Krieg’s Late Toss to Blades Cuts Chargers Off at the Pass, 10-7

The National Football League season is half over, and the Chargers are half-crazed with the maddening task of explaining how they have lost four consecutive games they could have tied or won by scoring on their last possession.

“What can you do?” said strong safety Martin Bayless moments after Dave Krieg’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Brian Blades with 40 seconds remaining beat the Chargers, 10-7, Sunday at the Kingdome.

Actually, there were a lots of things they could have done.

For starters, they could have covered Blades better on the “fade” route he used to beat Charger nickel back Johnny Thomas in the right corner of the end zone.

“I just didn’t play the ball right,” said Thomas as he slumped in the back of his dressing stall after the loss that dropped the Chargers to 2-6. “I didn’t see the ball. I lost the game for the whole team.”

Too harsh, Johnny. You had plenty of help.

Rookie quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver departed after three periods with six completions in 17 attempts for 41 yards and one interception. During that time, the Charger offense didn’t cross midfield.

“Billy Joe played like a rookie,” said Charger Coach Dan Henning, whose job security is probably dependent on Tolliver doing better in the future.

“I fell flat on my face today,” Tolliver said.

Asked who his starting quarterback would be next Sunday against the Eagles, Henning said, “No decision.” In relief, Jim McMahon completed nine of 12 for 82 yards.

“After today,” Tolliver said about next week’s start, “I don’t deserve it.”

The Chargers committed 13 penalties for 76 yards. But their defense kept them in the game. Defensive coordinator Ron Lynn’s unit is the only one in the NFL to hold each of its past six opponents to fewer than 20 points.

That is the main reason the Chargers only trailed, 3-0, when McMahon entered the game. Norm Johnson’s 27-yard field goal in the first quarter was the only scoring up to that point.

On the Chargers’ third possession of the final period, McMahon drove the Chargers 55 yards in 10 plays. The touchdown, only the fourth produced by the Charger offense in the last four games, came on a 14-yard pass to tight end Arthur Cox.

Four plays later, the Charger defense backed the Seahawks into a fourth and three at the Seattle 36-yard line. Rather than call a timeout, Krieg dumped a quick pass over the right side to Louis Clark. Clark beat Thomas for 22 yards.

“It was missed communication,” Thomas said.

“The (defensive) call was in time,” contradicted outside linebacker Billy Ray Smith.

As well as the Charger defense played--limiting the Seahawks to 2.6 yards per rushing play--it failed consistently on third down. Led by Krieg, who finished with 27 of 49 for 311 yards, Seattle converted 10 of 19 third-down tries.

“You can always play better,” said Charger defensive end Joe Phillips.

And you can always wonder why the Chargers didn’t provide Thomas with more defensive help on the talented Blades who wound up catching 10 passes for 117 yards.

Blades’ Charger counterpart, Anthony Miller, caught just one pass for 22 yards. Tolliver, drafted and praised for his arm strength, threw deep one time. The pass was intercepted by Seahawk Eugene Robinson.

You couldn’t help but wonder what Henning was thinking after Blades’ touchdown when he called a Darrin Nelson draw play from his own 20 with 40 seconds remaining. The 12-yard gain was worth it. But Henning’s failure to utilize one of the Chargers’ final two timeouts was questionable.

“We didn’t call time out then because we thought we could get lined up fast enough to get off another play quickly,” Henning said.

But there were only 25 seconds remaining when McMahon flipped a one-yard completion to Cox. There were eight seconds left when he hit Wayne Walker at the Charger 46.

On the last play of the game, McMahon caught his own batted pass and knelt on the field in frustration as time expired.

You had to wonder why the Chargers never found a way to use their last time out.

For their part, the Seahawks broke a three-game losing streak at home and raised their record to 4-4. But there was nothing pretty about the way they did it.

“The only thing ugly in football is losing,” Seattle Coach Chuck Knox said.

But the Chargers’ first-half numbers were particularly unsightly. Tolliver completed three of 13 for 31 yards. The Charger offense churned out a total of 38 yards. And the Chargers converted just one of six third-down situations.

And that wasn’t all. The Chargers committed seven penalties in the first two periods and had possession of the ball eight minutes and 14 seconds to Seattle’s 21:46.

The Charger offense, ranked 25th after seven weeks, has failed to gain more than 200 yards in each of its past two games.