Butts Helps Offense Get Off Ground

Strong fellow, this Marion Butts.

He takes 248 pounds with him wherever he goes. And, as if it isn’t enough that he’s as big as a soda pop machine, he also will be responsible for lugging the Chargers’ offense, if their 24-9 loss on Sunday to the Raiders was an indication.

The reason? Simple. The Chargers’ passing game is about as smooth as the top of Bart Simpson’s head. Quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver repeatedly drove the Chargers close to the end zone, then extinguished the drives with (take your pick) 1) overthrown passes, 2) underthrown passes, 3) throwaways.

All the while, there was Butts, the sturdiest running back this side of Christian Okoye, upholding the 4.8-yard average that placed him second in the AFC in rushing behind Denver’s Bobby Humphrey entering the game.

Butts finished with 76 yards in 16 carries Sunday, and he did it in a manner that supports his contention that he’s more than a get-in-my-way-and-I’ll-flatten-you running back. He swerved around a stray linebacker here and there, and he frequently spun for extra yardage when he appeared to be stopped.

“It’s not my intention just to run over individuals,” Butts said. “Sometimes you get caught in a situation and you have no other way out. That’s like a person in the corner. What can you do? You can’t go through the wall.”

What, then, do you do?

“If you feel there is no way out but to go through them, then that’s something you have to be prepared to do,” he said. “It’s best to be the hitter instead of the hittee.”

And nobody worries too much about Butts getting up from a head-on collision.

“He’s solid, he’s accountable, he’s durable,” Charger Coach Dan Henning said. “We’ve got to go to him more, but to do that you’ve got to be ahead in the game.”

It’s hard to believe that the team that once had Fouts to Joiner, Fouts to J.J. and Fouts to Chandler is now relying on three yards and a cloud of Butts. Of course, the statistics don’t mean a lot if the team doesn’t win, and nobody is more aware of that than Butts.

“My productivity comes with the team,” he said. “Every loss is very disappointing.”

Butts isn’t one to hoot and holler about his accomplishments. Asked what he does outside of football, he once said he stays home, because that keeps him out of trouble.

Along with maintaining a low profile, Butts refuses to take a lot of credit for the Chargers’ successful running game.

“The offensive line is coming around and I’m behind them,” he said. “They do a great job. It makes me do a great job.”

Also, he has help. Rod Bernstine is still around. Glad to be here, even. Bernstine, remember, mentioned a week and a half ago that he would be agreeable to a trade. He was the Chargers’ top draft pick in 1987, and he was getting a little tired of carrying the ball only a handful of times in each game. But there was a feeling that he wasn’t durable enough to be a full-timer such as Butts.

If the past two games are an indication, Bernstine’s situation is improving. In last week’s 39-3 victory over the New York Jets, he carried 11 times for 80 yards. Sunday, he carried eight times for 45 yards.

So, for now, he’s not complaining.

“I put frustrating things aside,” Bernstine said. “As long as I can go out and perform well, I’ll get more and more time. That’s all I can do.”

What the Chargers will do to make this a more balanced attack remains to be seen. Clearly, if they are to compete with teams in the Raiders’ class, they will need a snappier passing game to complement Butts and Bernstine.

As Tolliver points out, it helps to put the ball in the end zone once in a while.

“In this league,” he said, “you get down there and keep getting field goals, sooner or later it’s going to beat you.”

And that’s what happened Sunday.