Lack of Offense Is Short-Changing the Charger Defense, Fans
SAN DIEGO — Mr. Spanos:
Instead of charging $23 a ticket, why not make it $1 a point. --banner at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium
The Chargers have scored two offensive touchdowns in five home games this year. At $1 a point, that’s $2.50 per ticket per game.
Maybe that’s why Charger officials ordered security personnel to remove the above banner/offer Sunday night before their 13-3 loss to the Raiders was half over: This is the National Football League, not Let’s Make A Deal. Besides, price-gouging is illegal.
Actually the Chargers have scored 37 points at home this season. But the defense has scored 6 of them on an interception return; the special teams got 6 on a blocked punt return and Vince Abbott has kicked 3 field goals and 4 extra points.
More’s the point: A kicker, a linebacker and a special teamer have scored more points in front of the locals than the offense.
“I’m just so disappointed for our fans,” Charger Coach Al Saunders said. “I really believed we would be an exciting, big-play offense after the preseason. And we haven’t been. I thought we would give them something that would excite them.”
The Chargers (2-8) have now lost 6 games in a row which ties them with Dallas for the longest current losing streak in the NFL. They are still in the thick of dubious derby to obtain the draft rights to UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman. The team that ends up with the worst record will almost certainly pick him.
That might be the best thing that ever happened to the Chargers and the worst that ever happened to Aikman. For his part, Saunders would love to have Aikman but hates being in the position to get him.
“We could put our heads in the sand,” he said after his team had suffered its 12th defeat in its last 14 games. “We’ve elected to try to get better.”
The Charger defense is already more than halfway there. It limited Raider quarterback Steve Beuerlein to 13 completions on 28 attempts for 182 yards. It sacked him 4 times and intercepted 1 of his passes. But it allowed Chris Bahr field goals of 36 and 29 yards and a 7-yard touchdown pass from Beuerlein to Raider tight end Trey Junkin.
Raider running back Bo Jackson’s first 6 rushes produced 0, -4, -1, 0, a lost fumble and 0 yards respectively. This was small consolation. Free safety Vencie Glenn, linebacker Billy Ray Smith and defensive end Lee Williams have been the on-field leaders of a defense that ranks 19th in the league. The offense ranks 27th and rarely sustains drives. This defense never rests.
And it is admirable in its consensus refusal to criticize the offense. The closest its members get to that point is suggesting these losses are their fault because they don’t shut out the opposition every week.
“If they don’t score, we don’t lose,” said tackle Joe Phillips. “That’s about as far as I can go.”
Charger quarterback Mark Malone may have gone too far in the wrong direction. He completed 12 of 25 passes for 147 yards against the Raiders with 2 interceptions. He is 0-4 as a starter since replacing the injured Babe Laufenberg.
Saunders said the Chargers will decide Tuesday whether to give second-year quarterback Mark Vlasic his first NFL start in Atlanta next week. Against the Raiders he opted for Laufenberg in the fourth period when it was clear Malone wasn’t the answer.
“We’ve got guys who want to run the ball and guys who want to catch the ball,” Malone said. “I don’t know what the answer is.”
One answer is lack of talent. But bespeaking that frightening possibility is heresy in professional football. So the Chargers don’t.
“Whether you touch the ball or you don’t touch the ball, everybody on this offense has to play better,” Laufenberg said after completing 2 of 5 passes. “It’s all of us. There’s a saying: Don’t point the finger, pull the thumb.”
The defense has had its thumb in the dike now for 10 games. Leaks are inevitable. The one that beat the Chargers Sunday sprung from a split-second letdown by nickel back Roy Bennett early in the fourth period.
The Raiders had driven from their own 42 to the Chargers 7 when Bennett entered as part of the Chargers “Pirate” pass defense--a combination man-to-man and zone alignment. His responsibility was Junkin. And he had him covered in the back of the end zone until Beuerlein threw.
“Somebody yelled, ‘ball’,” Bennett said. “I turned my head. And that’s when it sailed right past me.”
The Charger defense isn’t perfect either. After 9 weeks it ranked last in the league in stopping opponents on third down. When Smith tackled Beuerlein for a 2-yard loss in the third quarter it was the first sack by a starting Charger linebacker this season.
And the offense isn’t totally dark. Second-year wide receiver Jamie Holland burned veteran Raider cornerback Mike Haynes for a 42-yard completion in the first quarter. He also raced for 10 yards on a reverse and caught 2 other passes for 26 yards.
