Five Years Ago, Chargers-Steelers Game Was Offensive Spectacle

The game was a classic, and the Chargers won, but five years later, Gill Byrd is still embarrassed.

In the days of Don Coryell’s aerial circus, the Chargers had the most exciting offense in the NFL . . . and complemented it with the league’s most porous defense. They just hoped Air Coryell would produce more points than the defense gave up.

The result was one shootout after another, and the wildest of all occurred on Dec. 8, 1985, in a Sunday night television special at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The Chargers outlasted the Pittsburgh Steelers, 54-44, in the highest-scoring game for each team (total points) and the fourth-highest in NFL history.

(The highest-scoring game was in 1966, when Washington defeated the New York Giants, 72-41.)

Judging from the returns to date, today’s Chargers and Steelers, who will play Sunday in Pittsburgh, wouldn’t score that many points in a month. But at least they can take pride in their ability to play defense, and that’s something that Byrd and his peers couldn’t do five years ago.

“Any time you give up 44 points, you have to be embarrassed,” Byrd said. “I give the Steelers credit for having a good game plan and carrying it out well, but we had no excuse.”

The Charger defense was so pathetic that year that defensive coordinator Tom Bass was fired early in the season and replaced by Dave Adolph.

“He (Adolph) couldn’t very well change anything, so the situation didn’t improve,” Byrd said.

Byrd, now one of the premier cornerbacks in the NFL, was the Chargers’ strong safety at the time.

“Our offense was treated with a lot of respect in those days,” Byrd said. “We knew we were second-class citizens.”

The hub of the Chargers’ prolific offense was Dan Fouts, whose exploits from 1973 through 1987 made him a sure bet for future election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His performance against Pittsburgh in what he called “a track meet” was typical--21 completions in 33 attempts for 372 yards and three touchdowns.

It would have made for extra drama if Fouts had outdueled Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, but Bradshaw had retired two years earlier. Fouts’ opponent was journeyman David Woodley, who was 24 for 35, 287 yards and three touchdowns.

With all-pro Fouts throwing to the all-pro triumvirate of tight end Kellen Winslow and wide receivers Charlie Joiner and Wes Chandler, the Chargers put points on the board so fast that the defense seldom had time to rest.

Notably, the Chargers scored their 54 points against the top-ranked defense in the AFC and, incredibly, did it in just 24 minutes 40 seconds of possession time.

Winslow, now attending law school at the University of San Diego, noted that defensive players were known to request more time off. He recalled a remark made by tackle Lou Kelcher, who retired after the 1983 season.

“Louie griped about it one time,” Winslow said. “He said to me, ‘You guys score so fast, you’re killing us.’ ”

But Byrd wouldn’t say that the defenders had anything to complain about.

“The offense had to score fast,” he said. “We were giving up points so fast that they had no choice.”

Byrd and linebacker Billy Ray Smith are the only 1985 Chargers who remain active. Two others, Joiner and guard Ed White, coach the Chargers’ wide receivers and tight ends.

Unlike Byrd, Smith sees no reason for embarrassment over the defense’s effort against the Steelers.

“I remember a guy asking me how I felt about giving up 44 points,” Smith said. “I just told him, well, we won the game. I know we feel a lot better than Pittsburgh does.”

Asked if he thought Coryell’s offense was in too much of a hurry to score, Smith said, “No, the type of defense we had was part of our problem. With Air Coryell, with that kind of offense, you have to have a defense that matches it. You need an aggressive, gambling defense instead of the bend-but-not-break defense we had.

“We played a basic three-four, with little variation. That just didn’t work with the offense we had. It kept us on the field too long.”

Despite scoring 30 or more points nine times that season, the Chargers compiled only an 8-8 record. For sheer entertainment, though, they were unchallenged. If any game epitomized what Air Coryell was all about, it was the one against the Steelers. Joiner caught six of Fouts’ passes, Chandler five, Gary Anderson four and Lionel James three.

“Without a doubt, it was the most explosive attack we’ve ever had,” said Fouts, now a resident of Sisters, Ore., and an NFL color analyst for CBS.

The score might have gone even higher, but interceptions stymied three Charger drives, and they were on Pittsburgh’s one when the game ended.

As it was, the point total would have reached 100 if holder Ralf Mojsiejenko hadn’t mishandled two snaps from center on extra-point attempts.

Fouts gave full credit to Coryell, saying, “There’s no finer offensive coach in NFL history.”

In turn, Coryell, now retired and living in Friday Harbor, Wash., said he owed it all to offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese, now with the Rams.

“Ernie’s the guy who coordinated everything,” Coryell said. “I don’t know of anybody who has such an imagination.”

At the same time, Winslow didn’t minimize Coryell’s role.

“Don was one of the nicest people to be around, and he was a great coach,” Winslow said. “How a man could be on the practice field and know everything that was going on, I don’t know. He was amazing.”

Winslow said the genius of Coryell and Zampese inspired tremendous confidence.

“We knew we could score,” Winslow said. “If we were on our own 20, Fouts would get us in the huddle and say, ‘OK, 80 yards, eight plays.’ Or ’60 yards, five plays.’ The only people who could stop us were ourselves.”

Steeler Coach Chuck Noll was a victim of that confidence on that night in 1985. Noll, never known for his sense of humor, quipped afterward, “It was a great defensive battle. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything.”

Asked this week for his memories of the game, Noll laughed and said, “That was a long time ago. I have flickers of it, but I have trouble remembering that far back.”

Winslow didn’t recall specifics, either, but said, “It was like a tennis game. Whoever broke service and had the ball last would win.”

The Chargers broke away to a 21-7 lead, let it melt to 21-17, built it back to 34-17 and then almost frittered the game away. The Steelers scored on five consecutive possessions, tying the score at 34 and 41 and finally taking a 44-41 lead.

At that point it was time for Fouts to engineer one last scoring drive. A 37-yard pass to Joiner was the key play, and Anderson’s two-yard run put the Chargers ahead to stay with two minutes to play.

There still was time for the Steelers to mount a counterattack, but free safety Jeff Dale intercepted a pass and ran 47 yards for the clinching touchdown.

Reminded of the play that sealed the victory, Smith said, “Oh, I remember that. So we did win it on defense!”