatte's Ricky
Watters rushed for 69 yards on 21 carries and became the first player
to NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards with three different teams. Watters
raised his season total to 1,048 yards, his fourth straight 1,000-yard
season.
The Chargers fell to 3-5 under interim coach June Jones, who announced
earlier in the week that he was leaving at the end of the season to take
the head job at Hawaii.
"Our defense showed the spirit that has made them No. 1 all year, but
you can't give the ball away that many times on offense," said Jones. "We
tried about everything to get it going and we just couldn't throw it to the
right guys."
Kitna's two-yard touchdown run capped a nine-play, 43-yard drive and
gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead just 2:29 into the first half.
The Chargers pulled even on Jamal Williams' 14-yard
interception return 8:53 into the opening quarter before McDaniel put the
Seahawks ahead to stay.
"The defensive line did a great job up front," said Springs. "You have
to give our defense a lot of credit because we moved around pretty good.
(San Diego) really didn't know what kind of coverage we were in."
Seattle stretched its lead to 21-7 on Watters' one-yard TD plunge with
3:42 left in the first half. The Chargers closed to 21-14 on Fletcher's
one-yard TD run just 19 seconds before the intermission.
The Seahawks regained their two-touchdown cushion on Kitna's one-yard
TD pass to Joey
Galloway with 6:01 remaining in the third quarter.
After San Diego got within 28-17 on John Carney's 21-yard field
seven seconds into the final quarter, the Chargers regained possession when
safety Greg Jackson
returned Kitna's interception 18 yards to the San Diego 48.
But defensive end Matt
LaBounty knocked the ball out of Leaf's hands and Kennedy put the
contest out of a reach with 12:01 remaining. Todd Peterson added a
29-yard field goal for the Seahawks.
The Seahawks were outgained 277-238, but rushed for 108 yards against
the Chargers' top-ranked defense.
"We came in and had our 100 yards rushing against San Diego and people
haven't done that all year," said Kitna. "That's a good feeling and lets us
know our offensive line can dominate people when they need to."
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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