Fouts Given Time, Chargers Win, 30-6
Quarterback Dan Fouts, who says the Chargers had used only one-tenth of their offense, played to about nine-tenths of his ability Friday night.
The Chargers didn’t use many motion plays against the New York Jets, but Fouts caused commotion anyway. In the Chargers’ 30-6 exhibition victory at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, Fouts completed 16 of 21 passes for 242 yards and two striking touchdowns.
One of the scoring passes went 64 yards to a receiver he has relied on for a long time, Wes Chandler.
The other went one yard to his unlikeliest receiver, Sam Claphan.
It was only Fouts’ second appearance of the exhibition season, but it proved that two is enough to get him ready for the season opener next Sunday in Kansas City.
“I was pleased,” Fouts said. “I think this goes back to having time (from his offensive line) to throw. You can be 80 years old and be a quarterback if you never get tackled.”
Coach Al Saunders, who’s thankful that Fouts is only 36, said: “Gosh, if he gets any better, that’s really going to make us real happy.”
Some other guys also made Saunders happy Friday night:
--Kicker Vince Abbott, who supplanted Rolf Benirschke last week, connected on 3 of 4 field-goal attempts Friday night.
--Reserve quarterback Mark Vlasic replaced Fouts in the third quarter and completed 10 of 12 passes for 96 yards. Vlasic didn’t get hurt, either, which makes you wonder if he’ll go on the injured reserve list as planned. Fellow quarterback Rick Neuheisel, who completed 4 of 4 for 63 yards, could wind up getting cut.
The Chargers and Jets showed solidarity for the possible upcoming players’ strike by shaking hands at midfield before the opening kickoff. But, thereafter, the Chargers were the only ones who looked all together.
What a difference a week makes. Eight days ago in San Francisco, Fouts spent most of the time throwing from his sore back. He was sacked three times, was 3 for 14 and had little zip on the ball against the 49ers. But his first pass Friday went for 14 yards to Lionel James, who spent much of the night as a wide receiver.
Fouts’ second pass was complete, too, an 11-yarder to tight end Pete Holohan. A couple of incompletes later, kicker Abbott fell short on a 49-yard attempt. The crowd of 45,757 booed, and Abbott winced.
“I just can’t listen to them,” he said later.
A special teams mistake led to the Jets’ first score late in the first quarter. The Chargers had forced the Jets to punt after free safety Vencie Glenn kept a pass away from Jet running back Freeman McNeil, but reserve linebacker Angelo Snipes ran into punter Dave Jennings. The penalty gave the Jets a first down at the Charger 42.
A minute later, Jet kicker Pat Leahy converted a 42-yard field goal, and it was 3-0.
Here came Fouts. Two plays after the Jet field goal, he turned and threw a pass near the left sideline. It was a timing play. Wide receiver Chandler whipped around and found the ball in his stomach. Jet cornerback Russell Carter missed the tackle, and Chandler had the whole field to himself. He outran four Jets and scored a 64-yard touchdown.
“He was awesome tonight,” Chandler said of Fouts. “When he’s on, you get a a certain feeling that everything will be all right.”
Early in the second quarter with the score 10-6, Fouts was slammed on a third down by Mark Gastineau. He got up quickly, rushed toward the sideline and grabbed a telephone to talk to his coaches in the press box. They must have seen something, because on the next series, Fouts led the Chargers on an eight-play, 70-yard drive, resulting in a 33-yard Abbott field goal.
The best play of the drive was Fouts’ first play. The rush came from left outside linebacker Alex Gordon, but Fouts sidestepped him, stepped forward and found James over the middle. James ran free for a 27-yard completion.
Later, running back Tim Spencer found room up the middle for 18 yards. Abbott’s kick was very straight, and he was cheered.
The final score of the half was a one-yard touchdown pass to tackle Sam Claphan. That’s right, tackle Sam Claphan. Maybe Fouts was wrong about the Chargers using one-tenth of their offense, because on a fourth-and-goal play from the eight-inch line, Fouts faked a handoff and found Claphan wide open in the right corner of the end zone. That’s a regular-season play if you’ve ever seen one. Claphan had alerted the referees he was eligible on the play, but someone forgot to alert the Jet defenders. He was so wide open, Fouts just lofted the ball like a soft pillow.
“It took forever for the ball to get there,” Claphan said. “It took hours.”
The first people to greet Claphan were his fellow offensive linemen. Dennis McKnight kept bouncing his forearms off Claphan’s helmet, all the way to the sideline.
So the halftime score was 17-6, and Fouts’ statistics reminded everyone of the old days. In the first half alone, Fouts was 12 of 17 for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns.
And in his only series of the second half, Fouts was 4 for 4 for 53 yards. That was enough to get San Diego in the end zone again, on a four-yard Spencer run. By the way, fellow running back Barry Redden threw the perfect block on safety Raich Miano to put Spencer in the clear. Score: 24-6, Chargers.
Don’t forget the Charger defense, either. Right outside linebacker Chip Banks, in his first start of the exhibition season, let Freeman McNeil run around him a couple times, but then made several tackles. Strong safety Martin Baylers, acquired 10 days ago from Buffalo, thwarted an early Jet drive when he caused McNeil to fumble. Linebacker Ty Allert recovered.
The Chargers kept blitzing, which gave the defensive linemen room. Defensive end Lee Williams had two sacks, and defensive tackles Mike Charles and Terry Unrein split another.
And how about Abbott? On the opening kickoff, Jet returner Bobby Humphery broke free down the left sideline and seemingly had no one left to beat for a touchdown. But here came Abbott, who swiped at Humphery’s legs and barely nicked him. Humphery slipped down, and--a few plays later--Allert recovered that fumble.