Three’s Agony: Falcons Hand Chargers a Loss
A new season, a home opener, and a vote of consistency for Dan Henning’s Chargers.
Play it again, Dan: The Chargers lost by seven or fewer points for the 16th time in Henning’s three-year command.
The Atlanta Falcons’ belly-flop on the road ended at 19 consecutive losses with a 13-10 victory in front of 44,804 Sunday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, and the Chargers fell to 0-3 for the first time since 1975.
“I don’t know what to say--shoot, I don’t know what comes next,” Charger defensive end Burt Grossman said. “I’ll say the usual: Wait until next week. It’s happened so often, I just don’t know what to say anymore.”
John Carney’s 47-yard field-goal attempt to tie the game with five seconds remaining sailed wide left, and the losses just keep on coming.
The Chargers have dropped eight of their last nine games, including six consecutive. In games decided by seven or fewer points, they have come out on the short end seven consecutive times.
“A lot of those games we could have won,” Grossman said, “but the problem is we didn’t get it done.”
Carney, who relieved an erratic Fuad Reveiz after week four last season, went on to post a club record with a .905 field-goal percentage on 19 of 21 attempts. Sunday against the Falcons, he kicked like Reveiz and missed three of four attempts, including a pair of 47-yarders in the fourth quarter.
“They were inside his range,” Henning said, “and you just expect him to make them.”
The Chargers trailed the Falcons 13-7 when Carney’s 47-yard try with the wind went wide right by inches on the first play of the fourth quarter. Carney came back to connect from 39 yards with 4:54 left in the game, but his final kick to save the day for the Chargers was off the mark.
“I feel I gave it my best shot,” Carney said. “From 47 yards you have to get a decent thump on the ball, but on the (baseball infield) dirt you have to compromise between a sliding foot and hitting the ball strong enough to get it there.”
Carney’s three field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter were each kicked off the infield, which will be covered by turf once the Padres’ season ends. On his final attempt, Carney said he felt his plant foot slipping, and as a result, he came across the ball and pulled it left.
“It’s kind of the same thing that happened to Fuad last year,” said John Kidd, punter and holder. “It wasn’t like he was shanking them into the corner of the end zone; he was hitting them really well and missing them by six inches. It’s just a tough surface to kick off of.”
The Chargers’ offense offered Carney very little help. After linebacker Junior Seau stuffed Steve Broussard for a one-yard loss and forced the Falcons to punt, the Chargers’ offense took possession at their 40-yard line with 2:17 to play and two timeouts to their credit.
Quarterback John Friesz, now 0-4 as a starter, appeared to have difficulty organizing his teammates and frittered away valuable seconds down the stretch. Rookie wide receiver Shawn Jefferson, forced to relieve an injured Anthony Miller (hamstring) in the fourth quarter, contributed to the apparent confusion with his inexperience.
“I’m still getting used to the system,” Jefferson said. “Everybody was talking, and it was pretty tough to hear what was being said. I was double-checking to see if I was in the right place.”
The Chargers advanced to the Falcons’ 42-yard line with 1:40 to play, but in the next 1:08 they were able to run only three plays. Friesz finally called for a timeout with 32 seconds left and the ball on the Falcons’ 28.
After consultation, Friesz’s short pass to Ronnie Harmon went for no gain, and an alley-oop toss to Jefferson went 20 yards beyond the speedy receiver, who had cut short his route.
“It was there,” Henning said. “If Anthony was in there, he might have kept on going, but Shawn just stopped. He just hasn’t been around here long enough to know what to do in that situation.”
The Chargers still had one timeout remaining, but they would not use it. On third and 10 from the Falcons’ 28, they called on Carney.
“The calls and things that I made I did as quickly, as loudly and as accurately as possible,” Friesz said. “It was a problem with personnel and relating the formation to everybody. It has to be a reaction; you can’t think about it.
“The only time I will call a timeout is when it comes from the sideline. That’s totally Dan’s call.”
Friesz completed 13 of 22 passes for 136 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Miller in the second quarter to respond to Atlanta’s 10-0 lead. But at game’s end, he was playing for the tie, and he came up wide left .
“It’s that youth again; you got a young guy trying to orchestrate a two-minute drive, something that he’s never been in before,” said Broderick Thompson, the Chargers’ right tackle. “Everybody has to learn it; this is on-the-job experience for him.
“Hopefully, I’ll be around when he masters it, and gets like (Dan) Fouts. That’s when you knew, if he’s got the ball last, we’re going in for seven to win the ballgame.”
The Falcons, meanwhile, opened the game in their “Red Gun” formation, which features four wide receivers, and went on the attack without huddling. The Chargers countered with six defensive backs.
But on the Falcons’ second possession, the Chargers failed to cover rookie receiver Mike Pritchard, who caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Miller.
The Falcons extended their lead to 10-0 in the second quarter when newly-signed kicker Norm Johnson hit from 28 yards. Johnson added a 36-yarder in the third quarter to complete Atlanta’s scoring.
“It’s hard to believe they’re 0-3,” Atlanta Coach Jerry Glanville said. “I think what you had here today was two pretty good 0-2 teams. I think they’re gonna go on and win some games.”
The Chargers, who have lost five consecutive on the road, travel to Denver Sunday, where they have not won since Al Saunders was the coach and Tom Flick was the starting quarterback.
“It’s hard to swallow,” cornerback Gill Byrd said. “Guys are giving it their all, but we’re just coming up on the short end. We’ve definitely had our share of tough games, bad breaks and losses. Somehow, some way, we just have to find a way to win.”
CHARGERS INSIDE: Some progress is being made in John Friesz’s education. C13
Marion Butts says the team needs a veteran leader. C13
Report card, notes C13A
Blue Beginnings
With Sunday’s 13-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Chargers started the season 0-3 for only the second time in franchise history. They lost 11 consecutive to begin the season in 1975 and finished 2-12, worst in team history.
Comparing their 1991 and 1975 starts:
1975
Date Opponent Score Sept. 21 Pittsburgh 0-37 Sept. 28 at Houston 17-33 Oct. 5 Oakland 0-6
1991
Date Opponent Score Sept. 1 at Pittsburgh 20-26 Sept. 8 at San Francisco 14-34 Sept. 15 Atlanta 10-13