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Slinging Rivers, ageless Gates shine as Chargers get under Sherman's skin

Eric Edholm

The San Diego Chargers are following last season's script: Blown-lead loss in Week 1, followed by stunning upset in Week 2.

Last season, the Chargers blew a 28-7 second-half home lead to the Houston Texans and pulled a last-second shocker against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road.

This season has felt similar — Week 1's 17-6 lead blown in the fourth quarter to the Arizona Cardinals, followed by Sunday's shocking 30-21 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

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This one felt like everything needed to go the Chargers' way. The heart and soul on the offensive line, center Nick Hardwick, was out. And San Diego, who played Monday, had roughly 100 fewer hours to prepare for this game than the Seahawks, who played last Thursday.

But Philip Rivers, fearless gunner as he is, wasn't about to back down from Richard Sherman or anyone else on a nasty Seahawks defense that chewed up Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and a very good Green Bay Packers offense in the opener.

Rivers attacked early — even in Sherman's direction — and had success getting the passing game going. And the Chargers were successful getting under Sherman's skin. They hit three quick passes on him, getting Sherman turned around, and seemed to frustrate him a bit.

Sherman refused to talk to the media after the game. But he did laugh off the idea of the Chargers "targeting" him.

No matter ... the Chargers' gameplan was near-perfect, even with a few injuries changing their plans on the fly. One other big reason for the Chargers' success Sunday: Rivers found a mismatch with Antonio Gates, who proved too tough for the Seahawks to cover.

Gates is 34. He's coming off an injury-plagued season. Most people had written him off, thinking it was Lardarius Green's time. Nonsense. Gates has looked fantastic in two games so far, and on Sunday he caught seven passes for 96 yards and three touchdowns against the best defense in the NFL.

The Chargers had four first-half drives, not counting the end-of-half kneedown, all of which led to scores. They took a 20-14 halftime lead on touchdown drives of 80 and 28 yards (off a turnover) and field-goal drives of 48 and 31 yards. Best of all, the Chargers ran a total of 39 plays on those four drives. The Seahawks had trouble getting off the field, which is something we're not used to seeing at all.

Not every team is equipped to do it, but the Chargers showed that you can use a short and medium rhythm passing game — and pass protect well — to beat the Seahawks. They handled the loss of Hardwick exceptionally well, kept six blockers home on several plays, used play action and threw effectively to the backs (nine receptions) and tight ends (Gates had seven) as often as the wide receivers (12 catches combined).

But most of all, Rivers didn't back down. He went after the Seahawks. That's in line with his gutsy personality, but it shows that the Seahawks are not infallible.

The Chargers were unlucky defensively on a 51-yard Percy Harvin run in which he stepped out of bounds, and outside of that play they allowed the Seahawks 237 yards and kept them off the field with a mere 40 offensive plays run.

The loss for the Seahawks is not crippling for them, but the Chargers' victory is the kind of thing that can rally a season. Losing Ryan Mathews for a spell is potentially damaging, but this shape-shifting offense can do a lot of different things to be successful — even against the best of units, as they showed Sunday.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!