According to a slightly biased source on the subject, we’ve all had it all wrong about the obsessively conservative, Woody Hayes/Bo Schembechler-ish 3-yards-and-snatch- a-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory approach that seemed to pop up along the sidelines at the most inopportune times. Like during the biggest games.
You know, Marty Ball.
“Well, my definition is very different from the one that’s generally accepted,” San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “In my opinion, Marty Ball is finding out what your people do best and then doing it.”
So that meant Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack toted the rock, ad nauseam, in Cleveland, and Barry Word and Christian Okoye did the same in Kansas City. But today, even with the NFL’s most dangerous weapon, La- Dainian Tomlinson, in the San Diego backfield, the old rules don’t apply. Riding the waves of the NFL’s highest- scoring offense, if the Chargers team coming to Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday night isn’t quite reminiscent of the “Air Coryell” days of the early 1980s, it’s certainly good enough to make a dour old ball-control and field-position coach giddy.
“I don’t mind scoring 50 points a game, Schottenheimer said, laughing. “I’m just trying to make sure I have one more than the other guys.”
The irony of the offensive renaissance is that it’s occurring in a year in which no one would have blamed Schottenheimer – much – had he indeed pulled in the reins. On the losing end of a power struggle with general manager A.J. Smith, the coach saw quarterback Drew Brees, a Pro Bowler two seasons ago, sign a free-agent contract with New Orleans. That left the signal-calling to Philip Rivers. Acquired in a draft-day trade with the New York Giants in 2004, the former North Carolina State star did little more than hold a clipboard during his first two NFL seasons.
Now, with 13 touchdown passes versus just three interceptions, and a 100.4 passer rating that trails only Peyton Manning in the AFC, Rivers looks like he’s headed for Hawaii himself.
“Every week he continues to really amaze us,” Tomlinson said after the Chargers’ 49-41 victory at Cincinnati on Sunday. “He’s a young guy, but he makes so many smart decisions that you don’t expect a young guy to make. Every week he grows more and more. It’s like he’s been in the league six or seven years.”
Early in the season, a television talking- head compared Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman to Green Bay’s legendary Brett Favre. That may be accurate in the sense Grossman sometimes makes incredibly bad throws into tight coverage. Rivers may be the real successor to Favre, especially in terms of his enthusiasm for the game.
Long after Sunday’s incredible contest, the Chargers rallying from 21-0 and 28-7 first-half deficits and scoring 42 points after intermission, Rivers still was bouncing around the San Diego locker room, his words a series of staccato bursts, punctuated with enough waving and arm-twirling to elevate him off the floor.
“Even when they were up by 21, we knew that wasn’t going to be enough to win,” Rivers said. “We’re approaching every game like we’re gonna score 40. It’s just the way we think.”
The Chargers averaged 33.5 points in winning their opening two games of the season, but the victories came against hapless Oakland and Tennessee. When they played against a truly stout defense in Game 3, traveling to Baltimore to face the Ravens, the Chargers appeared to go into a shell. After taking a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest, and going ahead 13-7 at halftime, San Diego threw only eight times in the final 30 minutes as Steve McNair rallied Baltimore to a 16-13 victory.
The next week Rivers threw 37 times against Pittsburgh in a 23-13 victory. Watching his man thrive against the defending Super Bowl champs was a turning point for Schottenheimer. In the five games since, only once has San Diego scored fewer than 30 points and Rivers’ rating has been 104.3.
“He has certainly succeeded my expectations,” Schottenheimer said.
After a disappointing 9-7 finish last season, there would seem to be little that could put the brakes to a Chargers fan’s excitement over the team’s prospects. A victory against the Broncos on Sunday night would give the Chargers the AFC West lead. Then victories at home against Denver and Kansas City almost certainly would clinch the division title.
And, even if catching Indianapolis for the conference’s best record appears to be a little far-fetched, having the home field in the AFC postseason may not be as important for San Diego as it would seem to be for Denver. It was the Chargers, remember, who went into the RCA Dome a year ago and manhandled the Colts, ending their unbeaten season and providing the blueprint that the Steelers would follow in the playoffs.
But while Bolt-backers may be hoping to find airplane tickets to Miami in their Christmas stockings, the Chargers realize a more guarded approach is needed.
“You can’t look ahead like that. If you do, you’re dead in this league,” veteran fullback Lorenzo Neal said. “Denver doesn’t care what we’re doing. Ask Miami if they cared how hot Kansas City was before they beat them.
“There’s too much parity in this league to get complacent. A dominant team in college, it usually wins. In the pros, anybody can beat anybody. We’re 7-2, but we’re nowhere near even making the playoffs yet.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
Looks like the AFL
The Chargers’ 49-41 victory over the Bengals on Sunday had San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer asking if anyone remembered the good ol’ days of the American Football League. The teams combined for 975 yards in total offense. A few more of San Diego’s astounding numbers from the shootout:
Average time of possession for touchdown drives: 2:23
Trips into the red zone: Six
Red-zone touchdowns: Six
Second-half possessions: Seven
Second-half touchdowns: Six
Third-down attempts in second half: Nine
Third-down conversions in second half: Eight
