Surprises and shocks from Week 2 of the NFL season

San Diego over Seattle: Sherman is still good…

Subtitle: …but he didn’t scare the Chargers

Last week there was a lot of talk about the Green Bay Packers ceding a third of the field (you could argue half) to Richard Sherman and the Seattle Seahawks. Doing that seemed to box the Packers in and make them predictable.

When you watched the Packers this past weekend against the Jets, who lack a shutdown corner, it was obvious how much it limited the offense.

The Chargers took a different tack—they threw at Sherman.

Now they were smart about it. Chargers head coach Mike McCoy matched up second-year receiver Keenan Allen on him and Allen is quick and runs a sharp route, which allowed him to get a cushion on Sherman. Quarterback Philip Rivers then hit him with short passes, which let Allen catch the ball in space. Since Sherman was trying not to draw a flag with contact, the Chargers were able to complete all four passes to Allen.

This isn’t to say Sherman isn’t good or had a bad game. It’s merely to point out that you can throw around him and perhaps giving up a portion of the field is unwise. You still need to be careful around him and I am sure he’ll adjust once he looks at the tape, but overall it worked.

The other reason the Chargers one (aside from a silly three-touchdown game by “over-the-hill” tight end Antonio Gates) was time of possession. The Chargers had the ball for 42:15 of the game, the Seahawks just 17:45.

This was how the Chargers gave the Denver Broncos fits last season—keep the ball and the other team can’t score. Considering how close the game was—Seattle was only six points down with three minutes left and the ball at their own 11—that time of possession stat is key.

The Chargers are a team people should be watching. Seattle? They’ll bounce back, and soon.