Chargers Defense Finally Comes Up With the Big Plays

SAN DIEGO —  OK, so it wasn’t the unbeaten Chicago Bears the Chargers held to one touchdown Sunday afternoon.

And it was of no consequence that the Buffalo Bills are the NFL’s lowest scoring team. All that mattered to the beleaguered and often-maligned Chargers defense is that it came through when it had to in a 40-7 romp at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The defense has been criticized throughout the season, but especially in the last two weeks by the media and team officials after failing to protect leads against Denver and Houston.

But there was no pressure of having to hold the Bills in a crucial, last-minute situation Sunday. The Chargers decided this one by halftime building a 27-7 lead they weren’t about to blow.

The defense was primarily responsible for the fast start. The Chargers forced five turnovers, intercepted four passes--including one that was returned 75 yards for a touchdown by John Hendy--and recovered one fumble. It also sacked Bills quarterback Bruce Mathison, a former Chargers backup, four times and forced him to rush his passes all afternoon.

“We (the defense) decided that we have to stick together and be a family,” said strong safety Gill Byrd, whose first-quarter interception set up the Chargers’ first touchdown.

“The defense has been criticized ever since I got here,” said the three-year veteran from San Jose State. “But the bottom line is we haven’t lost faith in ourselves. We know we’ve got talent on defense and we know we’re getting better. We still haven’t performed to our optimum yet.”

The last remark was in reference to the 347 yards (238 passing and 109 rushing) the Chargers allowed the Bills.

“I’m not happy about that,” Byrd said. “There’s no way we should have given them more than 300 yards. But we came up with the big plays when we had to. That’s something we haven’t done recently, and that’s what really counts.”

Linebacker Woodrow Lowe, who recorded two sacks, agreed.

“We allowed a lot of yards,” he said, “but that’s not really important. What’s important is that we made a lot of big plays and stopped them when we had to.

“We had to shut out all those things that have been said and written about us,” Lowe said. “And we had to show we could play a good game, not just talk about it.”

The first big play was Byrd’s interception. Buffalo had a second-and-17 at the Chargers 22 when Byrd grabbed a Mathison pass and returned it 25 yards to the San Diego 39. Three plays later, quarterback Dan Fouts hit Charlie Joiner with a 38-yard touchdown pass to give the Chargers a lead they would never relinquish.

In the second quarter, an interception by Hendy, his first of two, set up a 24-yard field goal by Bob Thomas to give the Chargers a 10-0 lead.

The Bills were on the move on their next possession when Hendy stepped in front of a pass intended for Chris Burkett. He returned it 75 yards for a score--the first by the Chargers defense this season.

“It was an audible they’d used earlier,” Hendy said, “so I figured it would be the same play. I backed off the line and anticipated the ball. It was a bad pass. He threw it inside and I got it.”

The defense set up another touchdown in the third quarter, increasing the lead to 34-7. Earl Wilson sacked Mathison for an 11-yard loss on a fourth-and-two situation at the Chargers 31.

Coach Don Coryell called the effort by the defensive unit the key to the game.

“Our offense was shaky in the first half,” he said, “but the defense came through with big turnovers to pull us out. They really turned things in our favor. The offense got together in the second half.”

Ironically, the Bills only touchdown came in the final two minutes of the first half. The Chargers, whose prevent defense is considered by many to be the worst in the NFL, allowed Buffalo to drive 87 yards in six plays in a matter of 1:07 and cut the Chargers lead to 24-7 with 42 seconds left in the half.

But unlike recent games, it didn’t matter this time.