Hawks top San Diego
SAN DIEGO – The Seattle Seahawks took advantage of three straight turnovers by Chargers third-string quarterback Charlie Whitehurst in the second half to take control en route to a 20-14 win over San Diego in their preseason opener Saturday night.
“I thought it was a good start for our football team … a lot of good things and a lot of things that we can build upon,” Jim Mora said after his first game as coach of the Seahawks.
Neither first-team offense scored.
Chargers second-string quarterback Billy Volek led a second-quarter scoring drive capped by Michael Bennett’s 2-yard run. The Seahawks tied it when Seneca Wallace lobbed a 3-yard pass over the defense to John Owens.
Whitehurst threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, leading to 10 points for Seattle. Whitehurst had the ball knocked out of his hands by Seattle’s Baraka Atkins, with rookie Derek Walker recovering. That led to rookie Mike Teel’s 18-yard TD pass to Mike Hass.
Whitehurst threw passes right at the Seahawks’ Kelly Jennings and then rookie Nick Reed, with the second pickoff setting up a 38-yard field goal by Brandon Coutu. Coutu added another 38-yarder midway through the fourth quarter.
Seattle’s first-round draft pick, outside linebacker Aaron Curry, had two tackles. Curry said one of the assistant coaches told him to settle down.
“I have to work on my patience,” Curry said. “There were some plays today where I was just running around, not in the place where I should have been.”
San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson played in his first exhibition since 2005.
Seahawks 20, Chargers 14
| Seattle | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | — | 20 |
| San Diego | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | — | 14 |
SD—Bennett 2 run (Kaeding kick)
Sea—Owens 3 pass from S.Wallace (Coutu kick)
Sea—Hass 18 pass from Teel (Coutu kick)
Sea—FG Coutu 38
Sea—FG Coutu 38
SD—Naanee 5 pass from Whitehurst (Kaeding kick)
| Sea | SD | |
| First downs | 17 | 20 |
| Total Net Yards | 250 | 384 |
| Rushes-yards | 33-92 | 21-55 |
| Passing | 158 | 329 |
| Punt Returns | 3-14 | 5-30 |
| Kickoff Returns | 3-42 | 5-120 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 2-5 | 1-0 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 21-35-1 | 28-49-2 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 0-0 | 4-12 |
| Punts | 8-52.4 | 7-43.1 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-25 | 5-75 |
| Time of Possession | 30:27 | 29:33 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Seattle, Moore 8-32, Forsett 12-27, Duckett 6-18, J.Jones 4-15, S.Wallace 2-2, Rowe 1-(minus 2). San Diego, Bennett 6-21, Sproles 4-11, Tomlinson 4-10, Johnson 5-8, Naanee 1-3, Tolbert 1-2. PASSING—Seattle, Teel 7-15-1-75, S.Wallace 8-12-0-40, Hasselbeck 3-5-0-27, Rowe 3-3-0-16. San Diego, Whitehurst 15-29-2-193, Volek 8-12-0-122, Rivers 5-8-0-26. RECEIVING—Seattle, Obomanu 2-31, Taylor 2-18, Payne 2-13, Kirtman 2-9, Butler 2-7, Hass 1-18, Burleson 1-12, Newton 1-12, Carlson 1-10, Kent 1-8, Forsett 1-5, Houshmandzadeh 1-5, Griffith 1-3, Owens 1-3, Bumpus 1-2, O.Schmitt 1-2. San Diego, C.Martin 5-67, B.Davis 3-64, Wilson 3-49, Banks 3-31, Naanee 3-30, Gates 3-17, Johnson 2-15, Floyd 1-37, V.Jackson 1-13, Tomlinson 1-8, Hester 1-5, Chambers 1-4, Sproles 1-1. MISSED FIELD GOAL—San Diego, Kaeding 33 (WL).