Chargers Rally Behind Neuheisel : 19-Yard Touchdown Pass Finishes Off Buccaneers, 17-13
On Sunday, Re-Charger quarterback Rick Neuheisel, taking a break from law school, broke a team single-game passing record held by Charger quarterback Dan Fouts, who was hosting a barbecue for striking teammates.
These Re-Chargers, who were 17-13 winners over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, are setting records and doing things the Chargers haven’t done for years.
The Re-Chargers have won back-to-back road games for the first time since the Chargers did it in the strike-shortened season of 1982.
The team has won three straight, going back to the 28-24 victory over St. Louis on Sept. 20 by the now-striking players. The Chargers never won more than two straight all last season.
San Diego is 3-1 and off to its best start since winning four of the first five in 1981.
Next Sunday, the Re-Chargers will face the Raiders at the Coliseum in a showdown for first place in the AFC Western Division.
In the past two weeks, the Re-Charger defense has held teams to a total of three points in the second half and a total of 59 net yards passing.
Offensively, Neuheisel came off the bench Sunday and completed 82% of his passes (18 for 22), which broke Fouts’ mark of 80%, set against Seattle in 1979.
While playing for UCLA, Neuheisel set a school record with a 68% completion mark, and he set the NCAA record for highest completion percentage in a game (93%, 25 for 27 against Washington).
“You never know when it’s going to be your last day or last game,” said Neuheisel, who threw for 217 yards and a 19-yard game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Tim Moffett. “Today it was our day in the sunshine, even though it wasn’t very sunny.”
Charger Coach Al Saunders was so hoarse after the game that he could barely speak. But he sure was excited.
“It was a great effort,” Saunders said. “Our guys played as hard as they could and it was a privilege for me and my coaching staff to be associated with these guys.”
The Chargers scored 17 second-half points to erase a 10-point halftime deficit on a drizzly afternoon in front of 23,873 fans at Tampa Stadium. There were 12,251 no-shows.
“These guys made a heck of a commitment and decision to play here and they want it to be a worthwhile decision,” Saunders said. “It becomes a most worthwhile decision if you win. These guys are winners. I hope the strike is over tomorrow, but as long as there is a strike, I’d go to war with these guys anytime.”
Neuheisel said: “There will be people who will speculate whether this is real NFL football.” Neuheisel played for the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL in 1984-85 and was cut by the Chargers after the final exhibition game this year.
Last week, in his first NFL start, Neuheisel was rusty. He agonized over his decision whether to cross the picket line and had just 1 1/2 days of practice before starting against the Bengals. He completed 10 of 19 passes for 84 yards, but he didn’t put any points on the board. Neuheisel was removed from the Bengal game late in the third quarter. Mike Kelley came in to complete 7 of 9 passes for 110 yards and lead the Chargers to 10 points and a 10-9 victory. This week, Saunders announced Saturday that Kelley would start against Tampa Bay, but that Neuheisel would also probably play.
San Diego trailed 7-0 in the second quarter. Kelley had completed 5 of 11 passes for 53 yards in four series, but the result was three punts and a missed 38-yard field goal attempt by Jeff Gaffney. Neuheisel replaced Kelly with 6:22 to play in the second quarter.
With Neuheisel at the helm and quarterback coach Roger Theder calling plays, the Chargers scored on their first three possessions of the second half.
“Roger Theder did a terrific job of playing calling today,” Saunders said.
Neither Saunders or Theder were about to disclose any trade secrets, but Neuheisel said the Chargers felt as if they had an advantage with their wide receivers going against the Buccaneer cornerbacks.
“There was no question that I was much more myself this week,” Neuheisel said. “It felt very comfortable and I wasn’t nearly as uptight as last week.”
On the Chargers’ opening drive of the second half, Neuheisel ran for 18 yards on third and 10 to keep the drive alive and move the Chargers to the Tampa Bay 29-yard line.
Neuheisel hit wide receiver Al Williams (5 catches for 110 yards) for 19 yards on a sideline route. The 66-yard, 11-play drive was culminated by Gaffney’s 27-yard field goal. The Chargers trailed, 10-3.
The next time the Chargers got the ball, Neuheisel completed all four of his passes to set up Sartin’s two-yard touchdown run off left tackle. Gaffney added the extra point to tie the game at 10.
With two minutes gone in the final quarter, Neuheisel completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Moffett, who beat defensive back Kevin Walker in the right corner of the end zone. The Chargers led 17-10.
While the Chargers controlled the ball for 19 minutes 15 seconds of the second half, the Buccaneers--who rotated quarterbacks John Reaves and Mike Hold--gained only 67 total yards in 20 plays. And they completed just 2 of 7 passes.
The Re-Chargers remained undefeated.
“Normally, you’d say we’ll get ready for the Raiders,” Neuheisel said. “But we don’t know what we’re getting ready for. We might be getting ready to go home.”
Charger Notes After the strike talks between the NFL Management Council and the Players’ Assn. broke off Sunday, Steve Ortmayer, Charger director of operations, said: “If you’re an NFL player, how will you continue to stay out if they broke off talks today? Now it isn’t going to be done. We’ve told them all along it wouldn’t be done . . . I begged them on the picket line last week. They are just being absolutely misled. And it’s costing them a lot of money. These guys are beginning now not to make sense.” . . . Gill Byrd, the assistant player representative for the Chargers, said: “Obviously we’re disappointed at the way things have gone. I would hope we would stay as solid as we’ve been, but I haven’t seen all the players today to see how they’ve reacted.” . . . There were about 200 people picketing outside Tampa Stadium before Sunday’s game. They consisted of about 25 Buccaneer players and members of other local unions.