Reviewing the tape-Seattle holds off San Diego

The Seattle Seahawks held off the late "charge" of the San Diego Chargers to hang onto a 27-20 win at Qwest Field last Sunday as Earl Thomas intercepted Phillip Rivers in the end zone with seconds remaining to seal the win.
The 2-1 Seahawks travel to St.Louis this Sunday against the Rams before using their bye in Week five.
Could Seattle be 3-1 going into their bye and possibly set themselves up for an NFC West title?

Puget Sounds

1) Yes,I realize talking division title is WAY premature,but hear me out for just a second.
The NFC West is pretty weak with the 49ers losing their first three games and having Alex Smith at quarterback,the Rams are going through the expected growing pains with Sam Bradford and Steven Jackson is banged up and the Cardinals lost several key players from last season (Warner,Boldin,Dansby etc) to the point of using Derek Anderson (?) as their starter.
9-7 might just get the division done.
If Seattle gets through November at 5-6 or better,things look pretty good as the schedule's final five games sees Carolina,Atlanta and St.Louis at home and San Francisco and Tampa Bay on the road.
Only Atlanta is a game that looks to be a really tough matchup and the other four are pick'ems at worst.

2) This was a boring game to watch for the first half,but the second half had about all you could ask for in a football game.
Seattle kept giving the Chargers chance after chance to stay in the game,until finally Earl Thomas ended the contest with an interception.
Joe Haden has played well for the Browns and T.J. Ward has been well worth his second round selection,but Thomas would have been nice to see in Orange.

3) Leon Washington's two kick return touchdowns accomplished two things other than the 14 points that he provided.Keeping the Seattle offense off the field was a good thing with some of the mistakes that have been shown this season,but the other was the extra confidence that is beginning to develop in the special teams.

4) The game also featured some unusual plays that didn't go Seattle's way such as Deion Branch's almost touchdown that turned into Charger ball after the ball was fumbled through the end zone.
A veteran receiver should know better than the lightweight carry of Branch.

5) The other was the sorry clock management that saw the team unable to get off a chip shot field goal attempt before the clock ran out before halftime.
Those three points would have come in quite handy in the fourth quarter that saw San Diego rally.

6) Matt Hasselbeck threw a touchdown and a pick,but boy the pick was a bad one.
A toss to the goal line to Mike Williams that would have Williams badly out of position to make the play-IF he was a corner.The type of passes that you dont expect a veteran to make or maybe it is the type of pass that a fast fading veteran makes....

7)  Seattle lost its best defensive lineman in Brandon Mebane,best corner in Marcus Trufant and linebacker Aaron Curry as well,but two veterans that really stepped up in this one were Red Bryant on the line and safety Lawyer Milloy.
I suspected Bryant might be on his way to a solid year back in the pre-season,but Milloy's play has been outstanding for a player looking to be close to the end.

8) Kudos as well to defensive end Chris Clemons,who rushed off the end and usually around Charger tackles all afternoon.
That type of rush will enable more attention to Clemons and less help from a guard on Brandon Mebane.

9) The Seahawks offensive line has been playing well enough,but is about to get better as first rounder Russell Okung returns from an ankle injury.
Huge upgrade to the line.

10) Finally,the Hawks added some depth to the receiving corps with the signing of well traveled Brandon Stokley.
Not sure how much Stokley has left,but we shall see....

Photo Credits-Otto Greule Jr.-Getty Images