Henning Takes Offense to Questions on Calls

Chargers Coach Dan Henning knew he had to vindicate himself for two play calls in Sunday’s 30-24 loss to the Rams that most Chargers fans will never forget. So he came prepared to his Monday news conference, notes and all.

He took a good 10 minutes carefully explaining his rationale behind the two calls, acknowledging the public’s interest in them.

But when he was he asked how important the two calls were to the game’s outcome, Henning said: “Those two calls? Are you serious? Be serious. I don’t think they had a thing to do with it. If they had been successful, they might have had something to do with winning just as all the other calls in the game have a bearing on it.”

Huh?

Whether they had a bearing on the game, the following are Henning’s explanations.

* The decision was to have Marion Butts run the ball from the one-yard line with one second left in the first half. The result: Butts was tackled in the end zone by Rams defensive end Kevin Greene for a safety.

“I felt the best thing to do was to take our No. 1 short yardage play, which generally covers every defense that we face,” he said. “We ran it and they outdefensed us. (The Rams) either made a mistake or they’re smarter than we are.

“They moved the defense all the way over to our left side, which is unusual because we usually run to the right, and there were more people there than we could block. . . .

“I have never seen that defense before and I hope I never see it again.”

Why not throw the ball away? “I talked to the head of the officials (Monday) about spiking the ball. I wasn’t sure of that (Sunday). . . .

“I had not considered throwing the ball away. I wish I had.”

* The call was for Ronnie Harmon to run a draw play on fourth and 10 with 2:08 left to play. The result: Harmon is tackled after a seven-yard gain.

“Our job is to get the ball in the hands of those players that can make plays and have them make plays,” Henning said.

“The third and long run has been our most effective third down play. So that’s why we called it on fourth down.”

Henning said the play broke down when the Rams moved two linebackers to the left side.

“Our line didn’t sort them out,” he said. “We blocked two on one and Ronnie had to sidestep the other.”

Henning still believes the draw was the best call.

“You ask anybody in this league . . . one of the most devasting plays in the game is a fourth down draw,” he said. “They work as much or more than passes do under those conditions.”

Reporters continued to press Henning on his play selection. Finally, he flatly was asked if he blew the draw call.

“After I made that explanation and you continue to harp on it,” he said. “What you should do is go back and join one of the staffs on the Senate Judiciary Committee and beat your (expletive) brain out all day.”

But Henning was not just annoyed by reporters. He also was upset with the officials. Of the Chargers’ nine penalties, Henning said only four were legitimate calls--two holding penalties on guard Eric Moten and two offside penalties on Burt Grossman.

He said two holding calls, one on center Courtney Hall and another on guard David Richards, were erroneous. He also questioned Donald Frank and Martin Bayless’ penalties for pass interference and Broderick Thompson’s penalty for illegal formation.

Henning didn’t argue that Bayless interfered with Rams tight end Jim Price in the end zone, but he said the play should never have been allowed.

“They were in an illegal formation with three men moving,” he said. “The man who gets interfered with is not on the line. And he’s moving.”