Chargers Wonder What’s Going On After Opening Loss

Sunday was the day the Chargers were supposed to open the regular season. They instead opened Pandora’s Box.

Their offense was soft. Their defense was flat. Their special teams were thoroughly askew. And their post-game explanations were crooked after the Raiders stabbed the heart of a franchise full of hope with a 40-14 victory at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

The Chargers punctured their own credibility when their coach, Dan Henning, and their starting quarterback, Jim McMahon, couldn’t agree on why Henning removed McMahon from the game in the third period and whether or not McMahon was hurt.

In shorthand form, the depositions went something like this:

--Yes, McMahon said, he bruised his ribs late in the third quarter one play before Marion Butts’ one-yard touchdown run cut the Raider lead to 28-14.

--No, he said, he didn’t ask to leave the game before the Chargers’ next possession.

--Yes, he said, he was told he would be leaving.

--No, backup quarterback David Archer said, McMahon requested to come out.

--Yes, Henning said, “He (McMahon) indicated to me he could go back in the ballgame.”

--No, Henning said, the doctors did not tell him McMahon couldn’t return.

--Yes, several Chargers said, we knew McMahon was hurt.

--No, several others said, we had no idea.

Sounded like a Barnaby Jones rerun.

But the Raiders were the ones who weren’t supposed to have a clue. They had lost all four of their exhibitions and four of their final five regular-season games last year. Their starting quarterback, Jay Schroeder, suffered a separated left shoulder on the first offensive play of the game. And he didn’t return after the first series, which ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide-open running back Vance Mueller.

The player Mueller beat was inside linebacker Jim Collins. The list of Charger defenders who subsequently joined Collins in an afternoon full of embarrassment was a long one.

“We just played terrible,” said free safety Vencie Glenn. “Lousy. Plain and simple.”

“I can’t recall a game where the outcome has differed so greatly from the expectations coming in,” said Ron Lynn, the defensive coordinator.

“I stunk the place up,” said cornerback Sam Seale, beaten badly by Raider wide receiver Willie Gault on the 39-yard touchdown pass in the third period that increased the lead to 28-7.

“We’re not ready enough on offense yet to combat the mistakes we made on defense,” Henning said.

That part he had right.

The Raiders ran over and around the Charger defense for 418 yards. Schroeder completed two of three passes for 79 yards and will probably return next week in Kansas City. His replacement, Steve Beuerlein, connected on 15 of 22 for 206 yards and two touchdowns. McMahon managed just seven of 18 for 91 yards; Archer five of 11 for 62.

The Chargers answered the Raiders’ initial touchdown midway through the first period with a burst off left guard by rookie running back Butts. Butts, 248 pounds, received important blocks from right guard David Richards, starting center Courtney Hall and left guard Broderick Thompson before easily outrunning the Raider secondary.

It was the longest Charger run for a touchdown since Lionel James raced 56 for a score against Cincinnati four years ago. “Basically,” Butts said, “I was untouched.”

The Raiders broke that tie 15 plays, 78 yards and 7:33 later when wide receiver Mervyn Fernandez found an open spot in the right corner of the end zone on third and two from the four.

“Who knows?” Seale said. “He may have even been my man, too. That’s how bad it was.”

The Chargers special teams were worse. For starters, Lewis Colbert’s net punting average after four kicks was 24.0 yards.

Soon after Fernandez’s touchdown, a poorly blocked Jamie Holland kickoff return backed the Chargers up to their own 11. A short Colbert punt gave the Raiders the ball at the Charger 49. Nine plays after that, Marcus Allen, who missed all of training camp in a salary dispute, dived over from the one.

Holland also muffed the second-half kickoff, and the Chargers started at their own five. Colbert’s 36-yard punt preceded a 29-yard return by Tim Brown that preceded Gault’s undressing of Seale.

“Very sporadic,” Henning said when asked about his special teams.

Before the period was over, rookie Wayne Walker would field a Raider punt at the six. He said the coaches told him not to return anything inside the 10. But, he added, “I’d do the same thing over if I had the chance. I was trying to make something happen.”

Four plays before that, the Chargers were caught with 12 men on the field when rookie Burt Grossman thought the Raiders were trying a field goal. They were punting. He isn’t on the punt-return unit.

“I was confused,” Grossman said.

Colbert’s next punt was a 38-yarder that gave the Raiders the ball on the Charger 35. Only a missed field goal prevented the Raiders from increasing their lead to 17 points. Kicker Jeff Jaeger atoned for that miss with a 22-yarder early in the final period following yet another short Colbert punt.

The comedy of errors continued.

On the ensuing kickoff, Charger rookie Victor Floyd mishandled the ball, finally picked it up and retreated from the oncoming pursuit. Ex-Charger Timmie Ware and Stefon Adams caught up to him in the end zone for a safety that made the score 33-14.

It’s not easy to score five points on consecutive plays. But that’s what Floyd’s mistake enabled the Raiders to do. “He (Floyd) thought he was in the end zone when he picked up the ball,” Henning said.

If that was the case, why didn’t Floyd just down it?

The Raiders almost made it three consecutive scoring plays when Adams momentarily broke free on the subsequent free kick. His 27-yard return set up the Raiders at the Charger 37, from where Beuerlein directed the final scoring drive. Mueller’s one-yard dive and Jaeger’s extra point accounted for the game’s final points.

More than one Charger said the team will recover and learn from what happened Sunday.

But, Henning said, “I’d rather have this game somewhere other than under my belt.”