Chargers Planning to Catch Miami in a Vise : Remodeled Defense Ready to Give Marino a Rush; Fouts & Co. to Air It Out

The best passing show in football. A legacy of classic games. The anticipation of a return to playoff contention.

These are a few of the elements that should make today’s season opener between the Chargers and the Miami Dolphins a treat for both participants and audience.

Quarterbacks Dan Fouts of the Chargers and Dan Marino of the Dolphins hold--or eventually will hold--virtually every passing record in the archives. They represent the state of the art in the passing game.

Fouts, 35 and entering his 14th season, delivers exquisitely timed touch passes to a half dozen skilled receivers fanning out from a kaleidoscope of formations.

Marino, 25 and beginning his fourth year, has a hair-trigger release and arm strength unsurpassed by any quarterback. His primary receivers are smaller but get upfield faster than their San Diego counterparts.

There’s much more to this game than quarterbacks, however. The history of the San Diego-Miami series in this decade is rich in melodrama, with two playoff meetings and three overtime battles in four games.

The Chargers scored a 41-38 overtime victory in a 1981 playoff game regarded by many as the greatest game in National Football League history.

More recently, the Chargers defeated Miami, 34-28, in a 1984 overtime game that ended the Dolphins’ win streak at 11 for that season and 16 overall.

It was the Dolphins who embarrassed the Chargers, 34-13, in a 1982 playoff game--the last playoff appearance for San Diego.

Coach Don Coryell regards this as his best team since 1982 and has said he believes the season could yield 10 to 12 victories.

His assistant head coach, Al Saunders, described the anticipation of the Chargers.

“It’s almost like what you feel at Christmas,” he said. “You’re eager to rush downstairs and open the packages, not knowing what’s in them.

“There’s a heightened sense of curiosity about how good we really are. Will the offense be as good as ever? Will the defense be as formidable as we hope? We all sense a chance for success, but it’s far from a feeling of overconfidence. It’s just a feeling of great anticipation, and I think it’s a very healthy outlook.”

The San Diego defense, which has been a bumbling, inept bunch for much of the current decade, has been remodeled and has a more optimistic outlook.

Aggressive by design and fortified by such newcomers as Leslie O’Neal, Terry Unrein and Ty Allert, the defense should get one of its more severe tests of the season today.

The Chargers have to pressure Marino with outside pass rushers, including Lee Williams, Fred Robinson, Billy Ray Smith and O’Neal. If they fail to do so, the relatively weak Charger secondary could be heavily scored on by the Dolphin quarterback and his leading targets, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton.

As part of their effort to harass Marino, the Chargers will attempt to tie up Miami’s Pro Bowl center, Dwight Stephenson, who by himself is almost enough to protect the middle. The San Diego rush will range from three to six men.

Also, the Chargers will vary the look and depth of their coverages, using some bump-and-run tactics to disrupt Marino’s timing with his receivers.

“Earlier in his career, Marino would feel pressure when only three men were after him, but it’s not that way anymore,” San Diego defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. “You need more manpower to force him to take his maximum drop. If you allow his fleas (Duper and Clayton) to get downfield and do their magic, he can kill you.”

Marino can get rid of the ball more quickly than any quarterback--in 3.4 seconds or less, according to San Diego linebacker coach Mike Haluchak. Combined with the quickness of his receivers, Marino’s quick release makes him all the harder to rush.

“Whether we sack him or not, we have to get people around him as often as possible,” Haluchak said. “And if they move downfield and score, we have to take it in stride. A defense can’t let a long drive distract it from the rest of the game.”

Charger safety Gill Byrd realizes the difficulty of the task.

“We’ve heard all the accolades for Dan Marino, and they’re all true,” Byrd said. “We have to try not to be too predictable so he can’t sit back there knowing what we’ll do.”

Of course, the Charger defense has seen the equal of the Dolphin offense every day this summer in practice.

“We’ve got the best offense in football, in my opinion,” Billy Ray Smith said. “There’s no way we could get a better look. I think we may throw a few things at the Dolphins they haven’t seen.”

For everyone, it should be an eyeful.