Mirer’s E A Giveaway When Seahawks Qb Locked In On His Target, So Did The San Diego Chargers Defensive Backs

Rodney Harrison caught as many passes from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Rick Mirer as did Brian Blades on Sunday.

When did the Seahawks sign somebody named Harrison?

They didn’t.

He was one of the guys in the blue helmets with the lightning bolts on them - a San Diego Charger.

Harrison, a second-year player from Western Illinois, isn’t even the starting free safety - Bo Orlando has that distinction. But Harrison comes in on pass-defense packages.

And he came up with two dramatic plays in Sunday’s 14-10 Chargers win.

His first interception, in the second quarter, came at the Chargers 4-yard line. And his second, in the fourth quarter, was at the Chargers 15.

Harrison had never had an interception in the NFL. So what made him so effective against the Seahawks?

“A lot of older quarterbacks tend to look off their receivers and look off the defender,” Harrison said. “But (Mirer) really keys on his receivers, so I was able to get a good break on the ball and come up with it.”

A matter of perspective

After the game, Seahawks cornerback Carlton Gray rejected any theories the Hawks secondary players were giving Chargers receivers too much cushion - despite the fact they caught 23 passes on almost exclusively short routes.

“We were playing them tight; you can look at the films and you can see we weren’t playing off them - so you can bag that theory,” Gray said. “Last week, everybody said we were letting people get deep and now everybody’s going to say we’re giving them the short routes?”

Charger Tony Martin, who had 13 catches for 163 yards, almost all coming on routes in front of the cornerbacks, saw it differently.

“I couldn’t believe what I saw when I came to the line,” Martin said. “The way they were playing, it was a gimme… . I thought they’d adjust, but they never did.”

O line OK

In a surprise development, the Seahawks offensive line controlled the talented Chargers front seven.

Left tackle James Atkins, who has started only six NFL games, limited Pro Bowl end Leslie O’Neal to just three tackles and no sacks.

“I changed up a lot of the things I was doing against him,” Atkins said. “Sometimes I’d try to stand him up at the line and then I’d drop back a bit and ride him to the outside.”

“We won the game, that’s the most important thing,” O’Neal said. “But he did do a good job on me.”

Members of the Chargers front four made only eight tackles, while Pro Bowl middle linebacker Junior Seau was surprisingly uninvolved, finishing with just four tackles.

“They’re running away from me,” Seau said. “They’re doing a lot of things to offset me. But the defense is doing well anyway. Patience isn’t something I’m used to, but it’s something I’m having to learn.”

Notes

The Chargers, defending AFC champs, were rewarded with fairly steady boos from their fans.

Apparently, the Bolt-heads don’t care for any rushing play that gains less than 4 or 5 yards.

“I was sitting on the bench in the third quarter,” said running back Andre Coleman. “And we ran the ball to get the yard we needed for the first down, and the fans booed. Man, I don’t understand getting booed for getting a first down.”

San Diego had a scary moment in the fourth period when Pro Bowl running back Natrone Means was tackled by Hawks linebacker Tyrone Stowe and then flattened by defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy.

Means remained motionless for several minutes before limping to the bench. The injury was described as a strained back, but Means returned the next series and finished with 115 yards.

, DataTimes