Raiders-Chargers: Grim and Bear It

Art Shell’s Raiders in Wonderland will try to keep the good times rolling this evening when they meet a grim bunch of Chargers who look as if they could use a laugh, themselves.

The Chargers, 3-6 despite a rising young defense, are a promising team that last week unseated the Eagles, 20-17, and guess who they have in mind for an encore?

So, why are they at war with the local media?

For a short answer, try:

Jim McMahon.

By way of comment recently, the ex-Bear Punky QB blew his nose on the San Diego Union’s T.J. Simers. Until then, McMahon had been reserving all comment, which in retrospect seems the preferred alternative.

This was only the last shot in a long campaign. It started before the opener against the Raiders, when the Chargers announced they were closing practices to beat reporters.

The reporters, in turn, retreated to what is now called Scribes Hill and watched from there. In ensuing weeks, they brought up lounge chairs, held a barbecue and had a group picture printed in Editor and Publisher. John Peter Zenger would have been proud.

Of course, things didn’t really get tense until the season actually started .

The Chargers were blown apart in the opener, 40-14, which was Mike Shanahan’s first and last good moment as Raider coach, circa 1989.

McMahon was relieved after going seven for 18, and looking like a man with a memory for an arm. Various stories were advanced to cover his exit. He said he had suffered bruised ribs and been told to leave. Coach Dan Henning said he could have stayed in. Backup quarterback David Archer said McMahon asked out.

McMahon had arrived from Chicago in the first place with the usual chip on his shoulder--”the size of Camp Pendleton,” wrote The Times’ Brian Hewitt. In his new venue, with a team too young to get him back to the Super Bowl, although a nearby hospital certainly wasn’t out of the question, the chip grew daily.

McMahon stopped talking with the press. He put on a headband that said, “T.J. McFan.” One day you’re mocking Pete Rozelle on national TV, the next you’re trying to embarrass some sportswriter, and the world turns a blind eye.

The Raiders put them to the torch in the last meeting, and the Houston Oilers hit them for 34 points in Week 2, but the Chargers have grown up since.

They’re sacking fools. They have 10 in two games, including six against the supposedly uncatchable Randall Cunningham last week. Linebacker Leslie O’Neal has 9 1/2, including 5 1/2 in two weeks. End Burt Grossman, the No. 1 draft pick has 4 1/2. The other end, Pro Bowler Lee Williams, has seven.

Former Raider cornerback Sam Seale, once derided as All-El Segundo by Lester Hayes because his effectiveness was limited to practice, is happening in a big way. Since Willie Gault turned him inside-out in the opener, Seale hasn’t been beaten deep.

Then there’s that offense, 25th in the league.

It has a new Redskin-style, huge offensive line that could use some real Hogs. The Chargers have two Plan B players, a one-time free agent and a rookie among the five linemen.

Gary Anderson, who was supposed to be the lone running back, remains unsigned.

Under fire, McMahon has been respectable, but he has been in and out, literally. Henning once conceded that McMahon seemed a little gun-shy, so he started the effervescent No. 2 pick, Billy Joe Tolliver, Charger quarterback of the future.

Tolliver went six for 17, for 41 yards with an interception, convincing all that the future was not yet at hand.

Mac is back, which should be a warning for the Fourth Estate and the Raiders, too.

Raider Notes

The Raiders are a 2 1/2-point favorite, the first time they have been favored in a month. . . . Latest Jim McMahon controversy: His agent, Steve Zucker, said last week: “I really think Jim is playing well, especially considering that line. I mean, look at it. You won’t hear it from him, but how can you get anything done with that line?” To which Charger line coach Larry Beightol replied: “Zucker doesn’t know whether the ball is blown up or stuffed.”

The Raiders also have 10 sacks in two games, including five by Greg Townsend. . . . The Raiders have allowed an average of 91 rushing yards a game and 3.5 yards a carry under Coach Art Shell; they have run for 161.6 and 4.99. . . . Said Charger Coach Dan Henning: “They look like a much different team than when we played earlier, and we got the hell beat out of us under those earlier conditions.”

Jay Schroeder is expected to start at quarterback for the Raiders. Steve Beuerlein tried to come back from his knee injury but practiced only lightly. Henning, told that Beuerlein had taken only two snaps Wednesday and had been in difficulty: “I wish he was in Africa.” Beuerlein threw for 206 yards in a relief appearance in the opener.