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http://www.omniture.com --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games August 26, 2006 No sellout, no L.T. for Seahawks-Chargers By Bernie Wilson The Associated Press SAN DIEGO — The third exhibition game is usually the one when NFL teams play their starters the most. In the case of Saturday night's matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers, it's apparently the one when the fans' eyes glaze over while waiting for the real games to start. Although the defending NFC champions are coming to town and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers will make his second home start this summer, the game will be blacked out locally because some 5,000 tickets remained unsold at the deadline. The one-time AFC West rivals will also play Dec. 24 at Seattle. That's the game that will feature the matchup of marquee running backs Shaun Alexander of Seattle, the reigning NFL MVP, and San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson will sit out Saturday night, as he did the previous two exhibitions, to avoid the risk of injury. The Chargers are coming off a 24-3 loss at Chicago in which Rivers served up an interception that linebacker Brian Urlacher returned for a touchdown. San Diego also allowed a kickoff return for a TD. It was quite a contrast from San Diego's 17-3 opening win over Green Bay. "That just shows, you let a couple of big things happen, it kills you," said Rivers, who added that now's the time to work on eliminating mental errors, silly penalties and missed assignments. "If you eliminate those things and we get drives going, sustain them, finish them, you get in the end zone." Rivers said it was good to face some adversity in August, and the Seahawks will be another good challenge. "The worst thing that could happen to us, is for us to cruise along here, four straight games, have everything be good, everybody talking about 'Oh, what a nice 18-play drive, oh, they're going good, oh look, they scored two more touchdowns in Chicago,' and us going into that first game and setting ourselves for something bad to happen. "I'm not saying I'm glad we made mistakes, but I think it's good for us, everything that happened, and the guys responded well," Rivers said. "This was a pretty tough week of practice. We grinded out there pretty hard. The guys did a great job pushing through it, they were tired, and getting back to focusing on fundamentals." The Seahawks are also 1-1 after beating Indianapolis and losing to Dallas. When they broke camp on Thursday, the Seahawks got a final reminder from coach Mike Holmgren about what it will take to get back to the Super Bowl. Holmgren said the Seahawks are still bothered by their 21-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and thinks they can avoid post-Super Bowl pitfalls. "The finality of losing the Super Bowl, that kind of hit us straight in the eyes and the guys didn't like the feeling of losing," Holmgren said. "So much of it is attitude. We had the best offseason preparation work we've ever had." The Seahawks will be without three key starters — center Robbie Tobeck, wide receiver Darrell Jackson and tight end Jerramy Stevens. Tobeck is recovering from surgery during camp to remove bone chips from his left elbow while Jackson missed all of camp after postseason surgery on his right knee. Stevens is expected to miss six weeks after he reinjured a surgically repaired left knee during practice Aug. 17. San Diego rookie left tackle Marcus McNeill will miss the game after breaking a bone in his left hand on Wednesday. Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.