PRO FOOTBALL : Bills Can’t Go the Distance; Chargers Win, 14-9

It took a more than a little nerve for Tom Bass to utter the words, “Anybody got a light?”

Most days, somebody would have treated him like the poor guy in the beer commercial who gets handed a torch or a whirling police light, everything but what he really wants.

Bass, the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, hasn’t commanded much respect in recent years because of his association with an outfit that ranked as pro football’s lousiest.

The scenario was different here Sunday. Having satisfied his search for some defenders who could legitimately qualify as heroes, all Bass wanted was a match to light up an enormous cigar in celebration of a 14-9 win over the Buffalo Bills.

The last time the Chargers held an opponent without a touchdown was the 1982 season opener, which happened to be the first game of the Bass defensive regime.

Few of the current Chargers were adorned with lightning bolts at the time. In fact, no less than 20 of the players on San Diego’s opening day roster were imported this summer to replace the tired old suspects purged by owner Alex Spanos.

The Chargers, trying to rebound from two straight losing seasons, were probed for 377 passing yards by Buffalo’s new quarterback, Vince Ferragamo.

Four of Ferragamo’s 31 completions went to wide receiver Jerry Butler, who gained 140 yards on the second-best day of his career.

But the Ferragamo-Butler combo was unable to generate a touchdown, leaving all the scoring to three field goals by Scott Norwood.

“You have to be more than a little happy when you don’t give up a touchdown,” Bass said, flourishing his cigar, no longer smokeless. “You didn’t see too many games like that in the National Football League today, did you?”

Bass was particularly pleased with the way his secondary kept Buffalo receivers in-bounds on a last-minute drive.

“That’s something you practice, but it’s very hard to simulate,” Bass said. “You set up a little wider and try to make sure of your tackle.

“The big thing was, our guys knew a field goal couldn’t beat them on the last drive. That’s the hard thing to do in this league--keep the other side out of the end zone.”

Charger Coach Don Coryell was less than happy with his offense. The Bills limited quarterback Dan Fouts to 16 completions for 218 yards and 1 touchdown.

That one score was a 30-yard pass to tight end Eric Sievers which came against a blitz in the second quarter, and provided the winning margin.

“The Bills were bringing their inside backer,” Fouts said. “We had a ‘hot’ concept going, meaning that I hit Eric with a look-in pass. He broke a tackle, and that was all she wrote.

“Their defense mixed up their coverages pretty well today, but it was that one stunt that we read that enabled us to beat them.”

The San Diego offense was crisply efficient on an opening drive that covered 70 yards in 9 plays. Fouts completed an 11-yard pass to Lionel James to begin the drive, later threw a 16-yarder to veteran Charlie Joiner, and pitched out to rookie Curtis Adams on a two-yard sweep for the first Charger score of 1985.

The only other San Diego points came in the second quarter, when Sievers eluded Buffalo safety Donald Wilson.

The three Buffalo field goals all were set up by long throws from Ferragamo to Butler, and came at the expense of cornerback Danny Walters.

Norwood connected from 27, 34 and 29 yards for the Bills.

There was no scoring by either side in the second half, and the only drama of the fourth quarter was confined to a closing march by the Bills that reached the San Diego 42 before the clock ran out.