Chargers Could Kick Themselves as Seahawks Escape With Victory : NFL: Seattle blocks both extra point and field goal tries, leaving McMahon & Co. behind by one point when time runs out.

The Chargers are getting better at getting worse.

Last week in Denver, a fourth-quarter fumble cost them three points. Moments later, two defensive penalties helped lead to seven more as they lost to the Broncos by six.

Sunday at home-bittersweet-home, they allowed the Seattle Seahawks to block an extra point and a field goal. Both in the final period. The extra point would have tied the game. The field goal would have won it.

Instead, the Chargers lost, 17-16.

“This,” Charger defensive lineman Joe Phillips said, “is as bad as it gets in my mind.”

It was pretty bad in the locker room, too. “It’s like we’re fighting ourselves, not the other team,” free safety Vencie Glenn said.

The defeat dropped the Chargers to 2-4 and into a two-way tie for last place in the AFC West. It was also the ninth loss in their last 10 games against Seattle (3-3), a team that still hasn’t won a home game.

Even worse for the Chargers was having to swallow defeat on an afternoon when their statistical domination was almost total.

The Chargers made 12 more first downs than the Seahawks, outgained them 362-224 yards, and controlled the ball for eight minutes four seconds more.

But two Jim McMahon interceptions, two lost fumbles, two breakdowns on place-kick protection and two horribly timed penalties ruined their day.

“Dumb mistakes,” McMahon called them.

Perhaps the worst of the lot was the blocked extra point. It happened with 4:14 remaining after rookie Marion Butts bolted off right tackle for his seventh touchdown.

Next thing the Chargers knew, Seahawk end Jeff Bryant looped inside and blocked Chris Bahr’s attempt to tie the score at 17. Bahr said he wasn’t sure what went wrong and couldn’t remember the last time he’d missed an extra point. Charger Coach Dan Henning said Bahr’s kick “looked like it was a little low.”

“Inexcusable,” said Charger offensive lineman James FitzPatrick.

Added rookie Dana Brinson: “I thought it would be automatic. We’d make that kick, get the ball back, score again and win.”

The Chargers did get the ball back immediately, when Lester Lyles stripped return man James Jefferson and David Brandon recovered at the Seattle 18.

But Tim Spencer, who led the Chargers with 49 yards rushing, lost nine when he fumbled out of bounds. Two plays later, a Seahawk sack of McMahon pushed the Chargers back nine more yards.

Then, Seahawk defensive lineman Joe Nash also looped inside to block Bahr’s 51-yard attempt. It was the sixth field goal block of Nash’s career, a team record, and his second of the year. Seattle also blocked an extra point earlier this season.

“They block kicks as well as anybody in the league,” said Joe Madden, the Charger special teams coach.

You got that right, Joe.

Still, the Chargers would have gotten one more reasonable shot at a game-winning field goal if backup left tackle Joey Howard, subbing for injured Joel Patten, hadn’t held linebacker Rufus Porter with 20 seconds to play. Howard’s penalty nullified a Jim McMahon-to-Victor Floyd pass that would have given the Chargers a first down at the Seahawk 24.

“It was a good call,” Howard said. “I didn’t get back in time, and I got caught.”

There were still five seconds remaining when Porter sacked McMahon at the Seattle 43. But the Chargers had spent their final timeout six plays earlier because rookie wide receiver Wayne Walker lined up in the wrong formation.

McMahon could have attempted a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. But Porter’s hit jarred his ankle, and he was unable to get over center in time for one last play. Time expired.

Had they hustled Bahr on the field for a field goal, it would have been a 60-yard attempt. The longest of Bahr’s career was the 55-yarder he made for Cincinnati 10 years ago.

“It doesn’t matter what happens the first 59 minutes when the game’s this close,” Seattle Coach Chuck Knox said.

“We made enough errors in the fourth quarter to lose two football games,” Henning said.

“Just like last week,” said McMahon who finished with 25 completions in 39 attempts for 286 yards and a three-yard touchdown lob to uncovered tight end Arthur Cox that gave the Chargers a 7-0 lead before Seattle’s offense ever took the field.

The Seahawks answered with a 74-yard, 11-play touchdown drive that culminated on a one-yard dive by Curt Warner. The Chargers believed they had stopped Seattle one play earlier when quarterback Dave Krieg overthrew tight end Robert Tyler on fourth and inches. But the officials called Charger linebacker Billy Ray Smith for holding.

“Billy said it wasn’t holding,” Henning said. “He said he jammed the guy coming off the line of scrimmage. But we need to do a better job of playing the game and not officiating.”

The Chargers entered the game 27th out of 28 NFL teams in penalty yards edge.

Bahr’s 29-yard field goal and Norm Johnson’s 50-yarder, his longest since 1986, accounted for a 10-10 halftime score. The first of McMahon’s two interceptions set up Johnson’s three-pointer, but it was not McMahon’s fault. Brinson bobbled the perfectly thrown ball three times before it popped into the arms of inside linebacker Darren Comeaux.

Seattle took its first lead in the third period on a six-yard touchdown pass from Krieg to John L. Williams, set up by Brinson’s fumble of a Ruben Rodriguez punt. After the game Brinson complained of a shoulder bruise.

Charger Notes

The Chargers’ two interceptions of Dave Krieg passes brought their team total on the year to 10. All 10 have come in the past four games. Gill Byrd got his fifth, Vencie Glenn his second. . . . Krieg finished 14 of 24 for 139 yards. The Chargers didn’t sack him once. . . . It doesn’t get any easier for the Chargers. Next week they play Lawrence Taylor and the New York Giants (5-1) at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. . . . Right tackle Brett Miller didn’t play against the Seahawks because of recurring problems stemming from the minor operation he underwent recently to have a surgical screw removed from his knee. James FitzPatrick started in Miller’s place. . . . Curt Warner’s first-period touchdown was only the second of the year on the ground for Seattle. . . . Charger linebacker Gary Plummer gained six yards on a fake punt late in the first half. The surprise play gave the Chargers a first down. . . . “When you’re playing the Broncos (last week’s loss), you feel like at any moment they can come back and kick your . . . “ said Charger defensive lineman Joe Phillips. “But this is one I really thought we had.”

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