CHARGER REVIEW : NOTEBOOK : Bernstine Injury Exposes Team Depth

The Chargers elected not to play running back Marion Butts because he’s been bothered by a sore knee. After Coach Bobby Ross learned Rod Bernstine would be lost from four to six weeks, he said, “That was a blessing keeping Butts out.”

The Chargers also have running back Eric Bieniemy, and he looked every bit as good as those playing ahead of him Sunday. He ran 10 times for 48 yards and scored his first NFL touchdown.

“I didn’t spike the ball because I didn’t want to lose it,” said Bieniemy, who asked the team’s equipment manager to save the ball. “The guys in the huddle saw the smile on my face. I was having a good time.

“But it was also a happy-sad situation. I want to play, but you know how tight I am with Rod and I felt badly when he got hurt.”

Ross had praise for Bernstine.

“We’re very fortunate to have him,” Ross said, “and I want to thank Dan (Henning) for making the move to putting him at running back (from tight end).”

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The secret to the Chargers’ offensive success.

“I thought we were going to be much improved because of the week of practice we had,” said tackle Harry Swayne. “We don’t have a bad defense to work against and for the first five weeks they’ve been handing it to us. But finally this week we started to get some positive things against our own defense. And that was a big lift because we know how good they are.”

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Ross was understandably pleased with his team’s second consecutive victory.

“I thought we played a really good football game,” he said. “A complete football game. I told our offensive line before the game, ‘I’m putting the game in your hands,’ and they did a super job up front. We did a heck of a job against what we thought was a very good defense.

“Defensively I thought we really played well. Our guys took up the slack (without Seau), and overall one of the keys to the football game was the pass rush. We wanted to keep people in (Jeff George’s) face, and I thought we did that.”

The Chargers sacked George four times and dropped George’s backup, Jack Trudeau, once.

Ross told play-caller Jack Reilly before the game to open up the Charger offense, and on the team’s second drive, Stan Humphries went 62 yards to Nate Lewis.

“I told Jack I wanted to play it real loose,” Ross said. “We wanted to mix the run with the pass. I don’t think anybody is going to go out there and grind the ball, and control the ball and totally dominant the running game at this level.

“And I thought Stan Humphries had a hell of a game. He’s coming on.”

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The Colts’ lone moment of success came in the third quarter when offensive tackle William Schultz declared himself an eligible receiver and reached down low to catch a three-yard touchdown pass from George.

“That was the first time I was an eligible receiver,” Schultz said. “As much pressure that there was on me to catch it, I wouldn’t have dropped it if it were 20 feet over my head.”

Schultz let everyone in the Hoosier Dome know he was eligible just before the snap of the ball.

“I was so nervous, I forgot to report in,” he said.

It was obvious the Colts were going to throw to him because there was no need for him to declare himself eligible that late into the play unless he was going to run a pass pattern.

So what happened?

“Who cares?” said Charger defensive end Burt Grossman. “We won, 34-14.”

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The Chargers, for the first time in six weeks, did not open the game by running right. Understandably, the Colts were stunned, and in a matter of minutes they were losing 14-0.

In the Chargers’ first five games their first offensive play consisted of Butts plowing right.

On first down, quarterback Humphries passed--that’s passed--the ball to Bernstine, who was starting in place of Butts. Bernstine gained seven yards.

The Chargers didn’t go completely silly--on second down they ran Bernstine right for another seven yards.

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Colt starting left tackle Zefross Moss was having one of those days where it’s best to watch football on TV.

Matched against Charger defensive end Leslie O’Neal, he was no match. A frustrated Moss was forced to wrap his arms around O’Neal at one point to keep O’Neal from mugging George.

A short time later Moss failed to get up after tangling with O’Neal. He left the game with a sprained ankle. Had he stayed, his ego might have been battered beyond repair.

“Next to (Buffalo’s) Bruce Smith, O’Neal is the best defensive player in the game today,” said Colt Coach Ted Marchibroda. “He is going to get into your backfield, it did not matter that Moss was not always blocking him.”

O’Neal had four tackles, a sack, a tipped pass and recovered a fumble. In addition, he disrupted the Colts’ rushing game on several occasions and set up the running backs for his teammates to tackle.

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When the game began fans draped a banner over the upper deck railing which read: “House of Frustration--Not.”

By the fourth quarter, the “Not” had been dropped.