(Deron) Cherry Picker Ruins Fouts’ Day
The interception happened back in the second quarter, and Dan Fouts has thrown 245 of them. You’d think a 36-year-old man would be able to let it go.
On this day, the Charger quarterback couldn’t.
After Kansas City defeated San Diego, 20-13, Sunday, Fouts sought out Chief safety Deron Cherry near midfield. They shook hands.
“Never saw you,” said Fouts.
“Uh, thanks,” mumbled a surprised Cherry.
And so it went in the first game for a quarterback who, if you believe what you read, entered this fall heading for the (pick one): a) trading block, b) chopping block, c) H&R; Block.
There was talk from the Chargers of dealing him. There was talk of a back problem that would make it impossible for him to play for anyone. There was talk of his desire for a new and fattened contract.
Wouldn’t you know it, at noon Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, Fouts showed up.
His first pass of the season was complete to Kellen Winslow for 11 yards. His second pass was complete to Gary Anderson, who caught the ball coming out of the backfield and ran for 21 yards. The Chargers had the ball on the Chief 41-yard line.
But for the rest of the afternoon, Fouts missed as many as he made. He completed 19 more, but he fell short or high or wide or off hands on 18 others.
On four of 11 possessions, the Chargers started within four yards of Chief territory--twice actually behind Kansas City lines--but not one of those resulted in a touchdown.
Fouts was intercepted twice, both times within the Kansas City 20-yard line. Of his 21 completions, only eight were for more than 13 yards.
And more than anything else, Dan Fouts never saw Deron Cherry.
“That killed us,” said Fouts.
It happened with 6:10 left in the second period, with the Chargers down, 3-0, but on the Chief 14-yard line. It was at the end of a seven-play drive in which Fouts had thrown two high passes, both caught in leaping, look-out-below style by 5-foot 6-inch Lionel James (100 yards on 6 catches)
On a second-and-six play, nobody was so lucky. Fouts sent three receivers to the right side of the end zone and sent Wes Chandler sneaking out by himself on the left side.
At the last second, Fouts turned and threw a perfect lead pass to Chandler, except that it also led Cherry coming over from the right. Cherry ran into the ball first, grabbing the interception, rolling around in the end zone and feeling the momentum change all the way down to his knee pads.
“Fouts looked over to all those receivers on the strong side, then all of a sudden he took a quick look at Chandler,” said Cherry. “I saw that look, and I knew he wouldn’t have time to look back. I jumped over there and just squeezed the ball.”
“Shoot, I just never saw him,” repeated Fouts for reporters afterward. “That’s why Cherry is an All-Pro.”
The Chiefs took the ball on their 20 and drove 80 yards in 6 plays, finishing with Christian Okoye’s 43-yard touchdown run to give them a 10-0 lead that set the game’s pace.
“You get that ball away from the other team down in tough turf, that will deflate them,” Cherry said. He also had the game’s other interception, on Fouts’ overthrow of Winslow in the first quarter, leading to the Chiefs’ first points, a field goal by Nick Lowery.
“With Fouts throwing as much as he does, you know you are going to get the opportunities for big plays,” Cherry said.
With the exception of a fourth-period scoring drive in which Fouts was 4 for 5 for 63 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown pass play to Anderson, Fouts couldn’t find a big play. It probably hurt the worst with 3:19 left in the game, after a 22-year-old kid, Paul Palmer, had slapped his face with a 95-yard kick return.
Fouts started the Chargers on a classic game-tying drive from the San Diego 31. You’ve seen it before. A Fouts drive.
It lasted 41 seconds. It covered two yards.
Among other plays, Fouts threw a high pass to James, who stretched and missed and was subsequently crushed by J.C. Pearson. Fouts badly overthrew Chandler deep. Fouts tried Chandler again, over the middle, but the pass was behind him, and Pearson knocked it out of Chandler’s hands.
Afterward, Fouts, who was sacked only twice on blitzes in a great game for the offensive line, was asked if he was pleased with his day.
“No,” said Fouts. “We lost the game, and that’s what matters. If we didn’t play as well as we had in the second half, I would be worried.
“It was our early mistakes that killed us. There was some confusion, and those resulted in mistakes that you can’t make against a quality team like the Chiefs.”
Members of the Chiefs were asked if they thought Fouts had a good day. Safety Lloyd Burruss seemed surprised.
“A lot of people are saying Dan Fouts is slowing down,” he said. “I say, no way. Fouts has been a great one for so long. I’ll never believe that.”
