In Week One, the Packers’ strategy against the Seahawks was to avoid throwing in Richard Sherman’s direction. In Week Two, the Chargers thought they had a receiver who could beat Sherman. And they were right.
San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers said after his team beat the Seahawks that the reason they didn’t avoid throwing in Sherman’s direction is simple: The Chargers believed receiver Keenan Allen could win one-on-one matchups with Sherman. As it turned out, Rivers was right about that, and Allen had a good day with Sherman covering him.
“He’s an awesome corner,” Rivers said on NFL Network after the game. “But there were certain things where we felt Keenan matched up well against him. Keenan’s great off the press and Keenan is really great off the top of his breaks. I didn’t get carried away, but when the plays presented themselves we were confident to go over there, and Keenan made the plays when we did.”
Sherman didn’t talk to the media after the game, but he did talk on Twitter, saying he laughs at anyone saying he was exposed.
Lmao Exposed? .... Complete 3 passes 0 touchdowns 0 explosive passes.... These guys make me laugh
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) September 15, 2014
Maybe Sherman wasn’t “exposed,” but the Chargers did demonstrate that you can go at him and win. At least if you have a receiver as good as Allen, and a quarterback as good as Rivers.