The Whole Thing Seems a Bit Silly as Chargers Lose

The Chargers were just getting good at this business of winning as underdogs.

They knew, as did their past two opponents--Philadelphia and the Raiders--that their talent was inferior. The Chargers used that knowledge as incentive and scored two consecutive upsets.

But Sunday, the Chargers finally found a team they knew they could and should beat. Even though the Steelers were slight favorites at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh’s offense was the worst in the league, and the Charger defense had played as well as any in the NFL the past eight weeks.

But noooooo . The Chargers lost, 20-17.

And they lost for oodles of silly reasons.

They lost because they gave the ball away twice on botched punt returns. One by Lester Lyles. One by Dana Brinson.

And they lost because quarterback Jim McMahon, who finished with 19 completions in 36 attempts for 226 yards, threw a fourth-period pass right into the hands of Pittsburgh linebacker David Little.

With the Chargers trailing by three and driving for what they figured would be the winning touchdown, McMahon called an audible.

The Steelers counter-audibled. And Charger Coach Dan Henning said McMahon probably never saw Little at the Steeler 36. If McMahon knew what happened, he didn’t tell the media. Maybe he’ll share the reason with the goofs who call his 1-900 number today.

“All the way up until that last interception, you couldn’t have told me we weren’t going to score,” Charger guard David Richards said.

The Chargers also lost because they allowed Rod Woodson to cut back against the grain and race 84 yards up the left sideline with a kickoff return that gave Pittsburgh (5-6) a 13-10 lead midway through the third period.

“We lost contain on the backside,” jargonized Joe Madden, the Charger special teams coach. “We didn’t maintain leverage on the ball.”

The Chargers also lost perhaps because they dominated the Steelers statistically. They had 20 first downs to Pittsburgh’s 14. And they gained 359 yards to the Steelers’ 191. Anybody who has listened to Henning all year long knows he doesn’t think statistics are worth “a damn.”

The Chargers also may have lost in part because of the scathing remarks Charger rookie defensive end Burt Grossman directed at almost everybody ever connected with the Steeler organization during the week before the game.

“I think it fired this team up,” said Steeler tackle Tom Ricketts, a former college teammate of Grossman’s at Pitt. “I know the team took it seriously.”

But mainly the Chargers lost because they allowed the Steelers to drive 91 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown in the middle of the final period.

The Chargers (4-7) had taken a 17-13 lead late in the third period on a 19-yard broken play in which McMahon flushed out of the pocket and found wide receiver Anthony Miller racing across the end zone ahead of Steeler defensive back Thomas Everett.

It was Miller’s second touchdown of the day. He earlier beat a Pittsburgh zone for a 20-yarder that gave the Chargers their first lead after Gary Anderson’s 49-yard field goal opened the scoring.

Miller led all receivers with seven catches for 104 yards. He has scored five of the Chargers’ past six touchdowns.

Anderson added a 28-yarder in the second quarter. Chris Bahr answered from 27 for the Chargers. Then Woodson broke his kickoff return, and Miller beat Everett.

So here were the Steelers, the league’s lowest-scoring team, backed up against their own nine and behind by four with 11:42 to play.

Quarterback Bubby Brister completed a 19-yard pass to Louis Lipps. Running back Merril Hoge broke loose up the middle for 31 yards, the longest run of his three-year NFL career.

Then Brister, who finished with 12 completions in 27 attempts for 142 yards, found tight end Mike Mularkey for 22 more.

Suddenly, Pittsburgh had first and 10 at the Charger 12. Six more plays and one first down later, the Steelers were staring at a fourth-and-one foot. They called a timeout.

When they returned to the field, they inserted wide receiver Rodney Carter and lined up in a split back set. Their aim was to make the Chargers believe Brister would roll out.

The ruse succeeded. Hoge scored easily on a one-yard trap play, and the Chargers had lost to a team they should have beaten.

“We put Carter in and everybody thinks pass,” Steeler Coach Chuck Noll said.

“Tendency-wise we were looking for a play-action pass,” Charger linebacker Billy Ray Smith said.

Simple as that. But not silly if you’re a Charger. Their past five losses have been by six, one, seven, three and three points.

“Frustrating,” Miller said.

“Disappointing,” Richards said.

“We can’t win games making mistakes,” defensive lineman Joe Phillips said.

“If this teaches us anything, it teaches us that the really good teams in the league are consistent,” Smith said.

The really bad teams in the league are consistent, too. Right now the Chargers, because of an offense that hasn’t scored more than 20 points in any of its past seven games, are closer to the latter.

“The (McMahon) interception was essentially the end of the game,” Henning said.

Now that the Chargers have lost seven games and their playoff hopes are virtually dead, Henning’s next major decision for the remaining five games will concern the quarterback.

McMahon played well enough against the Steelers. But, clearly, he is not the Chargers’ quarterback of the future. Look for Henning to start McMahon at Indianapolis next Sunday. But don’t be surprised if he goes back to rookie Billy Joe Tolliver Dec. 3 at home against the Jets. Tolliver made his first start three weeks ago in Seattle.

Charger Notes

For the ninth consecutive week, the Chargers did not allow more than 20 points. . . . Charger running back Marion Butts injured his knee in the first half and didn’t return. After the game Butts said he didn’t think the injury was serious. . . . The Chargers sacked Steeler quarterback Bubby Brister four times. Defensive end Lee Williams had two. Outside linebacker Leslie O’Neal, who entered the game leading the AFC in sacks, had none. . . . Pittsburgh wide receiver Louis Lipps has caught at least one pass in each of his past 36 games. . . . The Steelers’ offense failed to convert on its first six third downs. . . . Mainly because of Rod Woodson’s 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the Steelers ran just three plays from scrimmage in the third quarter. . . . Steeler Gary Anderson’s 28-yard field goal in the second period was set up when Charger linebacker Cedric Figaro roughed punter Harry Newsome. . . . Charger rookie Burt Grossman said there wasn’t much “talk” on the field during the game about the derogatory remarks he made about the Steelers during the week. But after the game, Steeler linebacker and former Pitt teammate Jerry Olsavsky walked the length of the field after Grossman shouting “Burt, Burt.” Grossman finally heard him, and the two shook hands. . . . Charger cornerback Gill Byrd: “As a defense, we have to learn how to close the door.”