Instant Reaction: 710 ESPN Seattle on Seahawks’ 25-17 loss to Chargers

The Seahawks came up one play short in their 25-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at home. As we do after each Seahawks contest, we have polled the voices of 710 ESPN Seattle’s shows for their instant reactions to the game.

O’Neil: Hawks unfinished product | Comeback falls short | Recap | Photos

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what they’ll have to say Monday on the air, so be sure to tune in to 710 ESPN Seattle throughout the day for plenty of Seahawks reaction, news and analysis.

Tom Wassell of Bob, Groz and Tom

Much of the blame will go to Russell Wilson, and that’s fine. He holds the ball way too long and on the second-to-last possession the offense moved about as fast as I do getting out of bed in the morning. That said, he took over the final drive to put Seattle in a position to win.

David Moore should have caught that ball, even with the tip, but whatever. He’s come up big already a bunch of times this season. Let’s go easy on the kid.

A dropped ball and a convincing loss to a very good team isn’t the end of the world, nor is it an indication that the last few wins were a mirage. This is still a developing team.

Also of note: the officiating was just bizarre.

Jim Moore of Danny, Dave and Moore

Even on a day when Russell Wilson didn’t have his A game, the Seahawks’ quarterback still put his team in position to pull off what would have been one of the most improbable comeback victories in franchise history.

If David Moore had been able to hang on to Wilson’ final pass in the back of the end zone, the Seahawks might have forced overtime with a two-point conversion. I’ll say this about Moore’s apparent drop – replays showed the ball was tipped before it got to him. That makes it easier to understand why the ball fell incomplete. And for Moore’s sake, I’m glad it wasn’t a flat-out drop.

It’s hard to say how much the Seahawks were hurt by a hip injury that prevented Chris Carson from playing in the second half, but the running game wasn’t quite the same with Mike Davis getting most of the carries.

Wilson was off with some of his throws earlier in the game, but the pick-six in the fourth quarter was unquestionably his worst, and it proved too much to overcome, giving San Diego a 25-10 lead.

In the bigger picture, the Seahawks dropped to 4-4 at the halfway point of the season, but it’s not as if they fell to a subpar team – the Chargers improved to 6-2. But after watching them operate so efficiently on offense against the Raiders and Lions in the last two games, it was strange to see the Seahawks struggle against the Chargers, especially after going 75 yards on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead.

It was a disappointing loss, not disheartening, and the only other thing I’m wondering is this – after Caleb Sturgis missed two extra points and a field goal, would the Chargers have allowed him on the team plane had they lost?

Mike Salk of Brock and Salk

Russell Wilson is often great, occasionally off his game, but almost always entertaining. And he found a way to turn one of his worst games into an exciting finish against the Chargers. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough.

This Seahawks team can be confusing, even maddening at times. They aren’t particularly deep, they have been beat up at some key positions, and they play a lot of young players of whom the league does not expect much. And so they are subject to some bouts of inconsistency like they showed today.

Unfortunately, those inconsistent moments are exacerbated by a bad day for Wilson. He just seemed a step off all game. Slow on his reads, hesitant to pull the trigger, and he ultimately dug too deep of a hole.

No need to blame the officials. No need to blame the wide receiver who dropped the tying touchdown. No need to blame the defense that allowed more explosive plays than we are accustomed to seeing. But you can blame a team that is still learning how to play its game, adjust to the moment and pull out late-game heroics. I think those things will come.

Bob Stelton of Bob, Groz and Tom

Despite what the stats and scoreboard say, the game between the Seahawks and Chargers just didn’t feel that close. The Hawks gave the fans a tease in the end but ultimately came up short as they did most of the day.

I would argue despite respectable stats for Russell Wilson (26 for 39, 235 yards, two TDs, one interception), he did not play very well. He took some momentum-killing sacks (four for a loss of 33 yards) when he should have thrown the ball away. The pick-six he threw late in the game was beyond head-scratching. I have no idea what he was seeing as he seemed to hit Desmond King right between the numbers. The problem is, King plays for the Chargers.

The defense was picked apart in the first half. Philip Rivers and the Chargers’ offense seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted when they wanted, and with ease. That changed in the second half as the Hawks’ defense pitched a shutout, but the ineffective offense could do very little to capitalize until it was too late.

The Chargers did their best to help Seattle along the way with (soon-to-be former Chargers kicker, I’m sure) Caleb Sturgis missing a field goal and two extra point attempts. Despite that, the Seattle offense just couldn’t get anything going. Throw in a lousy day for the officials and you’ve got a very winnable game against a solid opponent that resulted in a very frustrating loss.

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