Lester Hayes Has Plenty to Say Regarding Chargers

In the space of a very few minutes in the aftermath of the Chargers’ 40-34 win over the Raiders Sunday, Lester Hayes saluted Don Coryell, knocked Eugene Klein and nominated Gary Anderson for the Hall of Fame.

Obviously, the Raider cornerback was not at a loss for words.

This had been a rather frustrating afternoon for Mr. Hayes and his defensive colleagues, who are not accustomed to being shoved around a football field by anyone’s offense.

“This one’s history,” Hayes said. “We got beaten good. It’s not like our defense to give up 40 points.”

By Hayes’ account, it was the Chargers’ three-back offense which bewildered and bedazzled the Raiders.

With the addition of Anderson and Tim Spencer from the United States Football League, the Chargers have four running backs on the roster--and they all get their hands on the ball with some frequency. The incumbents were Buford McGee and Lionel James.

To maximize the abundance of backfield talent, Coryell has devised a three-back alignment behind quarterback Dan Fouts. And one of the favorite plays is a wishbone-style option with Anderson trailing as McGee slides along the line of scrimmage like an Oklahoma quarterback.

“When I first saw that play on film three weeks ago, I laughed,” Hayes said. “It was shades of Texas A&M; vs. Texas on Thanksgiving. It was shades of the Southwest Conference. I thought Coach Coryell was losing his deceptive touch.”

However, after watching films of the Chargers’ 30-10 win over Denver last week, Hayes changed his mind.

“They gave Denver tons of trouble with it,” he said. “It’s very difficult to defend. Gentlemen, Coach Coryell is not losing it. You have to salute Coach Coryell. It’s an exceptional scheme. I haven’t seen anything like it since I was in college in 1976.”

Therein lies the problem.

“We had seven days of seeing it in practice,” Hayes said. “We really need six or seven weeks to properly prepare for it. We’ve probably got guys who’ve never seen anything like it.”

What is so baffling about having three guys line up and one of them come away with the football?

“It causes a lot of mental malfunctions,” Hayes said. “It’s a scheme of deceptive angles. It caused a lot of missed tackles and we had guys consistently out of position. It puts the defense at a distinct disadvantage as far as security is concerned.”

Of course, a lot of the success of the alignment can be attributed to the personnel running it. Or, to be more precise, running from it.

“Gary Anderson is the best back in the National Football League right now,” Hayes said. “He’s the second coming of Gale Sayers, only faster. He’s unbelievable. He’s phenomenal. He’s stupendous. If he stays healthy, his destiny is Canton, Ohio.”

Hayes was among those who had shots at Anderson Sunday and came away with fists full of grass. Anderson ran right through Mike Davis en route to one touchdown and escaped Sam Seale, Odis McKinney and James Davis en route to a 39-yard gain on what was a short pass play on the game-tying touchdown drive.

“That guy is very, very difficult to defend,” Hayes said.

That laughable backfield alignment and Anderson’s Hall of Fame feet have lifted the Chargers back to the .500 mark and moved them to within one game of the Raiders and Denver Broncos in the American Football Conference West.

“They’re contenders now,” Hayes said. “There are no more weak teams in the AFC West. No stiffs.”

And Hayes considers the Chargers’ renaissance to be the work of Alex Spanos, the second-year owner.

“I wish they still had Gene Klein,” Hayes said. “We would have scored 60 points if Mr. Klein was still the owner.”

This logic would seem to indicate that Spanos is a better tackler than Klein, but that wasn’t Hayes’ point.

“Mr. Spanos has the Al Davis mentality,” Hayes said. “You go out and sign good players and then keep things peaceful. Keep team continuity. This hasn’t been much of a rivalry for the last three years, but Mr. Spanos has made them contenders now.”

Indeed, the Raiders had beaten the Chargers seven straight times before that overtime reversal Sunday afternoon. They must now hope that the San Francisco 49ers, their old neighbors from the Bay Area, can beat Denver tonight to keep them ensconced in a tie for first place with six games to play.

“What I hope is that the six teams we have left on our schedule don’t go to that three-back offense,” Hayes said.