Oilers an Unlikely Cure for Charger Ills
The Apology Tour makes a swing today into the Astrodome, an original sports wonder but a sorry place for the Chargers to try and get well after an 0-3 start.
The Oilers (2-1) have defeated the Chargers three times in a row, including a 33-18 spanking the last time the teams played here in 1987, and they are favored by 11 points.
Although the Chargers checked into the Marriott Medical Center--it’s a hotel--upon arrival, they have responded with confidence to Coach Bobby Ross’ mea culpa binge after a fourth-quarter collapse and a 23-6 defeat to the Steelers.
The Chargers emerged from a players-only meeting earlier this week invigorated. Wide receiver Shawn Jefferson guaranteed a victory over Houston, and starting safety Stanley Richard used his helmet as a pillow and lounged out-of-bounds at the 50-yard line while his teammates went through special teams preparations.
On Friday the team was treated to ice cream on the practice field.
“We feel real good about this game,” said Jefferson. “We’re going into this game thinking win. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t win.”
The Chargers have won 22 of their last 73 games, four of their last 22 and have claimed victory on the road only once in their last 11 tries.
“I hear guaranteeing victories is now in vogue in San Diego,” said Houston defensive end Lee Williams, who played seven years for the Chargers. “All I can say is that come noon Sunday we won’t be too hard to find.”
Williams, who fell one sack short of being the Chargers’ all-time leader, left last week’s game--the Oilers won, 23-20, in overtime against Kansas City--in the first half with a hyperextended knee and did not practice this week. He will try to play against the Chargers.
“I haven’t followed the Chargers too closely, but I heard they had an easy schedule and playoff aspirations,” said Williams, who was traded to Houston for Jefferson and a first-round pick, which the Chargers used to select defensive end Chris Mims. “But it looks like more of the same, like when I was there.
“I see they got nothing for Joe Phillips. They also gave away Jim Lachey and Gary Anderson. . . . After seven grueling years in San Diego, I found out what it’s like to be on a winning ballclub and to play for a contender.
“Obviously this team I’m playing for now hasn’t turned over the personnel like they have done in San Diego. This organization is more stable, and you combine that with a big-league quarterback and a lot of veteran players, and this is a pretty good situation.”
Houston fans are not happy, however. For the third consecutive time this season, the team failed to sell out in time to lift the local television blackout. Last week against the Chiefs, the fans booed quarterback Warren Moon and the defense.
And the Chargers think they have it tough in San Diego.
“It’s getting kind of ridiculous out there--the reasons why they’re booing,” Moon said. “I can’t understand it. Teams are going to score on us. I don’t know if the expectations are so high that everybody thinks we’re a super team and no one’s going to to do anything against us.”
The Oilers disappointed fans in the season-opener, losing 29-24 to Pittsburgh. The Steelers intercepted five Moon passes.
Houston rebounded, however, with two consecutive victories. Yet they remain beaten up. Wide receiver Ernest Givins may mot play because of a bruised thigh and his backup, Corey Harris, has been bothered by a sore shoulder. Houston’s attempt to bring wide receiver Jeff Query back through waivers failed Friday when Cincinnati claimed him.
But the Oilers rank fourth in offense in the NFL and No. 1 in passing. The Chargers’ defense, which is tied for second overall in the league, ranks eighth against the pass.
“It gives us an opportunity to prove we have a good secondary,” Richard said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
As the Chargers’ defense will try to derail the Oilers’ run-and-shoot attack, the offense will attempt to locate the end zone. They haven’t been there in the team’s last six quarters. Opponents have kept the Chargers scoreless in six of 12 quarters this year.
The Oilers’ defense, ranked 10th in the league, features a strong pass rush led by defensive tackle Ray Childress, who has four sacks.
“I think their front seven is as good as any in the game,” said Jack Reilly, the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach and play-caller. “I don’t think we can go out there and just pound them with the running game. We’re going to have to mix it up like we have tried to do the past three weeks.
“We’re inconsistent now, but we’re close. We’ve had some opportunities, we just haven’t capitalized on them. I think we have the potential to score, but we just have to make the plays.”
Quarterback Stan Humphries, who has thrown one touchdown pass with five interceptions, will make his third start for the Chargers. A hamstring injury to wide receiver Nate Lewis further handicaps the Chargers’ passing game, but the team added wide receivers Robert Claiborne and Johnnie Barnes late in the week.
“We’ve got to try and get the ball to Anthony Miller,” Reilly said. “If you look at the films, we have tried to get him the ball in scoring situations and we’ve been real close to getting it done.”
The Chargers were close to winning football games under Dan Henning, but fared no better than 6-22 in games decided by seven or fewer points.
Since Ross’ arrival, they have gotten no closer than eight points to beating anyone.
“I think this team needs a win, a win of any kind,” Humphries said. “But a win in a close game would be a real boost, maybe even more so than a blowout. Once we get that kind of boost, everybody will start believing that we can get it done.”
