Chargers’ Challenge Is to Stop Krieg : Pro football: Seattle quarterback, with a history of success against Chargers, today faces a struggling defense.
League rules might prohibit its successful implementation, but the Chargers (1-7) have a new plan as they begin the second half of the season: Play more people on defense.
Indeed, it might take more than 11 defenders to derail quarterback Dave Krieg and the Seahawks (4-4) today in the Kingdome, but one question: If rotating extra hands into the lineup is to make the difference between victory and defeat, why hasn’t it been done the past two months?
“I think we’re making a big deal out of something that isn’t that big of a deal,” defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. “If nobody said anything, and Joe Phillips played 50 plays instead of 62 and Mitchell Benson played eight instead of 12, nobody would say anything.”
The big deal, however, was Coach Dan Henning’s doing. He announced “Operation Play More People” earlier in the week as the solution to what ails the Chargers’ defense.
“Execution would probably be the cure for the defense,” Lynn said. “You could look at it, and say, ‘execute the defense, coaches included,’ or you could have the defense execute better.”
Anyone for a phone poll?
The Chargers’ defense has been ravaged the past three weeks by the likes of Jay Schroeder, Jim Everett and Bernie Kosar. The trio combined to complete 60 of 90 passes for 700 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions.
Get out the record books: The defense finishes the season against the likes of Dan Marino and John Elway.
“You have to be honest and look at the situation,” said Charger cornerback Gill Byrd, “and say it’s a golden opportunity for Dave Krieg.”
Krieg historically has been the second coming of Joe Namath against the Chargers, completing 61% of his passes, throwing 22 touchdown passes against 12 interceptions and compiling a 10-2 record.
“When he goes well, they go well,” Lynn said, “and when he doesn’t, they don’t.”
The Seahawks were without Krieg for six weeks, and they struggled. Seattle leads the AFC in turnovers with 23, and 14 of those turnovers were interceptions thrown by backup quarterbacks Jeff Kemp and Dan McGwire.
In his first start since breaking his thumb, Krieg last week completed 25 of 31 passes against the Steelers for 266 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s a streaky player,” Charger secondary coach Jim Mora said. “And when he gets hot, he’s scary.”
The Chargers’ defense has allowed more touchdown passes (12) than any team in the league, and opposing quarterbacks are completing 62% of their passes.
Krieg has been even better. He is 51-for-66 passes this season (77%) and will be throwing to wide receiver Brian Blades, who ranks second in the AFC with 43 receptions.
“He’s a good quarterback and it always seems like they are trying to replace him up there,” Byrd said. “But anytime somebody else comes in, they’re not the same ballclub. They have McGwire, who is going to be their quarterback in the future, but Dave Krieg is a player.
“What you have to do when you’re playing him is get up on him early, get some hits on him and maybe get some interceptions. Sometimes he gets rattled. But if you don’t get to him, well, he’s tough.”
In addition to Krieg, the Seahawks continue to rely on the all-around contributions of running back John L. Williams. Williams leads the Seahawks with 387 yards on 98 carries and has 33 receptions for 282 yards. Derrick Fenner has been troubled by a sore knee, but he’s expected to start in the backfield along with Williams.
“The question of who plays tailback for them has something to do with their running game,” linebacker Billy Ray Smith said, “but their workhorse is always going to be John L.”
The Chargers will be without running back Rod Bernstine, who was injured in Sunday’s loss to Cleveland and did not practice all week. Bernstine on Saturday was placed on the injured reserve list with a slight fracture in his vertebrae. The team said it is feasible Bernstine could return after missing four weeks.
Rookie running back Chris Samuels, a 12th-round draft pick from Texas, was activated to take Bernstine’s roster spot. Marion Butts will start in Bernstine’s place.
“You better get out of Buttsy’s way,” center Courtney Hall said. “Butts is more of a straight-ahead runner than Rod, so you if you don’t want to get hit, you better make a block and get out of his way.”
Quarterback John Friesz, who played under a dome while at the University of Idaho, returns to the Northwest to make his first start in the Kingdome.
“I’ve played in domes before,” Friesz said, “but 15,000 people can’t get very loud no matter how loud they yell.”
Friesz, who grew up a six-hour drive away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, will have his own rooting section in the Kingdome. He purchased 75 tickets for family and friends and planned to meet with everybody Saturday night for pregame pizza.
“We never had a problem with noise in college, so this will be the first time I’ll really face it,” Friesz said. “Denver had the possibilities of being loud, but our philosophy in Seattle is to do what we did last year, and that’s play good, get ahead early and take the crowd out of the game.”
The Chargers snapped an eight-game losing streak in Seattle last year with a 31-14 victory behind quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver. Overall, however, the Chargers have dropped 11 of their last 13 meetings against the Seahawks.
And now there are questions surrounding the players’ resolve: Will they continue to play hard after so many draining defeats? Will they go belly-up under the noise of playing in the Kingdome? Was Leslie O’Neal’s altercation with linebacker coach Mike Haluchak an indication of the strain and frustration that appears to have overwhelmed this team?
“I think guys are still going to play hard,” Byrd said. “I don’t think if we have a situation where something goes wrong that we’re just going to throw in the towel, and say, ‘That’s it; let’s just head for the buses.’
“I don’t think that’s going to happen because I think the guys have a certain amount of professionalism in them. They’ll keep playing, keep plugging away, until we find a way to win.”