It's not exactly a blueprint, but the San Diego Chargers drew blood against the invincible Seattle Seahawks and reminded the NFL world that the reigning Super Bowl champions are, indeed, still human.
The Chargers improved to 1-1 with their 30-21 victory and dropped the Seahawks to the same record. According to the Seahawks official twitter account, it is the first time since Week 9 in 2011 that the Seahawks have lost by more than seven points, and a big part of that was Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers' 284 yards passing and tight end Antonio Gates' three receiving touchdowns.
The #Seahawks allowed 30 pts in a reg-season game for the 2nd time over the past 3 seasons. The other was a 34-28 loss at Ind. Oct. 6, 2013.- STATS (@STATS_NFL) September 15, 2014
There are no wide-ranging narratives to draw from this game about how to beat the Seahawks. The Seattle defensive backs, 'The Legion of Boom' are generally very good against tight ends and can stymie even the most composed of top quarterbacks.
There is little, honestly, that can be taken from this game and copied by the Seahawks' later opponents, but this is a good reminder that the Chargers are to be taken very seriously and the Seahawks-while still one of the, if not the, best teams in the NFL-are still just another football team playing on any given Sunday.
Even with Harvin, The Offense Is Not a Finished ProductMeet the new Seahawks, same as the old Seahawks...not like that's a bad thing.
Last season, Seattle excelled in just about every facet of the game except passing. A lot of the offseason and preseason insinuations about them, however, were rosy-colored prognostications that the insertion of wide receiver Percy Harvin into the starting line up would give the Seahawks all they needed to complete their team.
All the player losses, Super Bowl hangover, target on their back talk, etc would be cured by the panacea that is Harvin.
Harvin had one of the best plays of the Week 2 loss with a 51-yard run for a touchdown. It was a big, bright, blinking neon sign-caliber reminder that Harvin with the ball in his hands is a force of nature, even if it should have been called back because Harvin was clearly out of bounds.
Yet, on the season, Harvin has all of eight catches and six carries.
That isn't leading receiver numbers, or even really 'featured offensive weapon' numbers.
The Seahawks are paying Harvin $11 million.
Don't paint this simply as a function of the talent around Harvin-either the running game or the defense. Those are lazy excuses. The 2009 Minnesota Vikings fed Harvin the ball 60 times on 91 targets (current 2014 pace is 64 catches, but also only 64 targets). That team also had success (12-4) and a great running back ( Adrian Peterson) and a darn good defense (ranked sixth).
Percy Harvin caught all 7 of his targets + added 4 carries. Barely played half the snaps. Can't sustain that efficiency....- Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) September 5, 2014
That Vikings team also had the exact same offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell.
Look, this isn't just about Harvin, but there's something to be said with the team's No. 1 receiver missing a ton of time since becoming the team's No.1 receiver, and not even being featured like one when he's on the field.
Through one week, Harvin's seven targets had him tied for 58th in the entire NFL. Above him, such luminaries like New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen, St. Louis Rams wide receiver Brian Quick and New York Giants tight end Larry Donnell.
That ranking is only going to drop once all the stats are collected for Week 2.
It will likely only drop as the season goes on.
No matter how good the Seahawks (or any team) are on defense, there will be times like this game where they will not be able to simply grind down the clock with running back Marshawn Lynch and almost completely eschew the passing game. The Seahawks can be who they are-the same identity that won them a Super Bowl-but also need to be a team that can pass the ball consistently week to week.
That's what many of us thought had happened this past offseason.
They may be on their way, but they're not there yet.
The Sky is Not FallingDonald Miralle/Getty Images
I hesitate to call this a perfect storm for the Seahawks, because that takes credit away from the Chargers and things really weren't that bad.
Yes, losing safety Earl Thomas to cramps was a blow, but the Chargers had already done plenty of damage with him on the field. Cornerback Richard Sherman-easily one of the top-three cornerbacks in the NFL (if you think he's No. 1, I'm not arguing)-had a terrible game against Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen who was almost invisible last week.
Chargers' Keenan @Keenan13Allen Allen on Richard Sherman: 'He's just a normal guy. We're gonna go @ him. He's not really a shut down corner'- Stefanie Loh (@StefanieLoh) September 15, 2014
Not to argue with Mr. Allen, but he's wrong and his kind of performance does not happen very often against Sherman.
Frankly, the Seahawks losing on the road is not what surprises me.
They've had some issues on the road last year. Yes, as many Seahawks fans pointed out in the comments to my Week 2 preview, they were 6-2 last year, but simply stating the record ignores the fact that they escaped near-losses to both the Houston Texans and St. Louis Rams-teams they should not have struggled with.
Honestly, the Seahawks losing to the Chargers doesn't bother me either.
The Chargers were a bad team last year, but the Rivers-Allen combination was ridiculously good in its first year, and I expected them to take another step forward this year, even potentially as an AFC Wild Card contender.
The Seahawks have to deal with the Denver Broncos (at home) next week, but have a bye week and a relatively cupcake schedule after that.
The Chargers are not proof, in any way, that the Seahawks can't repeat as champs, but it was an early season test that they failed.
When one adds this to the trouble that Seattle's Week 1 opponent, the Green Bay Packers, had in Week 2 (barely beating the New York Jets), it makes that dominant-seeming effort look even more dubious.
Personally, I believe the Seahawks are still the team to beat in the league this season and one loss won't change that in any way, but it seems like easily agreeable, common knowledge after Week 1 and now it seems like we simply don't know whether or not that's true.
Any given Sunday.
This is another great piece of evidence for NFL parity.
It's not time to call in to the local radio station and panic. It's not time to worry, hem or haw, clutch your pearls or start making voodoo dolls of future opponents. The Seahawks, as I said before, don't really need to do anything different. They'll walk into future games-home and road alike-against other opponents (even those as good or better than the Chargers) with the same sort of game plan and they'll crush them.
No, really, this is just a great reminder that the NFL is not the Seahawks swimming pool that 31 other teams are just swimming in. It's one of the most competitive leagues on the planet, and the Seahawks need to find the same drive and determination that won them a Super Bowl last year-especially if they want to win one at the end of this season.
Michael Schottey is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Find more of his stuff on his archive page and follow him on Twitter.
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