SAN DIEGO -- The usual paradise-like weather conditions of San Diego were more like a day in the Sahara Desert on Sunday, and the Seattle Seahawks' defense wilted away in the sweltering heat.
The defending Super Bowl champs got pushed around and outmuscled most of the day by the San Diego Chargers, who came away with a 30-21 victory at blisteringly hot Qualcomm Stadium.
The air temperature was 95 degrees at kickoff, but down on the field temperatures reached 118 degrees. The Chargers wisely wore all white and the Seahawks had to wear their dark blue jerseys.
That didn’t mean much, but what did was the fact that the Chargers had possession for more than 42 minutes. And the Seahawks' defense got worn down and worn out.
San Diego ran 75 plays to only 40 for the Seahawks, now 1-1. Seattle had only 13 running plays, a disaster for a team that prides itself on its power running game.
“It was a lot warmer than we're used to and the defense was out there for some really long drives,” Seattle tight end Zach Miller said. “You can’t help but get tired.”
Heat or no heat, the Legion of Boom was getting beat. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed 28 of 37 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns, all to tight end Antonio Gates.
Gates moves to 11th all-time in NFL touchdown receptions with 90.
“He did some great things, but we didn’t tackle well,” Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said. “It still was a close-fought game and a battle to the final minute. Everybody in the NFL wants to see us lose, but people wish they were us and we’ll keep playing.”
The Seahawks normally are able to get to the quarterback without blitzing, but that wasn’t effective Sunday.
ESPN Stats & Information showed Rivers was 22-of-25 for 211 yards against four or fewer pass-rushers Sunday. It was only the second time since 2011 that the Seahawks gave up three passing touchdowns when sending standard pressure.
Since the start of the 2013 season, Seattle is first in the league in passing TDs allowed while rushing four or fewer pass-rushers. Those numbers were much different Sunday -- an 88 percent completion percentage for Rivers compared to 59.7 entering the game for the Seahawks over the previous 17 regular-season games.
What caused it? Was it too many defensive snaps in the heat? Or just too much Rivers-to-Gates, a combo that has 63 TDs together?
Seattle free safety Earl Thomas left the game in the third quarter and went to the locker room for IV fluids because of cramps in his legs from the heat, but he returned one series later.
“It was hot and there was a lot of cramping up when [the defense] was out there long time," Thomas said. “I exert a lot of energy out there, and in this heat it was kind of hard for me at times. But it wasn’t anything we didn’t prepare for. We just didn’t execute when it really mattered. When somebody beats us it's just luck to me. It’s not about them.”
Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright saw it differently.
“It was hot, but we can’t let external factors bother us," Wright said. “They told us it would be hot. We should have prepared for it. They kicked our ass and beat us at our own game.”