Charger Defense Takes a Step Back

They tease you. They seduce you. They thrill you. And then the Chargers blow another game. . . . along with their playoff chances.

With all the sizzle anyone could ask of an offense, the Chargers are good enough to flounder for a half and still score 35 points--which should be enough to win, even on an off day.

But, oh, that defense. For years, that has been the lament of Charger fans. What it could do with a Manster, like Randy White, or a Danster, like Dan Hampton.

There have been moments when it appeared progress was being made. But the progress was illusory, as the final moments of Sunday’s 37-35 loss to Houston made clear.

Somehow, an unknown quarterback named Oliver Luck managed to pass for 286 yards, including 25 on a desperation throw to Tim Smith that set up a 51-yard Tony Zendejas field goal with two seconds left.

A week earlier, Denver’s John Elway described how predictable the Chargers were against the Broncos’ two-minute offense, which earned a tie on a last-second field goal and sent the game into overtime. The Chargers lost that one on a blocked field goal, but that’s another part of what has become a season of agonizing what-ifs.

Coach Don Coryell was searching for ways to make sense of it all Monday. He spent a few minutes considering how the Chargers might be 9-3 instead of 5-7, if they had made one or two key plays in losses to Seattle, Minnesota, Denver and Houston.

The bulk of his post-mortem was devoted to a consideration of the defense, which has regressed so much the last two weeks. If he has found any answers, he didn’t divulge them. The gist of his remarks was: the Chargers need time and more talent.

Time may run out on Coryell, just as it did on his last defensive coordinator, Tom Bass. Owner Alex Spanos was unavailable for comment, so there was nothing new on Coryell’s status, either.

“I don’t know of any changes we could make in our defense,” Coryell said. “We’re playing the best people we’ve got. I think we have a pretty good handle on who they are. We’re always searching for better players, just like every other team. Experience means so much. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

There’s no shortage of leaders on the defense, Coryell said, pointing to Billy Ray Smith, Chuck Ehin and Gill Byrd. And there’s been no lack of hard work in practice, he said.

“We just didn’t take the ball away from the Oilers when we had to,” Coryell said. “Our coaches are disappointed that we didn’t play better. The only defensive player worth mentioning (against Houston) was Earl Wilson, who played well for the second straight week.

“It’s strange. We’re only about four plays away from having a good defense, four plays in the last minute or so of four ballgames. We have to get it done, but it hasn’t been done yet.”

There were a couple of other problems Sunday. A messy first half by the offense, including five turnovers and numerous penalties, meant the Chargers had to work extra hard in the second half.

“If you take away the turnovers, we’d have gotten a couple of touchdowns and won the game,” Coryell said. “I was very pleased with our offense in the last minute. They had the confidence to know they’d get the job done somehow. I can’t remember the last time they didn’t get it done (with a game on the line).

“It’s a shame we don’t have a better record. Mr. Spanos has really done a job of getting us some fine young guys . . . There isn’t going to be a letdown by this team just because we’re out of the playoffs. We’ll still try to salvage the season.”

Although it wasn’t a dramatic factor Sunday, the kicking game is also a major concern of Coryell. Bob Thomas, who missed badly on his only field-goal attempt of the day, may encounter competition from Ralf Mojsiejenko, at least on the longer kicks.

“Bob kicks the shorter ones fine,” Coryell said. “He takes a little more time to try and get more distance on the longer ones . . . We haven’t been kicking as well as we have to in order to win, but we worked hard to improve last week.”