Chargers Get Better in a Hurry...

Chargers running back Gary Anderson turned his USFL jitterbug into NFL acceleration Sunday afternoon.

“When Gary came to the sideline early in the game,” said Chargers offensive backfield coach Earnel Durden, “I told him he was making too many moves and was dancing too much when the pursuit was closing in. I told him to get up in the hole.”

Anderson has the moves and body control of a dancer, and Durden says he has the “acceleration of a jet.”

In the Chargers’ 30-10 win over the Denver Broncos Sunday, Anderson ran, hurdled, slashed and danced his way to his first 100-yard game in the NFL.

“Keep jumping over tall buildings,” Chargers running back Buford McGee yelled to Anderson as they passed one another in the locker room.

Anderson gained 116 yards on 22 carries, caught four passes for 42 yards and scored on a 16-yard touchdown run.

“It has been my style to go side to side instead of straight ahead,” Anderson said. “If I don’t see something, I dance around until I can. But this is the NFL and you can’t do that. “

In his first four games with the Chargers, Anderson did more dancing than running. He had gained just 62 yards rushing on 30 carries coming into Sunday’s matchup against a Denver defense which had held its last three opponents to 10 points.

On Sunday, Anderson was the dominant back on the field. He looked like the player who finished fourth in the USFL in rushing and eighth in receiving in 1985 while playing for the Tampa Bay Bandits.

“Gary Anderson makes a difference in their ballclub,” said Broncos nose tackle Rubin Carter. “He caused us a lot of problems. They ran the ball very effectively to the outside and it made it difficult for us to get inside.”

One of the Chargers outside runs was Anderson’s 16-yard romp down the left sideline in the third quarter.

Using a play that has been successful in recent weeks, running back Buford McGee took a handoff from quarterback Dan Fouts, started to the outside and lateraled to Anderson when the defense committed itself.

“We work on that play in practice every day,” McGee said. “It’s really easy. Gary and I both come from college programs that used the option. Once you do something, you don’t forget it.”

McGee made a perfect pitch and Anderson sped down the sideline for his third NFL touchdown.

Anderson’s longest run of the day was a 21-yarder around right end on third and seven that kept a touchdown drive alive late in the second quarter.

“We felt it was just a matter of him familiarizing himself with the guys he’s playing with and with the system,” Durden said.

Anderson signed with the Chargers on Sept.30 after being released from his contract by the Bandits. He was the Chargers’ first choice and the 20th player taken in the 1983 NFL draft. Anderson missed the Chargers training camp and the team’s first four games.

“It takes a while to get adjusted to the system,” said Chargers offensive tackle Jim Lachey. “Each week he learns more about the system.”

Even though Anderson says he still has a lot to learn about the team’s passing game, he appeared quite comfortable Sunday.

“Once he really understands what’s going on,” Durden said, “I think you’ll see a whole new page unfold. Gary will become more innovative and creative. And as he gains more confidence, he will become even more dangerous.”

Obviously, the Chargers already have a lot of confidence in Anderson. Durden said San Diego “predicated Sunday’s game plan on trying to get him the ball as much as we could. Then we stayed with what was working.”

Getting the ball to Anderson was what was working. Anderson lost a fumble the second time he touched the ball, but that didn’t stop the Chargers from quickly calling his number again. And again.

“I was beginning to wonder when I would get in the flow of things,” Anderson said. “I’m getting closer every week to being the back I was.”

When No. 40 went over the 100-yard mark in the third quarter, the scoreboard showed his statistics and a picture of him smiling on the bench.

“This is my first NFL 100-yard game,” Anderson said. “At that moment, I was feeling joy.”