54-Yard Field Goal Gives Chargers Win : AFC: Carney’s team-record kick with 18 seconds left beats Seahawks, 17-14.

If a kicker is indeed only as good as his last kick, then John Carney finally is in good standing with the San Diego Chargers.

Carney, hounded by bad luck all season, kicked a team-record 54-yard field goal, the longest of his career, with 18 seconds left Sunday as the Chargers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 17-14, and spoiled a milestone day for Dave Krieg.

Carney, whose previous longest field goal was 48 yards in a loss at Pittsburgh on opening day, had been 0 for 3 from beyond 50 yards during his three-year career. But his kick Sunday was right down the middle, ending a three-game losing streak for San Diego (2-8).

Carney finally has a kick to rank with his final collegiate kick, which lifted Notre Dame to a 38-37 victory over USC in 1986.

“This has been the biggest point of my professional career,” Carney said. “That was obviously a large point in my college career and something I cherish. But I’ve moved to a new level and it’s time to find something I can cherish at the new level.”

Carney, a Plan B acquisition, was only 14-for-21 prior to Sunday. He missed a 48-yarder that would have given the Chargers a win over Cleveland in their last home game. Instead, the Browns won 30-24 in overtime.

Then there was the gaffe two weeks ago in a 20-9 loss at Seattle, when the coaches sent him in to try what they thought was a 51-yarder. It was really from 56 yards, and he missed.

“The way he got that ball through, he probably could have hit from a lot deeper, even 56,” Charger Coach Dan Henning said.

“I felt pretty good about my opportunity and I think the coaches did too,” Carney said.

The previous team record was 53 yards, set by Rolf Benirschke in 1980 and matched by Chris Bahr in 1989.

Krieg became the 31st NFL quarterback to pass for more than 25,000 yards. He completed 28 of 38 passes for 376 yards, pushing his career total to 25,110, and he led two drives to rally Seattle (5-5) from a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit.

Krieg evaded a heavy rush on a second-and-10 and reached the milestone on a 39-yard pass to Brian Blades early in the fourth quarter. He surpassed it on the next play with a 13-yard scoring pass to John L. Williams, making the score 14-7. Krieg completed four of five passes for all 80 yards.

He again accounted for all of Seattle’s yards on a drive two possessions later. He completed three of four passes for 78 yards, including a 20-yarder to Jeff Chadwick, who pulled it down just before falling out of the end zone for a 14-14 tie.

But Krieg couldn’t come through a third time. He was sacked on consecutive downs by Donnie Elder and Anthony Shelton deep in Seattle territory and the Seahawks punted.

The Chargers committed two penalties that pushed them back to the Seattle 48, but John Friesz hit Ronnie Harmon on consecutive passes of three and nine yards to set up Carney’s kick on fourth-and-13 from the 36.