Chargers Get Outgunned by Bengals

CINCINNATI — First the Chargers shot themselves in the foot. Then they spent the rest of this chilly, late autumn, Midwestern afternoon unsuccessfully trying to dodge bullets.

The end result was a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (11-3), a team headed for the playoffs for the first time in 6 years.

To the casual observer, the error-prone and outmanned Chargers (4-10) appear headed for a nervous breakdown.

They have scored 14 or fewer points in 9 of their 14 games. Their current quarterback, Mark Malone, is 0-6 as a starter. And their hottest receiver, H-back Rod Bernstine, is out for the year with an injury that X-rays suggested to be a torn knee ligament. Bernstine suffered the injury in the second half when a Bengal helmet scored a direct hit on his left knee.

“Help,” Charger offensive coordinator Jerry Rhome said after the game. “Help.”

Rhome was referring specifically to the rash of penalties that prevented his offense from scoring a touchdown on its first possession. Two of the infractions called back scores.

But he could have been talking about what Coach Al Saunders will need lots of to prevent owner Alex Spanos from replacing him soon after the season ends later this month.

Last month Spanos said Saunders’ job was secure through the remainder of the schedule. He said he expected improvement. After that, he promised nothing.

“We’re learning,” said Malone, who finished with 14 of 37 completions for 138 yards and 3 interceptions, “but we’re learning from the School of Hard Knocks.”

At least 2 of the interceptions were not his fault. His young wide receivers continue to run routes inconsistently.

“And, we must have dropped 9 passes,” Rhome said. Then Rhome pointed at Malone. “This guy’s unlucky,” he said. “He really is.”

The Charger defense gave up more than 200 yards rushing for the second consecutive week. The Bengals’ no-huddle offense hindered Charger substitutions. But it wasn’t anything they didn’t expect. Meanwhile, the Chargers have allowed a whopping 75 points in their last 2 games.

None of which sounds like the profile of a team with the modest goal of playing a little better each Sunday than it did the week before.

“Collectively, we’ve had a lot of breakdowns,” said rookie wideout Quinn Early, who scored the Chargers’ only touchdown on a 9-yard toss from Malone late in the third period. “Those things can’t happen.”

But happen they did--fast and furiously--before even the Bengals knew what was going on.

After Charger Elvis Patterson forced and recovered a Stanford Jennings fumble on the opening kickoff, the Chargers moved quickly to the Bengal 10. On the fourth play of the game, tailback Gary Anderson burst off right tackle for 10 yards and an apparent touchdown.

No dice. Left tackle Ken Dalliafor moved before the snap. Three plays later, Barry Redden dived 1 yard for another apparent touchdown. This time the officials penalized the Chargers 10 yards because blocking back Tim Spencer helped push Redden over the goal line.

“I told the ref that the push was after the fact,” Redden said. “But he wasn’t going to change his call.”

“I should have known better,” Spencer said. “But I didn’t have time to analyze.”

“It was an unfortunate thing,” Saunders said.

After yet another penalty, the Chargers had to settle for a 26-yard Steve DeLine field goal.

During the drive, Anderson, the Chargers’ leading rusher, twisted an ankle that bothered him all afternoon. He wound up with 16 yards in only 4 carries. Later in the half, Anthony Miller, the Chargers’ leading receiver, suffered a bruised leg and was unable to play after intermission.

“We’ve had more success screwing ourselves up than defenses have had stopping us,” Malone said.

Everybody, it seemed, had an opinion. But nobody could really explain why the Chargers were penalized 7 times for 97 yards in the first half. Or why Spencer and Malone collided in their own backfield on a play that resulted in a 6-yard loss in the middle of the third period. Or a lot of other things.

The victory clinched a wild-card berth for the Bengals and showed why they have scored more points (423) and gained more yards than any team in the league this year.

The Chargers slipped behind Detroit again as the team with the fewest points (187) in the NFL. They also slipped behind Kansas City (4-9-1) and into last place in the AFC West, the worst division in the league this year.

What they haven’t slipped back into is the Troy Aikman Derby. Aikman is the UCLA quarterback most experts figure will be the first player selected in the NFL draft next spring. The lucky winner almost certainly will be Dallas or Green Bay. Both are 2-12.

The atmosphere in the Bengal locker room wasn’t exactly euphoric. “The feeling was we hadn’t polished this team off like we thought we might be able to do,” Cincinnati Coach Sam Wyche said.

Rookie running back Ickey Woods paced the Bengals with 141 yards in 19 carries, including touchdown runs of 4 and 30 yards. Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason completed 10 of 19 passes for 178 yards with scoring passes of 23 and 2 yards to Cris Collinsworth and ex-Charger James Brooks, respectively.

Collinsworth’s touchdown was his first in almost 2 years and came against a zone coverage that victimized cornerback Sam Seale and free safety Vencie Glenn, who was late breaking to the ball.

The Bengals can clinch the AFC Central title with a victory next week in Houston.

Woods, who dances something called the “Ickey Shuffle” after each score, has now rushed for 15 touchdowns. That’s a Bengal record and 3 less than the entire Charger offense has scored all year.

Woods’ funky shuffle takes place on the Bengal sideline in front of the stands now. He used to do it in the end zone until officials started penalizing him. After his second touchdown, he almost knocked over reserve quarterback Turk Schonert in his hustle to shuffle.

The only shuffle the Chargers could counter with was the one to the airport after the game.