Krieg Has Armed Himself for His Own Defense - Seahawks: He’s one of pro football’s top-rated passers of all-time, but the fans in Seattle still pick him out as the primary target for their booing.

Some people are never satisfied.

For years, Dave Krieg of the Seattle Seahawks was looked upon as a hot-and-cold quarterback who couldn’t be counted on from one week to the next. It seemed that the only thing consistent about him was the booing he took from the fans at the Kingdome.

Now when Krieg has a hot day, it can be taken as a matter of course. He has been so efficient since late last season that he has climbed into fourth place on the all-time list of passers in the National Football League. His 85.5 rating is topped only by three quarterbacks, all contemporaries--Joe Montana of San Francisco (92.7), Dan Marino of Miami (90.3) and Boomer Esiason of Cincinnati (86.8).

Yet, Seahawk rooters aren’t convinced that Krieg is something special.

Last Sunday, when the Seahawks met the Kansas City Chiefs at the Kingdome, Krieg was coming off a performance in which he completed 22 of 31 passes against the Raiders for 227 yards and two touchdowns. No matter. The home crowd booed him.

Kansas City won, 20-16, and the next day, the Seattle Times ran a box in which it asked the question, “If you were owner Ken Behring, what would you do to improve the Seahawks?” Incredibly, three of the eight respondents whose comments were printed said, “Get rid of Krieg.”

Apparently, whatever Krieg does isn’t enough for him to convert the critics whose minds have long since been made up.

Beyond this, Krieg has had to contend with endless references to his past inconsistency in dealing with the news media. Despite the fact that he now enjoys elite status among NFL quarterbacks, this is inevitably the first subject that comes up in interviews.

Somehow, though, Krieg manages to handle it all without rancor. He doesn’t complain about being booed, and he doesn’t get testy when reporters grill him about the bad old days. It’s obvious that he hasn’t let his giant leap from tiny Milton (Wis.) College go to his head.

Krieg, who will be 31 Friday, talked about his up-and-down career before the Seahawks flew here for Sunday’s game against the Chargers at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“I think all quarterbacks like to think of themselves as consistent,” Krieg said. “I’m in my 10th year now, and over the years I’ve been able to adjust to whatever the defenses gave me. I would think I’m coming into my own right now.”

Krieg, the Seahawks’ No. 1 quarterback since 1983, noted that he reached his low points in 1985 and 1986. He was even benched in 1986, when a 26-yard passing day against the Denver Broncos caused Coach Chuck Knox to start Gale Gilbert for two games.

“Everybody was going bad in ‘86,” Krieg said. “They had to take one guy out, and it was me. The ’85 season wasn’t that good, either. I went back and forth that year.”

Krieg’s performance in 1985 was so uneven that it’s easy to see how he got the tag of an in-and-outer. Check these numbers:

* In the first two games, Krieg completed 38 of 57 passes for 543 yards and eight touchdowns, with no interceptions. In the next two, he completed 42 of 83 for 467 yards but for only two touchdowns with six interceptions.

* In Game 6, he completed 33 of 51 passes for 405 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. In the next three games, he completed nine of 32, nine of 20 and nine of 21, for totals of 406 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions.

* In the game after his three-week recession, he completed 21 of 28 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown, with no interceptions. In the next two games, he completed 19 of 43 and 11 of 30, for totals of 368 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.

* In Games 13 and 14, he completed 21 of 34 passes and 24 of 34, for totals of 522 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. In Games 15 and 16, he completed 16 of 33 and 17 of 40, for totals of 400 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

* In the eight games the Seahawks won in 1985, Krieg completed 65% of his passes for 2,084 yards and 22 touchdowns, with two interceptions. In the eight they lost, he completed 44% for 1,518 yards and five touchdowns, with eight interceptions. His passing rating was around 130 in the eight victories, around 40 in the eight defeats.

Not since then has Krieg had anything approximating such a roller-coaster ride.

In 1986, he did all right until the off day that led to his benching, and even better after he got his job back. In between, after sitting out one game, he replaced Gilbert and went two for 12 for 13 yards, then started and was yanked after being sacked five times and fumbling for a Cincinnati touchdown.

From then on, Krieg was piping hot, and the Seahawks won all five remaining games. He completed 76 of 115 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns, with one interception. Included was a 15-for-21 day against the Chargers here, for 305 yards and four touchdowns.

