The Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Chargers playing to a 30-23 scoreline would suggest an entertaining game. It was certainly dramatic toward the end when the Seahawks’ 27-6 lead dwindled, but entertaining it was not.
Between countless undisciplined penalties, very questionable calls on both teams by Scott Novak’s officiating crew, and a healthy serving of failed third downs, this was not one that will go down as an NFL Throwback channel classic. We should’ve known we were in for a wild day when the game started with Dueling Interceptions, the worst ever sequel to Dueling Banjos.
From Seahawks.com senior reporter John Boyle:
Two plays, two interceptions; making it the first time since at least 1978, per the Elias Sports Bureau, that both teams threw interceptions on their first play from scrimmage in the same game.
Neither pick was a good decision and frankly Herbert’s was so bad that if Drake Thomas had an invisibility cloak then Josh Jobe probably gets the interception instead.
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You’ve lived the story by now. Scott Novak’s crew was flag happy from the start, and the Seahawks and Chargers were both heavily punished. There were 30 total accepted penalties for a whopping 280 yards, with multiple drive-extending infractions called on both teams.
According to Stathead, the Seahawks and Chargers had the most accepted penalties in a non-overtime game since the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams combined for 31 penalties in November 2000. It looks like it’s only the 12th ever non-OT game to have north of 30 penalties.
The year was 1976. It’s year one of the Seahawks in the National Football League. They’re 0-5 while the fellow newcomers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are also 0-5 and on their way to 0-14. Seattle prevailed 13-10 for its first win in franchise history, but not without committing 15 penalties for 120 yards. Not to be outdone, the Buccaneers had 20 penalties for 190 yards. The Seahawks won on a blocked game-tying field goal in the final minute, punctuated by a personal foul penalty on the Bucs after the play was over. It remains the franchise record for most combined penalties (35) in a game, and had the Seahawks and Chargers played to overtime it really would’ve put that “record” under threat.
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Hey, the Seahawks won. There are no style points like this is for the College Football Playoff. You’d just rather not have a game look like this.
