Who Beat Walters on All Those Plays? Butler Did It

According to the Charger defensive theory, numerous men are spot players. They are used in situations when the down and distance supposedly best suit their abilities.

In Sunday afternoon’s 14-9 win against Buffalo in the season opener, Danny Walters and John Hendy were spotted at left cornerback. It was a very bad spot for Walters but a very good one for Hendy.

Walters was beaten by Jerry Butler for 140 yards and a 37-yard pass interference penalty. He also covered Mitchell Brookins on a 46-yard pass play. All three Buffalo field goals came after Walters was beaten deep.

Hendy?

He replaced Walters on Buffalo’s last two possessions. When Buffalo controlled the ball near the end without any timeouts remaining, Hendy twice made tackles to keep runners inbounds--and keep the clock running.

On the game’s last play, Hendy tackled Eric Richardson before he could get out of bounds at the Charger 24-yard line with six seconds remaining. Consequently, Buffalo could not run another play as the clock kept running.

“The first thing we’re told in that situation is to run to the sidelines and try to keep them inbounds,” Hendy said. “We did, and it worked out.”

While things worked out well for the rookie Hendy, they did not work out so well for third-year man Walters:

--He was beaten by Butler on a 41-yard pass play from Vince Ferragamo late in the first quarter. Scott Norwood concluded the drive with a 27-yard field goal.

--He was called for a 37-yard pass interference penalty while covering Butler on the first play of the second quarter. That led to Norwood’s 34-yard field goal.

--He was beaten by Butler on a 48-yard pass play late in the half. Norwood then kicked a 29-yard field goal.

--He was beaten in the second half by Butler on a 40-yard pass play and by Brookins on a 46-yard pass play. Neither mistake cost the Chargers on the scoreboard.

“Butler made a couple of good catches that I felt I was there for,” Walters said. “I felt like I was in good position on him. He put forth a little more effort than me. When you’re having a bad day like I did, people notice it and pick on you. Sometimes when you’re having a bad day, you need new people to come in like John Hendy did. He did a good job.”

Defensive coordinator Tom Bass said he had thought of replacing Walters with Hendy earlier in the game. However, Hendy suffered a leg cramp in the third quarter and was not fit to play for several minutes.

After Hendy recovered, he replaced Walters. According to Bass, it was simply a matter of putting in a fresh player for a tired one on a humid day.

Gill Byrd, the Charger strong safety, attempted to defend Walters’ defensive efforts.

“I wouldn’t say Danny had a tough game,” Byrd said. “I’d say that Ferragamo and Butler had a great game. You can’t fault Danny. If you look at the replays, you’ll see that Danny was right there.”

Buffalo was merely happy to have Butler there for the game. He missed the entire 1984 season with a knee injury.

Butler’s single-game high is 255 yards against the New York Jets in 1979. Sunday’s 140 yards was the second-best total of his career and his eighth 100-yard game. More than anything, he was surprised that the Chargers had Walters cover him one-on-one.

“It’s like this,” the soft-spoken Butler said. “Anytime a guy is playing you one-on-one, the other team is saying that their guy is better than yours.”

Butler may have had the much better day, but Walters also had a couple of bright moments.

After Butler caught a 40-yard pass over Walters on the last play of the third quarter, Walters recovered an Eason Ramson fumble at San Diego’s 11 on the next play.

“On that play, I was just in the right spot,” Walters said. “Three other times, I was in the right spot (covering Butler) and didn’t come up with the play. One time, I was in his jockey strap and he came up with it.”

Late in the first quarter, Walters had come up with a key play while covering Butler. On third-and-goal on the San Diego 4-yard line, Walters batted down a Ferragamo pass to Butler in the corner of the end zone.

“They tried to run a slant, and I was in position to make that play,” Walters said. “It’s a good thing I did, or they probably would have won the game.”