Seattle Win Doesn’t Help Chargers : After Shelling in Kingdome, Raiders Likely to Be Crankier

He isn’t going soft in the head or the heart, but Charger Coach Don Coryell found himself in the unusual position Monday of wishing the Raiders had not lost to Seattle the day before. Or, at least, not by such a huge margin as 33-3.

Under the best of circumstances, the Chargers have a difficult time beating the Raiders. Exhibit A: last week’s 34-21 debacle at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Having just been embarrassed in Seattle will only make the Raiders more obstinate and cantankerous when they travel to San Diego this week, as Coryell knows. After all, the same sort of psychology played a role in the Chargers’ 30-10 win over Denver here Sunday.

“I wish the Raiders had won,” Coryell said. “No question they’ll be fired up for us this week. We’ll just have to crank it up and play hard and come up with the big plays like we did against Denver.”

Coryell, conducting his post-mortem on the Chargers’ biggest win of the season, kept coming back to one factor: big plays.

“Even though the score was very good, it was the big plays that really made the difference,” he said. “And we’d be sitting a lot more comfortable right now if we had made some big plays earlier this year. We realize it now and we hope things turn around and we can make more of those plays.”

Easily the biggest play of Sunday’s game--which came before the second-largest football assemblage in San Diego history, 57,312--took place in the third quarter.

The Chargers had a 17-3 lead, but the Broncos had moved into position for a touchdown that would quickly get them back in contention. Quarterback John Elway, who wasn’t having one of his most distinguished days, tossed a short pass to running back Gerald Willhite, who had only 13 yards to go for the score.

Just as he was crossing the goal line, he was met by Charger safety Jeff Dale, a 215-pound rookie who has quietly come to be recognized as perhaps the most consistent and effective defensive back on the team.

Rather than try to simply tackle Willhite, Dale opted to strip the ball out of his grasp. It was a gamble, as Dale said, but it paid off when he struck the runner’s arm with either his helmet or his arm, and the ball popped free.

There were two other players in the end zone with a chance to recover the ball. One was Charger cornerback Wayne Davis; the other was Denver wide receiver Steve Watson.

Along the sideline, Charger defensive back coach Jim Wagstaff thought Watson had the better angle to recover the ball. But Davis, the controversial rookie who had been quick to brag about his athletic skills before losing his starting job several weeks ago, displayed some of his vaunted quickness in diving to recover it.

“We were in a man-to-man coverage on the play,” Davis said. “I had a good holdup on my man, but when I saw Willhite running toward me, I thought to myself it was a touchdown. Then Jeff tackled him and the ball popped out.

“I ran and dove for it. I didn’t see anyone else go for it, but after I was on the ground, I could feel someone else (Watson) trying to get it away. But it was all mine. Since I’m only playing as a nickel back now, it feels great to have a play like that and win a game.”

Davis said the Chargers were overdue to win an important game.

“We were fed up with losing the close ones,” he said. “We had to win if we were going to have a chance to make the playoffs.”

Playoffs? Funny how one game can alter a team’s prospects or its self image. Coryell, not wanting to sound too bold, termed the playoffs a longshot.

“I believe in longshots,” he said, “but I wouldn’t try to guess the odds on us. I haven’t had time to think about that.

“We have to feel good about ourselves as a team right now. We have to grab on to how we played against Denver and continue this week. I think we will do it, but there’s no doubt we have a real challenge coming up.”

Dale, among others, seems ready.

“It will be a battle,” he said. “The Raiders will think they can beat us like they did last time. They humiliated us last week.”

Out of that humiliation came the Chargers’ most forceful and unified effort of the season. So complete was the six-day turnaround that linebacker Billy Ray Smith was able to laugh it off when defensive coordinator Dave Adolph issued a mild insult when he intercepted an Elway pass.

“He told me it wasn’t any great play,” Smith said, laughing. “I guess it wasn’t, really. John just made a bad throw. I stayed shallow on my drop, saw the ball, popped up and grabbed it. It was a nice gift, I guess you’d say.”

The interception . . . and the ballgame.

Charger Notes The Chargers did not escape without injuries Sunday. Most serious was a knee injury suffered by reserve tight end Chris Faulkner, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery. Don Coryell said it won’t be known until after the arthroscopy how long Faulkner will be out. Faulkner, in addition to playing to tight end, is a backup interior lineman and performs on special teams. . . . Another casualty was offensive guard Ed White, who suffered a concussion and probably won’t practice this week. . . . Tight end Kellen Winslow, who played sparingly Sunday, probably will be fully recovered from an assortment of bruises and nagging injuries by next Sunday, Coryell said. . . . Linebacker Woody Lowe is still bothered by a rib-cage injury, but Coryell has been quite pleased by his replacement, Carlos Bradley. The starting job still belongs to Lowe when he recovers, Coryell indicated. . . . Quarterback Dan Fouts appeared to be setting up in the pocket more quickly against the Broncos than he did at L.A. “Well, people weren’t as close to him,” Coryell said. “I’d be quick if those big guys were chasing me.”