Seahawks secondary not up to big challenge posed by Chargers on a day of big plays

It was a big play day by Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen Sunday at CenturyLink Field.

Allen had six catches for 127 yards, averaging 20.7 yards per catch — the highest average the Seahawks have allowed to any opposing player with more than two receptions in a single game this season.

He watched two of his teammates, Tyrell Williams and Mike Williams, burn the Seahawks secondary for touchdowns early on.

He saw his quarterback, Philip Rivers, toss the ball downfield several times with little-to-no pressure, connecting with six receivers for 228 yards — including 164 in the opening half.

And, after Los Angeles locked up a 25-17 win, Allen posed this question.

“If we don’t have the best group of receivers in the National Football League, who does?”

Whether or not that bold assertion needs to be challenged, how the Chargers’ receiving corps consistently bested Seattle’s secondary on Sunday gives the question some level of merit.

Eight of the 13 passes Rivers completed went for 10 or more yards — the longest coming on a 54-yard toss to Allen early in the second quarter. Nine of the completions resulted in first downs, and two more were touchdowns.

“It didn’t feel like as we have been playing, and give them some credit, but I think we need to clean it up,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We gave them too much against a good team.”

Rivers hooked up with Tyrell Williams for the Chargers’ first touchdown on the final play of the first quarter, when the receiver boxed out Seahawks rookie cornerback Tre Flowers, and scooped up the 12-yard score as he fell to the ground.

That was the first of three consecutive touchdowns the Chargers scored to end the first half.

“We have confidence in the plays we can make,” Tyrell Williams said. “We got the coverages that we wanted, and when the opportunities come, we have confidence in our receivers to make plays.”

Shaquill Griffin made a touchdown-saving tackle in the open field after Allen snagged the 54-yard pass in the second quarter, but the catch set up a 34-yard touchdown run by Melvin Gordon on the next play, giving the Chargers what turned out to be the final lead of the game.

Los Angeles added one more long score on a 30-yard connection between Rivers and Mike Williams with 1:10 remaining before the break.

Flowers was targeted again, and Mike Williams grabbed the quick pass from Rivers, broke a tackle by Flowers, spun away from him, and beat strong safety Bradley McDougald to the pylon to push the lead to 19-7.

Seattle’s defense didn’t allow a touchdown in the second half — the Chargers’ only score was on a 42-yard interception return by Desmond King — but more problems piled up.

McDougald left early in the second half with a nagging knee injury, and backup Delano Hill came in to replace him.

“His knee that was sore all week long, after he played for quite a while in the game, it just tightened up again, and he couldn’t finish,” Carroll said.

Free safety Tedric Thompson said McDougald was still vocal on the sideline. McDougald entered the game again briefly later to replace Thompson.

Carroll said Thompson had “the wind knocked out of him” after a collision with Allen on a completion, and he returned a play later.

Flowers was also seen sitting on the bench in the second half talking to a trainer, though he would also return.

“Injuries are just part of the game,” Thompson said. “Guys getting injured during practice (and) during the game. You obviously don’t want anybody to get hurt, but the good thing is that we’ve got guys that are going to come ... in the game, and not miss a beat.”

The Seahawks secondary finished with five defensed passes, but the big play allowances early on were part of what kept a late rally by the offense out of reach.

Thompson said the miscues came from miscommunications in the secondary, and they watched film on the sideline throughout the game to work to correct them.

“Every time they had an explosive play, it was something on our end that we had to correct, that we kind of already knew,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t really (anything) that they were doing or Philip (Rivers) making his checks. It was just us. Like I said, we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board.”