Round 8

8  Seattle 2012 (Rudy Gobin) @ San Diego 2006 (Bill Schneider)...........................28-45  

When these teams met in the 4th round of the Winner’s Bracket, offense was on display. Seattle gained an otherworldly 681 yards in that contest, while San Diego chipped in 487 of their own. San Diego held on for a 48-45 victory, outlasting a furious Seattle 4th quarter rally. Would the fireworks return?

The game started slowly for San Diego, as they went 3 and out on their first possession. Seattle, on the other hand, rode Marshawn Lynch for 34 yards and capped the drive with a Wilson to Zach Miller TD pass to take a 7-0 lead.

San Diego countered with a 13 play drive to tie, capped by an LT touchdown run. That ended the scoring for the first quarter.

In the second quarter, San Diego exploded for 31 points to take a commanding lead. Tomlinson scored another, Philip Rivers hit Antonio Gates for a TD and Vincent Jackson for another, CB Florence returned a fumble for a defensive score, and Nate Kaeding added a field goal. With Seattle held scoreless, San Diego headed into half time with a 38-7 lead.

Seattle’s defense stiffened, and Russell Wilson hit Golden Tate for one TD and Zach Wilson for another to close the gap to 38-21 heading into the 4th quarter.

After a couple punt exchanges, San Diego finally got on the board again with another LT TD plunge with 3:06 left in the game. Wilson would hit Zach Miller for his 3rd TD reception of the game, but San Diego ran out the clock for a 45-28 victory.

MVP of the game was LaDanian Tomlinson, who rushed for 197 yards and 3 TDs. Philip Rivers was 19 for 24 for 258 yards and 2 TDs, and Antonio Gates caught all 5 passes on which he was targeted including a TD.

For Seattle, Wilson threw for 251 yards and 4 TDs, while Lynch was held to only 45 yards with Seattle favoring the pass.