Bolts’ comeback downs Seahawks

Chargers wide receiver Malcom Floyd had two reasons to be thankful for Head Coach Norv Turner’s play call following Jacob Hester’s one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s preseason game against Seattle.

“We didn’t want to go to overtime,” Floyd said, listing one reason.

The other reason he was happy for the call was that it gave him a chance to be the hero.

With 2:30 remaining, quarterback Billy Volek placed the ball in just the right spot for the 6-5 Floyd to out jump his defender and haul in the game-winning two point conversion as the Chargers came back to beat the Seahawks 18-17.

“Coach Turner made the perfect call and Billy threw it in just the right place,” said Floyd, who finished the night with three catches for 37 yards on top of the deciding two-point play. “It’s always good to win.”

Floyd’s grab allowed the Chargers to complete a late comeback and erase a bit of a shaky start to the night. On the third play of the game, Seahawks wide receiver Nate Burleson caught a short pass from Charlie Frye and slipped a couple tackles before racing 68 yards for a touchdown. The pitch and catch gave Seattle a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game.

The Chargers appeared poised to answer as three long Darren Sproles runs helped the Bolts move the ball to the Seattle one yard line. Unfortunately, the Seahawks recovered an errant snap to kill the drive before the Bolts could capitalize.

“I was disappointed,” Turner said. “The guy completes a 20-yard, 25-yard ball that shouldn’t end up being a touchdown. We didn’t tackle well. I was disappointed that down on the goal line we had a chance to get it in. We don’t get it in on first down and then we have a botched snap.”

Midway through the second quarter, some shifty running from Sproles helped the Chargers get going on offense again. Following a 16-yard carry by Sproles, quarterback Philip Rivers found Vincent Jackson wide open deep down the middle of the field for a 59-yard gain. Three plays later, Sproles squeezed into the end zone from a yard out to tie the game at 7-7.

The Chargers took to the air to claim their first lead of the night on their final drive of the opening half. Rivers hooked up with Jackson twice on third down and mixed in short throws to Mike Tolbert and Legedu Naanee to move the Bolts to Seattle’s 22 yard line. That put Nate Kaeding in position to hit a 40-yard field goal, his fifth in as many tries this preseason, to put the Chargers up 10-7 just before the break.

“Sometimes you just need to get a rhythm going a little bit,” Jackson said. “We were able to do that in the second quarter and move it up and down the field.”

Seattle’s opening drive of the second half ran nearly eight minutes off the clock as the Seahawks marched the way all the way to the San Diego six yard line. The Chargers stood their ground with their backs against the wall and forced Mike Holmgren’s club to settle for a 26-yard Olindo Mare field goal that evened the score at 10-10.

“I thought after the first drive our energy level picked up a great deal,” Turner said. “They’re a very, very good offensive team. Our guys rallied back and I thought for a lot of the game we played good defense.”

As Turner suggested late last week, his starters on both sides of the ball played one series into the second half. Sproles was stellar, leading all rushers with 102 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Rivers finished the evening 11-of-21 passing for 143 yards. In his first action of the preseason, Jackson caught four passes for 84 yards.

Seahawks starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck didn’t make the trip to San Diego due to an ailing back, and Frye took advantage of his opportunity to lead Seattle’s offense. Frye played into the fourth quarter and finished the night 19-of-29 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns. His second touchdown toss, a 12-yard throw to Jordan Kent, capped a nine-play, 91-yard drive and allowed Seattle to take a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

It appeared that the late lead would stand until Volek got the Bolts’ offense moving late in the game. After hitting Legedu Naanee for a 14-yard gain, Volek aired one out for Floyd in the end zone. The play was broken up, but Seattle was flagged for pass interference, a 51-yard penalty that put the ball on the Seattle one yard line. Hester scored on the next play to set up Floyd’s two-point grab.

“He brings a dimension he brought to this team two years ago and it’s exciting for me to see him playing the way he is,” Turner said of Floyd. “He’s going to be a part of what we do.”

Chargers players will be off Tuesday before returning to the practice field Wednesday afternoon. They’ll travel to San Francisco on Friday to close out their preseason schedule against the 49ers Friday night.

“We know we have to get better,” Turner said. “To me that’s always the theme at this time of year and throughout the entire season. There are things that we will take from this game that will help us play better on opening day.”

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