National Football League
Washington's 2 TD returns help Seahawks top Bolts
National Football League

Washington's 2 TD returns help Seahawks top Bolts

Published Sep. 27, 2010 6:23 a.m. ET

Philip Rivers threw for a record amount of passing yards for a franchise known for tossing it all over the field. The San Diego defense allowed just 26 yards of offense and one first down by Seattle in the second half.

However, the Chargers had no answers for Leon Washington.

Seattle's dynamic running back/kick returner returned second-half kickoffs of 101 and 99 yards for touchdowns to tie an NFL record, and the Seahawks held off the aerial display from Rivers to beat the Chargers 27-20 on Sunday.

Washington, acquired in a trade with the New York Jets during the April draft, made up for a Seattle slew of mistakes, missed chances and an anemic performance by the Seahawks' offense to pull out a most unlikely victory.

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''I really truly appreciate the Jets for letting him go, for sending him here for pretty much nothing,'' Seattle receiver Deion Branch said.

While Pete Carroll's crew is flying after a surprising 2-1 start and find themselves tied on top of the mediocre NFC West, the Chargers are already answering many of the same questions about underachievement following a 1-2 start that many expected to be 3-0.

''You're going to ask that question every time we get in this situation,'' Chargers coach Norv Turner said. ''I like this football team an awful lot. I like the talent we have on the football team. You can say we're underachieving, overachieving. ... I guess a guy's underachieving if he turns the ball over.''

If watching Washington take two kickoffs back for scores wasn't frustrating enough for the Chargers, the five turnovers only piled on to their list of problems. San Diego fumbled three times, including one by Mike Tolbert at the Seattle 7 in the first half. Rivers was intercepted twice by Earl Thomas, Seattle's rookie safety. Thomas stepped in front of Rivers' attempt for Legedu Naanee at the goal line with 6 seconds left.

The interceptions were the only blights on Rivers' day. He threw for a career- and franchise-best 455 yards, completing 29 of 53 throws. But the Chargers dropped to 0-3 in games when Rivers has thrown for more than 375 yards.

''To make it as simple as you can: five turnovers ... two special teams touchdowns, that's a recipe for a loss,'' Rivers said.

Rivers picked apart Seattle's maligned secondary for much of the second half, only to get turned away twice in the final 3 minutes deep in Seattle's end.

Rivers led San Diego to the Seattle 14 before a pair of false starts backed up the offense. On fourth-and-15 at the Seattle 19, his pass for Antonio Gates at the goal line was knocked away by Roy Lewis.

Rivers got one more chance after San Diego's defense held. Starting at his 45, Rivers completed passes of 16 yards to Buster Davis and 25 yards to Malcom Floyd. His final chance was intercepted by Thomas.

''You hate to lose this way,'' Gates said. ''Obviously, our defense did an outstanding job in continuing to give us chances to come back and tie the game up. This is a tough one to swallow.''

Washington was the hero for a Seattle offense that made countless first-half mistakes and never got started in the second half.

Washington caught the second-half kickoff 1-yard deep in the end zone, and other than a couple of flailing hands grasping at his shoes, went untouched for the longest kickoff return in Seahawks history. Seattle's time-management meltdown at the end of the first half that cost them points suddenly didn't look so bad.

His dash midway through the fourth quarter was the clincher. Rivers had just pulled San Diego even with a 12-yard pass to Gates and 2-point conversion to Naanee with 6:39 left.

Fifteen seconds later, Seattle was back in front. Washington got lost in a pile, squirted free and raced 99 yards to give Seattle its final advantage. He is the 10th player to return two kickoffs in for a TD in a game.

He might have gotten a third, but Washington slipped trying to make a cut during a 33-yard return at the end of the third quarter.

''My thing is not to get satisfied, don't get complacent and always give glory to God and work hard,'' Washington said. ''I'm a talented enough football player to play football, I was born to play football. I just go out every week and work hard and know eventually good things are going to happen.''

San Diego played without rookie running back Ryan Mathews (injured ankle). The Chargers also lost star linebacker Shawne Merriman to a calf injury in the first quarter and starting right guard Louis Vasquez to a knee injury. Along with the injuries, San Diego struggled with the turnovers and Rivers was sacked another four times.

''We gave up 14 points (on special teams). That shouldn't have beat us,'' Tolbert said.

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