Pittsburgh Gets Fat When Chargers Go Flat : Pro football: Steeler offense finally reaches end zone--four times--in 36-14 victory. Chargers fall to 1-4.
PITTSBURGH — There were tears in Joe Walton’s eyes, and you can understand why. The Chargers were leaving town.
Walton, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator, had been under fire for directing a go-nowhere offense that had not produced a touchdown in the first month of the season.
But after playing the Chargers in Three Rivers Stadium in front of 53,486 fans Sunday, the Steelers had a 36-14 victory, and Walton was honored with a game ball.
“It’s obvious the Steelers have offense,” Coach Dan Henning said, “or we’re not as good on defense as we think we are.”
Pittsburgh (2-3) scored its first touchdown of the year eight seconds into the second quarter on Bubby Brister’s eight-yard pass to rookie tight end Eric Green. Once they understood there was nothing to it, the Steelers went on to score three more.
The team’s 36 points, which also included a safety and a pair of Gary Anderson field goals, was more than it had scored in its previous four games--32. It was also the most points scored against the Chargers (1-4) since last year’s season opener, when the Raiders posted 40.
“This is as flat as I have ever seen this team,” linebacker Gary Plummer said. “And it’s an embarrassment.”
Flat or flattened?
“We just got our butts kicked,” safety Martin Bayless said. “It was almost as if we weren’t even on the field. It’s bad, real bad, and it has to change real soon.”
While rebuilding under new General Manager Bobby Beathard this season, the Chargers were to buy time with a defense that ranked sixth at the end of last year. But in the past two weeks, opposing offenses have rung up 54 first downs and 797 yards.
“When you lose a football game, it’s one thing,” Henning said, “but we had a similar type of performance last week; they just didn’t score points.
“I was concerned by it (defense) all week. I think our players and our coaches need to be concerned about it. That’s an area of our football team that we thought is strong, and we’ve been leaning on it. It needs to reach down and find out what it’s all about.”
The Steelers, who entered the game 28th in the NFL in offense, had the ball 18 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the Chargers and went 12 for 16 in third-down conversions.
Brister, who was playing with a painful rib injury, completed 11 of 14 passes for 132 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Green. And he was not sacked.
Brister left the field for examination before halftime, and second-year quarterback Rick Strom played the rest of the game and was seven of 11 for 68 yards. Together, they were 18 of 25 without an interception.
“We can’t play the way we’re playing,” defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. “We can’t give ourselves an opportunity to win if we can’t get people to even punt the ball.
“I can’t conceive or foresee that it could get any worse than this.”
As several of the Chargers suggested Sunday, this is a team in disarray. It lacks enthusiasm. It has no consistency on offense and suddenly too many deficiencies on defense.
“It’s not very good right now,” Henning said. “We have to go back and find out what kind of heart, what kind of character, what kind of fortitude that we have. We have to go back to work and dig that out, and those that have it will shine. It may be a great test for us and chance for us to find out what kind of people we do have on this team.”
There will be no up-close-and-personal look at quarterback Mark Vlasic, however. He remains a backup, Henning said. And no, he said, he never considered replacing Billy Joe Tolliver with Vlasic Sunday.
“If he could have played linebacker or defensive back, maybe he would have been a help,” Henning said. “If he could have taken guard Courtney Hall’s place, or if he could have caught the ball . . .
“If I thought Vlasic would solve our problems on this football team right now, we would put him in there,” he said. “I don’t think he will.”
Tolliver, while victimized by a number of dropped passes, completed 11 of 29 for 121 yards, including a two-yard scoring flip to linebacker Gary Plummer, who had lined up in the backfield as a fullback.
But Tolliver also threw three interceptions.
“It’s the same song, different verse,” Tolliver said. “I just don’t know what to say.”
Tolliver led the Chargers on a 64-yard opening drive in reply to Anderson’s 45-yard field goal, and they took a 7-3 lead on third and goal from the two with his rollout pass to Plummer.
After Brister ignited a second-quarter celebration with his touchdown pass to Green, he did it again on the next series with a one-yard shot to the same man.
The Steelers lost cornerback Rod Woodson in the first half with a thigh bruise, safety Thomas Everett with a back sprain and then Everett’s replacement, Larry Griffin, with a hamstring pull.
Dwayne Woodruff stepped into Pittsburgh’s makeshift secondary and intercepted a Tolliver pass intended for Anthony Miller at the Charger 38 on the third play of the third quarter, then returned it to the 15.
Running back Warren Williams ran left four plays later for a two-yard touchdown to build Pittsburgh’s lead to 24-7. Williams had replaced Tim Worley, who also left in the first half with an ankle sprain.
The Chargers’ final score came when defensive lineman Les Miller fell on a Williams’ fumble in the end zone with 3:52 left in the third.
But Pittsburgh was not finished. Former Charger linebacker Tyronne Stowe blocked a John Kidd punt for a safety 3:13 into the fourth quarter, Anderson hit again from 45 yards with 7:02 to play, and with 1:06 left, running back Barry Foster ran in from the two.
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s no enthusiasm out there,” Plummer said. “If you don’t have enthusiasm, that’s a reflection on how confident you feel going into the ballgame.
“You can’t go out there with the attitude that you just have to show up, and things will take care of themselves. We’re paid to win, not to play. I don’t know if everyone has that attitude.”