In the 2 1/4 seasons since, any charge of inconsistency against Krieg has been unwarranted. He has fallen below 50% only twice in 26 games, against New England on a windy day late last season and against Philadelphia in this year’s opener.

Krieg’s last visit to San Diego was somewhat forgettable. In Game 3 a year ago, he was nine for 18 with no touchdowns and three interceptions, and he suffered a shoulder separation when sacked by defensive end Lee Williams. The Chargers won, 17-6.

After sitting out the next seven games, Krieg returned for the last six and went on a roll. He threw nine touchdown passes in two victories over the Raiders, passed for 410 yards in one, and set a club record by completing 19 of 22 in a 42-14 rout of Denver.

This season, Krieg has picked up where he left off. In five games, he has completed 57.1% of his passes, with nine touchdowns and five interceptions, and ranks fourth in the AFC with a rating of 83.5.

Krieg has been so hot since recovering from his injury that the Seattle Times recently ran this headline: “Maligned QB has new name: Krieg the Consistent.”

Ken Meyer, the Seahawks’ quarterback coach, said of Krieg, “Dave has been playing at a different level in the last 11 games. I’ve never had a guy who had that type of injury and missed that many games come back and play that well.”

One reason for Krieg’s run of success has been an inclination to scramble more than in the past. He has run 15 times for 93 yards, a 6.2 average.

Edwin Bailey, a Seahawk guard, calls Krieg “a master of the impromptu.”

Said Krieg: “I’ll look to the primary guy, then I’ll look to the second guy, and if that’s not open, I’ve got to get out of there. It’s harder for defenses when a guy’s scrambling around. I don’t know what I’m going to do, and the receivers don’t, so how can they cover that?”

Still, more consistent passing has been the primary key, and Krieg believes his enforced idleness had something to do with it.

“Sitting on the sidelines and watching helped me realize the importance of what the coaches had been telling me all along,” he said. “It helped to step back and see it without being a part of it.”

Over the years, the Seahawks have auditioned numerous quarterbacks to bid for Krieg’s job, but he is more solidly entrenched than ever. Kelly Stouffer, who filled in capably as a rookie last year when Krieg was hurt, is now third string. Jeff Kemp, son of Jack Kemp, former Charger quarterback who now is United States secretary of housing and urban development, is No. 2 because he holds for conversions and field goals. Only two of the three quarterbacks suit up each week.

“They’ve always been bringing different people in here,” Krieg said. “I have to prove I’m a legitimate quarterback and capable of leading the club to the playoffs, which I’ve done. That’s probably good, because it gives me more incentive to work harder in the off-season and try to prove them wrong.”

Seahawk Coach Chuck Knox is one of Krieg’s biggest boosters. Asked if Krieg’s reputation for inconsistency has been a bad rap, Knox said, “I think so. The quarterback is the focal point, but Dave was never as bad as people made him out to be.

“We’ve been able to win with him. We’ve been one of the five teams in the last six years that have never had a losing season, and he’s been the guy. He’s not a flashy quarterback, but he’s a winner, he’s a competitor, and he’s getting the job done.”

Asked why he had benched Krieg in 1986, Knox said, “At that time, we were struggling, and I felt we had to make a change. He was a man about it. He was fine. Gilbert started a game, actually, two games, and after that we settled once and for all that Krieg was our best quarterback.”

Members of the Chargers’ defense also have the utmost respect for Krieg.

Cornerback Gill Byrd: “He has a nice touch on the ball and gets it downfield. He likes to go for it all. We can’t let him get hot. If he’s hot, it’s over.”

Linebacker Gary Plummer: “His ability to improvise makes him especially dangerous. When he’s hot, you have to put pressure on him and get him rattled. I’d put him up there with the best in the league.”

Nose tackle Joe Phillips: “Like John Elway (Denver), he’s the kind of quarterback that when he gets going, he brings the whole ballclub with him.”

Krieg’s success story is one of the most intriguing in football. Not only was he ignored in the draft; he came from a school that no longer exists. Milton closed its doors in 1982.

“My coach knew the Seahawks’ player personnel director and got me a free-agent tryout,” Krieg said. “Once I made it, I realized it was pretty much the same as Milton. Of course, the talent was a little bit better.”