PRO FOOTBALL : Chargers Keep the Road Rocky : San Diego Hands Chiefs Eighth Straight Loss Away From Home

When the Kansas City Chiefs arrived at their San Diego hotel Saturday, 15 of their rooms were not ready. This was not a surprise.

The Chiefs do not travel well. The only thing they have in common with the road is accidents.

The Chargers know this to be true. Before Sunday, their defense had not taken the ball away once, and they had not won a game. Against the Chiefs, they intercepted five Steve DeBerg passes, rushed for 200 yards and improved to 1-2 with a 21-6 victory.

“When you sit at home and draw it up, this is the way you’d like it to take place,” said Dan Henning, the first-year Charger coach. “We took the ball away on defense, controlled it on offense, kicked the ball out of trouble when we had to and went away with a win. That’s exactly how it ought to be.”

For the Chiefs, it was exactly the way it has been for more than two years. They have lost eight consecutive games away from Arrowhead Stadium and 16 of their past 18 on the road. They are 3-24 in their past 27 AFC West road games.

Don’t look for either of these teams in the playoffs. But don’t look for Henning in the unemployment office yet, either.

The embattled Henning finally witnessed the kind of defense he was told he had inherited when he took this job last February. And his running game, led by Rod Bernstine, ran over and around a defense that entered the game ranked third in the league overall.

Bernstine, who spent the entire off-season recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Jim McMahon in the third period. Then, late in the fourth, he ran 32 yards up the middle on a third-down draw play for the score that put the Chargers out of reach.

He led all Charger rushers with 73 yards in five carries. But rookie Marion Butts added 62 yards in 15 rushes, and Tim Spencer gained 57 in 13 tries.

Spencer scored on a nine-yard run in the first period. The touchdown was set up by free safety Vencie Glenn’s interception, the first of the year for the Chargers.

Earlier in the week, Glenn predicted one Charger takeaway would lead to a bunch more. He was right. Cornerback Gill Byrd had two, and strong safety Martin Bayless and nickel back Lester Lyles one apiece.

All of which offset a career-high 112 yards rushing for Christian Okoye, Kansas City’s 260-pound fullback from Azusa Pacific.