Chargers-Chiefs Game Will Be a Tale of Big Backs
In a Kansas City newspaper this week, Chief linebacker Dino Hackett suggested that Charger running back Marion Butts is a whole lot easier to tackle than Chief running back Christian Okoye.
“Dino Hackett,” Butts snorted. “Who is he? I don’t even know him. Who is the guy?
“Whoever he is, he’s just shooting the wind--a lot of people do that. It doesn’t faze me. I had a pretty successful game against them last year. If anything, I think he should give me a little respect.”
A year ago, Butts ran for 176 yards against the Chiefs, but who remembers? Who noticed?
A year ago, the Chargers versus the Chiefs was like the Patriots versus the Colts. Who cared?
A year ago, the Chargers and Chiefs employed a forgettable cast of characters, and each team was going nowhere but home for the holidays. Ask 100 people back east last year what they knew about Butts, and you might have been slapped.
But today the nation watches. The Chargers and Chiefs will play coast-to-coast on NBC-TV, and to the winner goes respect. And there also might be playoff implications to today’s encounter.
“All of sudden our team is getting a lot of attention,” Chargers General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “Now it’s the game of the week and all that kind of stuff. Everything points toward our playing well, but I don’t know how this team handles pressure.
“I really don’t like all the attention. I wish we went unnoticed.”
The spotlight, however, has just begun to shine on the Chargers. ESPN’s “GameDay” will focus on Butts today, as HBO did earlier in the week.
O.J. Simpson chats with Beathard, “the smartest man in the NFL,” this morning on NBC’s “NFL Live.” Next Sunday night the Chargers and Seahawks will meet at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium in a nationally televised contest.
“Just the way the league is, and the way the division is, we finally got ourselves in a position where each week it’s the most important game,” Beathard said. “For obvious reasons this is the most important game we’ve played this year. And if we win, next week will be the most important we play.”
The Chiefs played the “most important” game of their season two weeks ago in Kansas City against the Raiders and prevailed, 9-7. They stayed at home last week and, on the final play of the game, surrendered a 25-yard touchdown pass to Seattle that allowed the Seahawks to steal a 17-16 victory.
What might have looked like a walkover a month ago now becomes a matter of self-preservation for the Chiefs. They are 5-4, and after today, four of their final six games will be played on the road, including contests against the Raiders, Chicago Bears and Chargers.
“I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking over what is probably going to be the best team--visiting team--to come to Arrowhead Stadium,” Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer said.
He was talking about the Chargers.
The Chargers have won four of their last five games and have allowed an average of 8.5 points a game in their four victories. They have the league’s fifth-ranked defense, but in the last month only Miami has given up fewer yards.
This is not good news for Kansas City quarterback Steve DeBerg. Even when the Chargers have been at their worst, they have saved their best for the man who tutored Joe Montana and John Elway. Against the Chargers, DeBerg is 0-4 as a starter, with five touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
“We’ve had good success against some guys and there are others who just tear us apart,” Charger defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. “And we’ve played well against DeBerg. It almost becomes a mind-set where the guys think they can do well against a particular guy.”
The Chargers intercepted seven of DeBerg’s passes in two meetings last season. But check his pulse: DeBerg has not thrown an interception in his last 111 pass attempts. In eight of his nine games this season, he has failed to throw an interception.
Of course, DeBerg also has thrown 66 passes without recording a touchdown. The Chiefs have gone 10 quarters without locating the end zone, and they have averaged 10.6 points in their past three games.
The Chargers’ Billy Joe Tolliver, like DeBerg, has avoided the interception. He has thrown 121 passes without an interception and trails only Dan Fouts’ 168 in team history for most attempts without an interception.
“For each of these quarterbacks it might be the biggest test each has had this year,” Beathard said. “Both teams are going to try and run, but both teams have attacking defenses. So both quarterbacks will be under similar pressure. Now does that guy handle it better than this guy? That’s what we’re going to find out.”
The Chiefs will run at the Chargers with a 260-pound mountain, Okoye, and relieve him with 240-pound Barry Word. Okoye and Word, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, are the heaviest running back duo in NFL history--14 pounds heavier than the league’s No. 3 all-time heavyweights, Butts and Rod Bernstine, who sustained a hamstring injury last week and is listed as questionable for today.
Butts and Bernstine have combined for 1,220 yards this season, leading all duos in the league, but right behind them are Okoye and Word with 1,063 yards.
“It’s like looking in the mirror when you look at these teams,” Lynn said.
Both teams will pass only when they have to or when they believe they have the opposition duped into thinking they will run. Both teams have big-play receivers in Anthony Miller and Stephone Paige.
Both teams have premier pass rushers. Linebacker Derrick Thomas, who set an NFL record last week with seven sacks, tops the league with 15. The Chargers counter with Burt Grossman (8 1/2), Leslie O’Neal (7 1/2) and Lee Williams (5 1/2).
And both teams are capable of crafting a victory via special teams. The Chiefs have blocked five punts this season; the Chargers have returned a punt for a touchdown, and rank No. 1 across the board on special teams.
“With this type of game, the steadier you play the better off you will be,” Coach Dan Henning said. “The team that gets the big play, that will be the difference.”