Chargers got recipe right for baked hawk

The Seahawks were in the oven far too long, but properly basted, they still proved tasty. The Chargers devoured them like so many medieval gluttons and eventually finished off their dinner of smoked bird with a vintage bottle of Rivers and Gates.

But their 30-21 victory here over the world champions -- on a white-hot Sunday afternoon in Qualcomm Stadium -- had to end with more than a toast to quarterback Philip Rivers and tight end Antonio Gates, his long time dining companion.

There should have been a tribute, a game ball, awarded to coach Mike McCoy and his staff for drawing up the menu, for concocting the absolutely best game plan possible for beating Seattle. It was, in fact, one of the most precise blueprints this team has carried out since Air Coryell was bombing everyone on its radar.

It was one of their best -- and most important (1-1 is infinitely better than 0-2) -- in-season victories in memory, well-designed and eventually engineered. It was a real football game.

The temperature on the grass had to be over 100 degrees, and it wasn’t unexpected, although during the week McCoy downplayed the heat. But he knew how to get the Seahawks to molt. And that was to keep their terrific defense on the field as long as possible, and to play unafraid, to even throw at boisterous cornerback Richard Sherman when necessary.

Still, the players had to make it work, and they did. Textbook.

The Chargers held onto the ball nearly three-quarters longer than the visitors, an astonishing 42:15. The Seahawks were able to fly when they had it, but they didn’t have it enough. The hosts ran off 75 plays to the Seahawks’ 35. Rivers connected with Gates for three touchdowns, all three improvisational. Nick Novak kicked three field goals. They converted 10-of-17 third downs to Seattle’s 3-of-8.

It was inspired.

And, surprise, their defense came up big at the end, stuffing the fowl on downs near its own goal line when a touchdown would have won it.

“The game got weighted so much in the favor of them controlling it,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll would say. “They had twice as many plays as we did. It was a great job by Philip and their offense. Antonio Gates was phenomenal today. Just the chemistry between those two guys. We couldn’t figure out how to stop it.

“They were moving like crazy and they just kept the ball away from us. It was hot today, but they were playing in it also. We had a ton of plays on defense that wears them down, too. It was a factor in the game, but I don’t think it was the deciding factor.”

I do. Carroll coaches the best defense in the NFL and he couldn’t get it off the field. And so the Seahawks melted as San Diego began to pound away some in the fourth quarter.

San Diego Chargers 30, Seattle Seahawks, 21

9/14/2014 at Qualcomm Stadium

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It’s doubtful the Chargers could have won this game any other way. The officials didn’t help. They missed Percy Harvin stepping out of bounds on his 51-yard scoring sprint. New York eyes missed it on replay, too. Just brutal.

“We couldn’t stay on the field,” said Harvin, who couldn’t either but got away with one.

Rivers was not Rivers last Monday night in Arizona, but he was his old self Sunday afternoon. He completed 28 of 37 passes for 284 yards and three scores (124.2 rating). Gates caught seven of his passes for 96 yards. Slot receiver Eddie Royal had seven catches, most of them big, for 69 yards and wideout Keenan Allen added five for 55.

One bummer was that tailback Ryan Mathews injured his leg scrambling after dropping a perfect handoff and had to be carted off. McCoy said afterward that he didn’t know the extent of the injury, although he probably did (it didn’t look good). U-T Chargers beat writer Michael Gehlken has a source who told him it is a sprained MCL.

Another problem is that the Chargers got themselves some terrible penalties in the red zone. They overcame them, anyway.

“Some of those penalties could’ve killed us,” Rivers said. “We could be having just the opposite interview right now saying red zone penalties killed us, you kicked three field goals, and you got beat.”

Credit the players. But also McCoy, who found a way to beat the heat.”

As the coach said: “You’ve got to suck it up.”

In the end, the birds tried and found too much hot air.

sezme.godfather@gmail.com Twitter: @sdutCanepa