Warren Struggles To Get Out Of Blocks
Seattle running back Chris Warren started 1996 the way he finished 1995:
Running in place.
Warren, coming off four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, was bottled up as San Diego went to seven- and eight-man defensive fronts in a 29-7 win over the Seahawks on Sunday. He finished with 50 yards on 13 attempts. In the final game of 1995 season, Warren was limited to 11 yards on seven carries by Kansas City.
The Hawks’ offense moved away from Warren as quarterback Rick Mirer had some success finding receiving targets in the first half.
Seattle couldn’t afford to run the ball in the second half because it couldn’t waste time trying to cut into Chargers’ comfortable lead.
“They’re pretty good. We knew coming in they were solid against the run, one of the best in the NFL against it,” offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said.
Of Warren’s 30 first-half yards, nearly half (14) came as Seattle was trying to run out the clock in the closing seconds.
In touch with his feelings
Mirer’s 6-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw in the second quarter wasn’t popular on the San Diego sidelines. Chargers coach Bobby Ross pitched a fit that would have made Mariners manager Lou Piniella envious.
Ross stalked an official for roughly 40 yards along the sideline during an animated discussion in which he kindly removed his hat to reveal all sorts of bulging veins. Ross felt Seattle guard Pete Kendall was guilty of holding and the officials apparently agreed - for a minute, anyway. They dropped a flag, but later waved it off, saying no penalty had occurred.
“I was upset because I’ve never really seen that before,” Ross said. “They gave me an explanation that both of them saw it and they didn’t feel it was holding. My answer to that was, ‘Don’t throw the flag.”’
Two-minute turnaround
Seattle quarterback Rick Mirer, normally fairly productive in the 2-minute drill, nearly put up some points near the end of the first half. Unfortunately it was for the Chargers.
Taking over at Seattle’s 13 with 1:20 left, Mirer retreated on first down and his pass attempt promptly hit San Diego linebacker Glen Young in the hands. With nothing in front of him - except 20 yards of neatly trimmed grass and a touchdown - Young dropped the ball.
However, Seattle didn’t take advantage. The Hawks were forced to punt and San Diego quickly moved from its 40 to Seattle’s 35 in the span of 15 seconds with a couple of sideline connections.
From the 35, quarterback Stan Humphries barely overthrew Tony Martin in the end zone. San Diego settled for a field goal and a 13-7 lead at half.
Tuten hobbling
Hawks punter Rick Tuten’s fine day (47.8-yard average) was tempered by the fact that he suffered a knee injury in the second half. He wasn’t sure of the severity, but said he would have punted if called upon.
“I hit a bad punt and went down to help cover and just got caught up in some of the melee,” he said. “Somebody flew into the side of my knee. It’s no big deal.” Tuten had mixed reviews of the special teams play.
“We’re kind of disappointed all the way around,” he said. “Our kickoff coverage was pretty good, but other than that we had a tough day on special teams. Our punt team didn’t do what we’re able to do.”
The Chargers averaged just over 20 yards on three punt returns.
Notes
San Diego’s All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau had a quiet game. He had only three tackles… . Martin, Seahawk nemesis and Chargers receiver, had seven catches for 66 yards and one score. He tied a San Diego record with 13 catches against Seattle last year. He also had a 99-yard TD catch pass against the Hawks two years ago.
In one of the more hyped match-ups entering the game, San Diego guard Tony Berti, a second-year pro from Colorado, held his own against tackle Cortez Kennedy. “After the game, he (Kennedy) said to keep working hard and that I played a good game,” Berti said. Berti had some help blocking Kennedy as Chargers’ tight ends or backs often provided a double-team. Kennedy still managed to bat down two passes at the line of scrimmage.
, DataTimes