New Charger Math Adds Up to Defeat : Football: Miscalculation on field-goal attempt is sign of the times for the Chargers, who lose to Seattle, 20-9.

It’s a rewrite of the same old story, but with a telling twist of why the Chargers insist on playing the weekly punching bag to their thankful opponents.

The Seahawks improved on a one-point, fourth-quarter lead with a 55-yard kickoff return to set up a Mike Tice five-yard touchdown catch, and went on to lock up a 20-9 victory over the Chargers in front of 58,025 in the Kingdome.

It was the Chargers’ third-grade math gone sour in the third quarter, however, that crystallized a season gone to waste.

The scene:

The Chargers trail the Seahawks 10-6, and they are confronted with a fourth-and-five at the the Seattle 38-yard line.

The call:

Coach Dan Henning instructs kicker John Carney to attempt a 56-yard field goal, although Carney has never hit a field goal from beyond 50 yards in his four-year NFL career.

The reaction:

Up in the press box someone is moved to say: “Dan Henning has lost it.”

The explanation:

The way to determine the length of a field goal is to add approximately 17 yards to the line of scrimmage. The Chargers had the ball on the Seattle 38.

“Our kicker said he thought he could kick it, and I’m not sure that we on our sideline realized that it was 56 yards,” Henning said. “I think they thought it was 51.”

How long did Henning think it was?

“I was under the impression from Larry (Pasquale) and John that it was a 51-yard attempt,” said Henning, who then was asked at what point did he realize he had been mistaken. “After the kick.”

Pasquale, the Chargers’ special-teams coordinator said, “I was thinking it was a 53-yarder; I just miscounted. You can make a mistake.”

Carney’s longest field goal traveled 48 yards earlier this year against Pittsburgh. “I knew it was 56, and I was excited as hell to go out there and kick it,” he said. “I had a 60-yarder in pregame warm-ups.”

The result:

Carney’s 56-yard attempt landed nearer to Portland than the uprights, falling short and wide right.

“He didn’t come close,” Henning said.

Linebacker Billy Ray Smith intercepted a Dave Krieg pass, and kept the Seahawks from taking advantage of Henning’s miscalculations.

The Chargers, however, continued to offer assistance to the enemy.

After Carney connected from 36 yards to cut Seattle’s lead to 10-9 with 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Seahawks reserve running back Chris Warren returned Carney’s kickoff 55 yards to the Chargers’ 40.

“Darren Carrington, Donnie Elder and Ronnie Harmon were supposed to be coming from the backside,” Pasquale said, “and they are three of our best players and they were essentially not blocked. But we didn’t get there in time, and that’s what we have to look at. We should have.

“It wasn’t anything that we hadn’t seen; it’s the first kickoff return we have diagramed in our game plan, so we weren’t surprised. But that was the turning point in the game. We had to make that play and we didn’t make it.”

The Seahawks capitalized on the good field position, and after moving to the Chargers’ five, Krieg rifled a touchdown pass to an uncovered Tice.

“It’s a two void coverage that we run where the play ends up between Henry (Rolling) and Martin (Bayless),” Henning said. “Henry works from the inside and Martin works from the outside in and Martin got there a little late. Henry got there a little late, too.”

Bayless, however, said his head coach had it all wrong--again.

“My responsibility is to cover the wide receiver,” Bayless said. “I have nothing to do with the tight end.”

Rolling, meanwhile, said he was expecting outside help from cornerback Sam Seale. “But there’s no way he can do it,” Rolling said. “If the receivers goes inside and runs a corner route he has to be there, too, so there’s no way he can help me out.

“What I suggested to the coaches when I got to the sideline was just let me take him man-to-man and that will shore up that problem.”

Too late. The Chargers trailed 17-9 with 11:24 to play in the game.

The Seahawks had failed to run the ball effectively on the Chargers throughout the day, but when they had to control the ball and run down the clock, they ran the ball. They knocked more than three minutes off the clock, then called on rookie kicker John Kasay to kick a 54-yard field goal.

Chuck Knox knew it was 54 yards, and he knew Kasay had the leg to give the ball a ride, because Kasay had already hit a 51-yard field goal earlier in the game.

Kasay’s 54-yarder matched a Seahawks record and nudged Seattle ahead 20-9 with 6:05 to play.

The Chargers replied, however, with a hurry-up offense, and were well on their way to making it another one of those “win-or-lose by seven or fewer points” games that has dominated Henning’s coaching tenure in San Diego.

However, Henning would have none of it. After moving down the field to the Seattle 20 with four wide receivers, Henning sent out his bruisers.

On first and 10, quarterback John Friesz passed to tight end Derrick Walker for two yards, and the clock kept running. On second and eight he threw to Marion Butts for three yards, and the clock kept moving. Then Henning sent the four wide receivers onto the field, and Friesz threw eight yards to Kitrick Taylor for a first down.

Ronnie Harmon ran up the middle for four yards, and back came the bruisers. Butts ran left for one yard, and the clock kept moving. Butts went right for a loss of a yard, and the Chargers took a timeout with 2:09 to play to consider fourth and three.

The Chargers went to four wide receivers, but Friesz lost track of Nate Lewis and was forced to throw a misguided pass that was knocked down by Eugene Robinson in the end zone.

“I read it as an inside break and Nate read it as an outside one,” Friesz said, “but I don’t think either one would have been a touchdown. There really isn’t a good call down there.”

The Chargers draw a bye this week, and will return to play the Seahawks in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Nov. 10. After the Chargers took a bye last season, they closed out the season with three consecutive defeats.

“There’s a big difference between our team and the Seahawks,” linebacker Junior Seau said. “They have a chance to make the playoffs and our chances are very slim.”

Slim? How about slim and none?

“I expect our team to explode soon,” said Lewis, “but then I’ve said that the last few weeks.”