This Game’s For The Taking Seahawks Need To Capitalize When Chargers Turn It Over

Statistics, the San Diego Chargers teach us, don’t mean much.

Because in so many ways, this has been a season of superlatives for the Chargers.

Punishing running back Natrone Means leads the AFC in rushing (627 yards).

Sleek receiver Tony Martin heads the conference in receptions (44).

Andre Coleman tops the AFC in punt returns (13.4 yards).

Aussie Rules refugee Darren Bennett is only inches off leading the league in punting (45.8 yards).

And the defense is the third-best in the AFC.

Impressive, very impressive.

So why, then, are the defending AFC champions a dismal 3-4, on a three-game losing streak, and only a half-game ahead of the Seattle Seahawks, who are in the AFC West basement?

Pretty simple, actually. The Chargers also rank No. 1 in the league in blunders - getting called for 53 penalties for 515 yards, and also being saddled with the league’s greatest deficit in the turnover-takeaway category at minus-11.

“We don’t have the kind of talent that we can overcome those sorts of things,” Chargers coach Bobby Ross said as his team prepped for today’s game against the Seahawks in the Kingdome.

Nobody has that kind of talent, coach.

“Our concentration level needs to get higher,” added defensive tackle Reuben Davis. “That’s where the turnovers come from. This has definitely been a big surprise to us.”

The Chargers have served up the ball to opponents with 11 interceptions and seven fumbles.

“When we get down in the red zone (inside the opponent 20) we just shoot ourselves in the foot,” Ross said. “We’ve got to minimize that. I’ve really talked to the squad about the importance of this game. If we can get to 4-4 and then have a week off, we can get some people healthy and really make a run at it.”

The Seahawks, though, are fighting to keep from falling to a Flores-esque 2-5.

“There’s no question that this is a big game for both teams,” Hawks coach Dennis Erickson said, seeing a win as a chance to drag the Chargers down into the division basement with them.

The Chargers eked out an inartistic 14-10 win over Seattle at Jack Murphy Stadium in the season’s second week.

They did it by exploiting the jackhammer rushes of Means (26 carries for 115 yards) and the ability of Martin to pull in one slant-in pass after another.

When it was finished, Martin had 13 catches for 163 yards.

“We helped him be the leading receiver (in the conference),” Erickson said. “We started him in the right direction.”

Martin has a history of blistering Seattle, having devastated the Hawks with a 99-yard scoring bomb last year.

“I just try to go out and make big plays whenever I can,” Martin said. “I’m quite sure they’re going to be keying on me this week.”

The success of the slant-ins holds no mystery, Martin said. “They were just in man-to-man and I gave the guy some good moves. It’s like pitch and catch. But we were doing some other things to open that up.”

The presence of Shawn Jefferson (29 catches) on the other side of the formation limits the Hawks’ ability to double-team Martin, Erickson said.

“Tony is a talent; he can run and he has good speed, but a negative about Tony is that he has fumbled the ball in critical situations a couple of times,” Ross said.

Helping Martin against the Hawks is the expected return of starting quarterback Stan Humphries, who missed last week’s loss to Dallas with a shoulder injury.

“It’s a different team with him in there,” Erickson said. “He’s such an accurate passer; he’s experienced and he’s poised.”

Means, meanwhile, gives the Chargers a nice balance - as they rank sixth in the AFC in both passing and rushing.

San Diego’s defense, although being criticized for not getting much pressure on opposing quarterbacks (12 sacks), has been consistently strong against the rush.

No back has exceeded 100 yards rushing against the Chargers in the last 37 games. Dallas’ Emmitt Smith, for instance, mustered just 68 yards last week.

Even Erickson, who has remained upbeat through the Hawks’ early troubles, has to be worried about this one.

His defense is the worst in the NFL, yielding more than 400 yards a game, and he lost the top tackler off that unit when linebacker Tyrone Stowe broke two bones in his arm last week against Buffalo.

Dean Wells will fill in for Stowe on a defense that has a league-low four takeaways and league-low seven sacks.

“Sometimes we’re better and sometimes we’re not,” Erickson said. “Our lack of consistency has been a real problem for us on both sides of the ball. We’ve given the ball up and we haven’t gotten a turnover since we knocked one out of (Denver’s John) Elway when we played them here (two games ago).”

This is the Hawks’ last shot at a division opponent before going on a six-game streak against non-division foes - Arizona, Giants, Jacksonville, Washington, Jets and Philadelphia.

Even if Seattle can claw back up into contention during that run, the Hawks must wrap up the season against a talented trio of AFC West rivals at Denver, Oakland at home, and at Kansas City.

Erickson, in his rookie season, certainly could not have expected his team to be 2-4 at this point.

“I don’t know what I expected, to be honest,” Erickson said. “I’ve always expected to win every week, that’s just how I feel. When you lose four and win two, you’re disappointed with what’s happening, obviously.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Hawks vs. Chargers The game: 1 p.m. Kingdome. Coaches: Seattle - Dennis Erickson, 2-4, first season. San Diego - Bobby Ross, 33-22, fourth season. The records: Seattle 2-4. San Diego 3-4. The series: San Diego leads 18-15. Last week: Seattle committed four turnovers in a 27-21 loss at Buffalo. The Chargers, without starting quarterback Stan Humphries, fell 23-9 to Dallas. The line: Chargers by 4. On the air Television: NBC with Jim Lampley and Bob Golic. Radio: KXLY (920 AM) with Steve Thomas and Steve Raible.