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| | | | | | | | Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Kitna lifts Seahawks to 20-12 victory
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Seattle's Jon Kitna threw a 68-yard touchdown pass
for one of the game's two touchdowns. San Diego's Ryan Leaf threw an
interception that went 69 yards for the other.
The Seahawks used the two big plays to beat
San Diego 20-12 Sunday as the punchless
Chargers were limited to four field goals.
|  | | Seattle's Darrell Jackson battles for the ball with San Diego's DeRon Jenkins on Sunday. |
Kitna and the Seahawks (2-2), winning their
second in a row, didn't exactly put on an
offensive show against the Chargers (0-4).
"Please don't use that word ugly," Seattle coach
Mike Holmgren said, answering a question to
that effect. "We won a close game and that's
important to us."
Seattle came into the game ranked 27th in the
league in total offense, and the Chargers were
last.
"We're not as consistent offensively as I would like us to be at this point. It's
always a tight game at San Diego," Holmgren said.
Kitna, aching from being sacked five times, was still smiling.
"One thing I learned from last year is that you're never unhappy if you win. They
are a tough defensive team; you can't really stop Junior (Seau)," said Kitna, who
completed 11 of 21 for 196 yards and did not have an interception after throwing
seven in the first three games.
Holmgren didn't like the sacks.
"Sometimes the quarterback holds the ball too long, sometimes it's a bad read,"
Holmgren said. "Today they got to Jon way too much."
Kitna connected with a wide-open Darrell Jackson for the long touchdown late in
the first quarter, and Willie Williams returned Leaf's seventh interception of the
season for a score to give the Seahawks an eight-point pad with 6:50 left in the
third quarter.
Leaf sprained his right wrist when he was blocked end-over-end as he chased
after Williams. He was replaced by Jim Harbaugh late in the third quarter.
Back as the starter because Moses Moreno was injured last weekend, Leaf has
thrown just one touchdown this year. In his 14 NFL games, he has 27 turnovers
and three touchdown passes.
He took the blame for the loss.
"One play -- I make it and we win. I don't, we lose. A lot of the onus is on me
and I came up short," said Leaf, who was 16-of-26 for 153 yards, with the one
costly interception.
While many in the relatively sparse crowd of 47,233 booed Leaf, Holmgren had
kind words for him.
"He's a talented guy. I root for him to
succeed when he's not playing against my
team," the Seattle coach said.
Kris Heppner's field goals of 25 and 26
yards accounted for the other Seattle
scoring.
John Carney provided all San Diego's points
with field goals of 41, 28, 24 and 45 yards.
The Chargers' offense has scored just three
touchdowns this season.
"We cannot win games with four field goals,"
said Seau, the Chargers' All-Pro linebacker.
After replacing Leaf, Harbaugh also was
largely ineffective, going 8-of-14 for 67
yards, with one interception. Harbaugh did
drive the Chargers to the Seattle 16 in the
closing moments of the game, but threw
incomplete on fourth-and-4 from 3.
William's interception probably was the key
to the game.
Leaf, under pressure, side-armed a pass that
was not near any receiver -- but was right in
Williams' arms in the right flat. Williams had
clear sailing to the end zone.
The Seahawks led 13-12 at halftime, with
seven of Seattle's points and six of San
Diego's following mistakes by the other
team.
The Seahawks scored their first touchdown
with the help of a lapse by San Diego
safeties Rodney Harrison and Michael
Dumas.
The Chargers' Darren Mickell jumped
offsides, officials dropped flags, and, when
the ball was snapped, Seattle's Jackson headed downfield on a post pattern.
Harrison and Dumas both seemed to freeze after the penalty flags were thrown,
and Jackson sprinted past them, took Kitna's throw in stride and was off to the
end zone for a 10-6 lead.
"It was weird. It seemed like Darrell was the only one moving," Kitna said.
Dumas, however, said: "It was busted coverage. We were in a zone and he was
able to slice through the zone. I didn't see the flag until after he scored."
The Chargers turned two fumbles by Seattle return specialist Charlie Rogers into a
pair of field goals in the first half.
Game notes:
The Chargers have scored one touchdown or less in 35 of their last 52 games. ...
Seattle's Ricky Watters rushed for 67 yards on 16 carries and had one reception
for 14 yards. ... San Diego tight end Freddie Jones caught a career-high eight
passes for 82 yards. ... The Seahawks were held to just 63 yards total offense in
the second half. They finished with 269. ... Leaf said of his injured wrist: "It hurts. I
was trying to run him down and I got leveled. I landed on that infield (the baseball
infield) and it's hard. I didn't want to stay in the game and end up hurting us."
X-rays showed there was no fracture in his wrist. ... Dumas left the game in the
fourth quarter with a strained left hamstring.
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