Just Another Double Loss for Chargers : Philadelphia Wins, 23-7, and Knocks Out Herrmann

After six straight losses, the Chargers were hoping that a change of quarterbacks might make a difference Sunday.

It did, but it wasn’t exactly what the Chargers had in mind.

Mark Herrmann replaced Dan Fouts, who was sidelined by a concussion inflicted last Sunday.

Herrmann was working on a shutout when he, too, suffered a concussion on a sack by Philadelphia’s Andre Waters in the fourth quarter.

The No. 3 quarterback, Tom Flick, came in and must have been wondering when somebody was going to knock him senseless as well.

Before it could happen, Flick surprised what was left of a Veterans Stadium crowd of 41,469. He got the Chargers a touchdown, but that was the extent of Air Coryell’s contribution in a 23-7 loss to the Eagles.

For the Chargers (1-7), life without Fouts was about as dreary as the cold rain that fell much of the afternoon.

There were 26,659 no-shows, and they probably didn’t regret their decision to stay home and thus miss what was essentially a defensive struggle, chock-full of penalties and sloppy play.

The fans, who might just as well have booed the weather, spent much of the afternoon booing Eagle quarterbacks--specifically Ron Jaworski and Matt Cavanaugh.

The only quarterback who seemed to satisfy them was Randall Cunningham, who scrambled nicely a couple of times and completed three of his four passes.

Jaworski, the starter, completed 12 of 23 for 98 yards. Cavanaugh was used only for two quarterback sneaks on third down.

“We didn’t want to hurt Jaws’ elbow quarterback sneaking,” Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan said.

On a more cosmic scale, Ryan said he wasn’t happy with Philadelphia’s 3-5 record.

“We’d like to be undefeated,” he said. “We played a couple of pretty good games in there. We could have beat the Bears and we could have beat Dallas, and we could have shut out this bunch, too.”

Could have, and probably would have if Flick hadn’t been forced into getting his seat wet on the soggy artificial turf.

The Chargers may have no choice but to start Flick next Sunday against Kansas City. And that may not be an altogether bad move.

Herrmann, hoping to pressure the Charger coaches into giving him consideration for the No. 1 job, instead probably gave them reason to reconsider how Flick fits into the picture.

Herrmann hit only 11 of 29 passes for 122 yards before being injured late in the game.

He was diagnosed with a mild concussion that wasn’t expected to require hospitalization but that may knock him out of the game with the Chiefs. The Chargers don’t know if Fouts will be well, either, but Coach Don Coryell said he thinks there’s a chance Fouts may be ready.

Flick’s numbers weren’t much better than Herrmann’s--5 of 16 for 85 yards and a touchdown. But he did give the Chargers a second-half touchdown, a luxury they have enjoyed in just four games.

Something about the Eagles seems to agree with Flick.

In part, he owes his presence on the San Diego roster to an excellent exhibition game against Philadelphia in which he completed 14 of 21 passes for 287 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Flick said the exhibition season was too long ago to remember. He was thinking only of trying to win. Coming from another player, one who has been in the lineup all year, that statement might have sounded phony, but not from Flick.

“We really thought we had a chance after we scored the touchdown,” Flick said.

In theory, the Chargers did have a chance, trailing, 16-7, with half the fourth quarter left.

Until that stage, the Eagles’ offense hadn’t been much more active than San Diego’s. Philadelphia had been limited to three field goals by Paul McFadden and a 10-yard scoring pass from Jaworski to Mike Quick.

“I was trying to think of this like the World Series,” Flick said. “It’s never over until the end. We believe, we’ve gotta believe.

“I had a lot of fun. Lord knows, it was nice just to be on the field. I was happy. The circumstances didn’t matter that much. I was just trying to encourage everybody to let it go, not play it safe. We’re all trying to get better.”

Flick was somewhat less bubbly in discussing the question of whether he should be next week’s starter.

“That’s not even on my mind,” he said. “That can wait. I’m here in this room now. I just want to get a hot shower, get on the plane and go home. The coaches make the decisions about who plays.”

Flick came off the bench and threw his first career touchdown pass, a 20-yarder to Charlie Joiner, to save the Chargers the embarrassment of a shutout.

After Flick brought them within nine points, the Chargers stopped the Eagles on the next series.

The Chargers got the ball again with 5:09 to play, but Air Coryell reverted to form and a Flick pass fell incomplete on fourth and 15 from the San Diego 35.

The Eagles scored a meaningless touchdown by negotiating that short distance with Keith Byars, whose afternoon consisted of 10 rushes for 0 net yards, scoring on a two-yard run.

Coryell provided a brief but telling summation of another sorry Sunday.

“Our defense kept us in the game until the end, but we just couldn’t move the ball,” he said. “We stopped ourselves with penalties, we dropped the ball, we didn’t make the catches. We had high hopes for this year, but just haven’t done the job.

“This is a very difficult time for us. It’s probably one of the most difficult seasons for me. Things have been getting more and more difficult. We have to start turning things around.”

Tight end Kellen Winslow, who had 5 catches for 60 yards, said the Chargers seem to be trying to dig their own way to China.

“We’re trying and trying, but we just keep digging a deeper hole for ourselves,” he said. “It’s just not clicking. If I knew the answer, I’d probably be out of football and running the country.”

As for the San Diego quarterback picture, Winslow said he expects Flick may be in the lineup next week.

“I can only surmise that Herrmann is going to be real sore this week, and we don’t know for sure about Dan,” he said. “I guess that means Tom Flick will be getting an awful lot of work.”

Linebacker Billy Ray Smith said he was quite confident that the Charger offense would get it all straightened out, though he proposed no solutions.

Holding his hands out in an empty gesture, Smith said he could not think much more about all the losses.

“You have to look ahead,” he said. “If you dwell on it, it’ll kill you. Maybe a home game will get us out of this thing.”