Funny how a team can go from 13 wins to nine in just one week.
The Seahawks came into this season amid pomp and circumstance as Super Bowl champs, and they merely added to their aura of invincibility with a blowout win in the opener against Green Bay.
Everyone fully expected them to carry that over to Week 2 in San Diego, but no one — particularly the Seahawks — was prepared for the Gates of Hell. A resurgent all-star tight end and debilitating heat conspired to overwhelm Seattle’s vaunted defense.
Antonio Gates catches a TD pass over K.J. Wright in the second half (AP)
The Seahawks have seen the Gates of Hell.
He’s a 34-year-old tight end who seems perpetually injured but who still finds ways to burn opponents.
On a scorching Sunday in San Diego, Antonio Gates caught fire — and three touchdown passes — against a Seattle defense that appeared ill-prepared for the heat and the physical pounding the Chargers’ offense put on it in San Diego’s 30-21 win.
The Seattle defense — so good at stopping tight ends last season — apparently forgot the formula in the San Diego heat. Last postseason alone, the Hawks held Jimmy Graham to one catch for eight yards, Vernon Davis to two receptions for 16 yards and Julius Thomas to four for 27.
But Gates, who was hindered by a hamstring injury all week, caught seven passes for 96 yards and scored against linebackers Malcolm Smith and K.J. Wright and safety Kam Chancellor.
It was the first time Gates had caught three TD passes since a 28-20 win over Kansas City in 2005.
“He definitely capitalized on every opportunity he had,” Chancellor told reporters. “He showed why he is (a five-time) All-Pro tight end. He also has a good quarterback that looks to him and knows him and his timing. They have the quarterback/tight end bond. He is a crafty tight end.”
If the Seahawks don’t beat the San Diego Chargers on Sunday — perhaps handily — it will be a huge surprise. After all, how many advantages can one team have over another?
Shall we count the ways?
1 — The Seahawks saw the Chargers’ personnel in the preseason, during a 41-14 demolition, and we saw what happened the last time the Hawks played a preseason opponent during the season: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8 in the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks blew out the Broncos in the preseason last year, too, and they used that game to familiarize themselves with the Broncos’ personnel. (The Broncos have to really be looking forward to coming to Seattle next week.)
The Hawks did the same thing with the Chargers this preseason.
Funny how a team can go from 13 wins to nine in just one week.
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