No Butts About It, Chargers Surprise Chiefs

For the past month the Kansas City defense, ranked second in the NFL, had been kicking butts all over the league. As a result, the improved Chiefs had won four in a row.

Sunday afternoon at frigid Arrowhead Stadium, Butts kicked back.

Rookie running back Marion Butts, 6-1 and 248 pounds, rumbled for 176 yards on a team record 39 carries as the Chargers came from 13 points behind to upset Kansas City 20-13.

“It appears Butts is a first-down, heavy load type of back,” said Charger Coach Dan Henning, who started four rookies on offense and found at least one he won’t be looking to replace in next spring’s NFL draft.

The defeat dropped the Chiefs to 7-7-1 and left a torpedo hole the size of Missouri in the broad side of their wild card playoff hopes.

The Chargers raised their record to 5-10, but there was nothing nickel and dime about it. In beating the Chiefs for the fifth consecutive time, they ended a four-game losing streak and shut out Kansas City in the second half for the second time this year.

On the Chargers’ first defensive series free safety Vencie Glenn sent Kansas City quarterback Steve DeBerg to the sidelines when he blasted him on a safety blitz.

“That’s my Christmas present to him,” Glenn said after the game. DeBerg (14 of 33 for 142 yards) returned, but only after receiving 13 stitches in his chin.

The Charger defense also limited Chief running back Christian Okoye, who entered the game as the NFL’s leading rusher, to 60 yards on 18 carries.

“Eight-man front,” explained Charger defensive coordinator Ron Lynn.

In the past six weeks the Chargers have kept Raider Bo Jackson, Colt Eric Dickerson and Okoye from crossing the goal line.

Meanwhile Butts, who carried the ball more times Sunday than he did his entire senior year at Florida State (29), looked more like Okoye than Okoye. He gained 112 of his yards in the second half.

“I still don’t understand why I didn’t play more in college,” said Butts. “But I guess I’m for real now.”

The Chiefs, apparently, are not.

Things began well enough for them when field goals of 36 and 30 yards by Nick Lowery and an 11-yard touchdown pass from DeBerg to halfback Todd McNair put them ahead, 13-0, late in the first half. Both field goals stemmed from fumbles--one lost by rookie quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver, the other by rookie wide receiver Wayne Walker.

But the Chargers hurried back upfield and scored on a one-yard pass from Tolliver (13 of 30 for 171 yards) to H-Back Andy Parker seven seconds before halftime. Craig McEwen, another H-back, was the primary receiver on the play. But when the Chiefs covered him, Tolliver went to his secondary receiver.

A five-yard touchdown pass from Tolliver to wide receiver Anthony Miller sandwiched between Chris Bahr field goals of 43 and 20 yards accounted for all of the second half scoring.

Miller’s touchdown was his 10th of the year. And it beat a Kansas City zone that didn’t have anybody near Miller when he caught the ball.

The victory was Tolliver’s first as a starter and further darkened the future of backup quarterback Jim McMahon, whose contract expires after the season.

McMahon hasn’t played in three weeks. But Henning almost had to insert him early in the final period when the 6-1, 218-pound Tolliver almost came to blows with Kansas City rookie linebacker Derrick Thomas--6-3, 234.

The officials ejected Thomas, the Chiefs’ leading sacker, for kicking tight end Arthur Cox, 6-2, 277. When Tolliver stepped in to defend Cox, Henning shivered.

“I thought they were going to eject Billy, too,” Henning said.

“I just went over and said, ‘Will you please stop kicking our guy?’ ” Tolliver said with mock innocence.

Thomas’ absence clearly hurt a Kansas City defense that had already lost free safety Deron Cherry, a six-time Pro Bowler, earlier in the game to a sprained knee. In the end, after Bahr’s last field goal, it came down to whether the Charger defense could protect a lead.

“We closed the door when we had to,” said strong stafety Martin Bayless.

On the Chiefs’ second-to-last possession, defensive back Lester Lyles sacked DeBerg for a 10-yard loss and forced a Kelly Goodburn punt.

Moments later, Kansas City got the ball back and drove to the Charger 19. On second-and-10, DeBerg threw over the middle into the end zone for wide receiver Emile Harry.

Nickel back Roy Bennett, whose earlier pass interference penalty had helped set up McNair’s touchdown, stepped in front of Harry and intercepted.

Glenn said disparaging remarks made by DeBerg earlier in the week fired up the Charger defense. Others have said the Chargers simply match-up well against the Chiefs.

Certainly the Charger offensive line matches up well against Kansas City’s defense. In two games this year it has opened holes big enough to allow the Charger running game to gain at least 200 yards.

In its previous six games the Chief defense had allowed an average of 84 yards rushing.

“Buttsie (Butts) ran like a man possessed,” said right guard David Richards. “Games like these where we run the ball are the most fun.”

The Chargers’ total of 23 first downs was more than double Kansas City’s 11. In Tolliver’s past two starts the Chargers have averaged more than 400 yards of total offense. The 214 yards the Charger defense allowed was its second-lowest total of the year.

And, said Bayless, “It’s not like we did this against a team like us that already knew we would be home for Christmas.”

Charger Notes

The team record Charger rookie Marion Butts broke by carrying 39 times was held by Gary Anderson. Anderson gained 217 yards on 34 carries against the Chiefs in San Diego a year ago today. Butts’ yardage total of 176 ranks fifth on the all-time Charger single-game list. . . . The Chargers sacked Steve DeBerg twice. But for the second straight week neither Lee Williams nor Leslie O’Neal, the team’s top sackers, got to the opposing quarterback. . . . The temperature at game time at Arrowhead Stadium was 18. The wind-chill factor, thanks to a nine mile an hour southwest wind, was zero. . . . Center Courney Hall was one of four rookie starters for the Chargers with Butts, Billy Joe Tolliver and Wayne Walker.