Ross’ Debut Worth Price of Omission
SAN DIEGO — Let me be gentle. Let me be kind. Let me not overreact to the first game of the Chargers’ new era under Coach Bobby Ross.
The defense could take darned near any offense to the Super Bowl.
Except the Charger offense.
You could take the offense and spread it in your garden, if you get the scent of my drift.
This combination produced a 24-10 defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in front of a crowd of 45,024, which might be the largest of the season if what happened Sunday is any indication of what’s to come. Henceforth, short straw has to use those season tickets.
It wasn’t only that the Chargers couldn’t do anything with the football. Neither could the Chiefs. I don’t think either one of these offenses could move fast enough or far enough to escape a burning phone booth. It was so boring you couldn’t tell when they had taken a break for a television timeout and when they were playing.
When the USC marching band played before the game, it dedicated a song to its last appearance in the stadium. That was at Saturday’s San Diego State-USC game, the 31-31 tie.
The song was “Heartbreaker.”
That was a poignant moment. Hearts were broken all over the place in that Saturday game.
Sunday’s game itself was more of a less-than-poignant study in nostalgia. Anyone who has watched the Chargers over the last decade has seen what happened Sunday over and over again, except the defense could not play much better and the offense might have been as bad as it has ever been.
It looked like both offenses were playing eight-man football against 11-man defenses. The scoreboard featured thunder and lightning for player introductions. After that, they hardly needed to waste the electricity on the darn thing.
Kansas City was held to 188 yards in total offense and scored only one touchdown when it had the ball. Otherwise, it was a welfare case, cashing checks on Charger mistakes on special teams and, you guessed it, on offense to get touchdowns on punt and interception returns.
As little as the Chiefs produced against the Charger defense, the Chargers did less against the Chiefs. They gained all of 155 yards, all of 67 yards passing. The Chargers did throw a touchdown pass, but it was caught by Kansas City’s Kevin Ross. The best catch a Charger made was Junior Seau, on a Kansas City pass.
If the Charger offense is going to keep playing like this, coffee is going to become the beverage of choice at tailgate parties . . . and concession stands as well. They almost had to be serving the stuff intravenously to keep the crowd awake Sunday.
Bob Gagliano was the Chargers’ starting quarterback. He had the longest of days and the shortest of days, coming out near the end of the third period after passing for 55 yards in gains and being sacked for 50 yards in losses.
I asked him about his protection and he said he would have to look at the films. This was understandable, in that he had the worst seat in the house. He was either looking around posts such as Dan Saleaumua or Neil Smith or Derrick Thomas or lying on his back.
The way the Charger offensive line protected Gagliano, I’d wish them on Saddam Hussein as bodyguards. If the Padres have the Four Tops, the Charger offensive line is The Doors . . . as in open doors. The Chiefs walked on through them all day long.
When the Chargers finally got field position on three possessions in the third quarter, at the 50, the Kansas City 29 and the Kansas City 36, the Chiefs’ defensive pressure undid them. A six-yard sack stopped the first drive, and a 15-yard sack stopped the second. Trying to avoid a sack on that third possession, Gagliano threw the interception Ross returned 99 yards for a touchdown.
That was it for Gagliano.
On came Stan Humphries.
He took the Chargers on their only touchdown drive, but benefited from a tacky 27-yard pass interference penalty on the Chiefs when he had overthrown Nate Lewis.
That one scoring drive was certainly not enough to stir an enlightened quarterback controversy, though I am sure the subject of going to Humphries will be a hot topic. Switching quarterbacks is not really the answer.
“Overall,” Ross said, “we broke down in the protection quite a bit.”
That was an understatement. The way Sunday’s game went, the Chargers should have center, guard and tackle controversies on offense. Those aren’t sexy, however. That’s why there will be unenlightened debates over who should be the starting quarterback rather than, for example, who should be the right guard.
Everyone involved was reassuring that the offense would be improved, which should not be too hard to accomplish. If it doesn’t improve, folks will be having tailgate parties during games.
