From: jorgand@sumax.seattleu.edu (Dave Jorgan)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro
Subject: Seattle Report 10-6-92 (San Diego wins 17-6)
Date: 8 Oct 92 04:11:25 GMT
Organization: Seattle University, Seattle WA



	Once again, Seattle yields, this time to San Diego 17-6. It was
billed as a meeting between two inept offenses and two great defenses,
but as the game showed, the Seattle offense was a bit "more inepter." If
you look at San Diego, they still have some real players on offense- All
pro Anthony Miller at WR, Pro Bowler Marion Butts at RB, 1000 yard-type
quality runner Rod Bernstine, etc. whereas all Seattle had/has is John L.
Williams, who is more a complementary back than a franchise. All of Seattle's
other stars are either gone or on the injured list. Thus, it is not surprising
the Chargers had a better offensive day. They got a big day from Miller,
who always plays well against Seattle, burning Patrick Hunter on a 67 yard TD
pass. No blown coverage this time, Hunter was simply beaten. This set the 
tempo. San Diego moved the ball effectively in the first half, with Bernstine
running effectively, but then in the second half San Diego seemed to change
emphasis and began passing, which Seattle stopped. Then, the defense seemed
to adjust and Bernstine did little in the second half, along with the rest
of the SD offense.

	Unfortunately the Seattle offense was in even worse form than usual.
This time they could not muster a single long drive. The offensive line
played poorly, as San Diego stacked up the line of scrimmage with 8 men
to stop the run. Ray Roberts was schooled by Leslie O'Neal, who burned him
for two sacks, and those weren't coverage sacks like in previous games,
O'Neal flat out beat Roberts, like a drum. Rumors are that John L. Williams
upbraided Roberts for lackadaisical play. More injuries struck the offensive
line. Starting center Joe Tofflemire injured his shoulder, and Grant Feasel
replaced him early in the game, and was quickly in mid-season form, drawing
two holding penalties. Starting right tackle Ronnie Lee could not play so 
reserve Bill Hitchcock had to play and he had a tough time. It was no wonder
Seattle was hammered. But the worst was yet to come. Kelly Stouffer was 
drilled after Roberts gave up a sack, and his left shoulder was injured. He
will miss at least four weeks with a separated shoulder, though luckily this
is not his throwing shoulder. Dan McGwire came on in relief, in the stadium
where he had had his best college days, but it was not to be. He was pressured
and did not play well. He still has not really learned to read defenses, and
still locks in on his primary receiver, without looking for his other players.
He does not look off his man, which means the defense can watch where he is
looking and then intercept the ball, which they did three times. Two of those
were desperation last second heaves, though. The receivers played poorly,
they did not get open much and when they did McGwire didn't see them. They
also dropped critical passes. 

	The only bright spot was Chris Warren. Even he was held in check
largely through the game by the rugged, stacking Charger defense, but he
did have a great 52 yard run up the middle where he broke three tackles and
nearly got to paydirt. So inept was Seattle's offense, though, that they
had to settle for a FG. There, you saw some of the talent of Warren, who
had the longest run by a Seattle player since 1987 when Curt Warner went
for 57 yards against the Packers. Now as I watch the TV broadcasts I have
been watching Warren's speed described first as 4.5 speed, then 4.3, then
4.2. Let me tell you he DOES NOT run a 4.2 40 yard dash. He's not faster
than Olympian Michael Bates. He does run a true 4.5 40, and is similar to guys
like Eric Dickerson (in his prime), who were not explosively quick but
had deceptive acceleration and a great burst when they need it. Also,
being a tall (6'2") player, he doesn't look that quick. But 4.5 speed in a
226 pound package (and I mean TRUE 4.5 speed, not these doctored times you
get out of a lot of press releases) is awfully quick. (The Seahawks claim
he runs a 4.38, but that is an example of a doctored time IMHO.)

	So, Dan McGwire will take the reins of the Seattle offense. It looks
grim. He is not ready. No less an authority than Bill Walsh said McGwire was
three years away (as a rookie) from being a starting QB, and regardless of
your opinion of Walsh, he knows his QB's, and it looks like he's right. 
McGwire, as stated, doesn't read defenses well, doesn't look off, locks on
his man, and has a slow release- he's got a strong, rocket arm, but you can
see how long it takes for him to wind up and throw the ball. Stouffer on
the other hand gets rid of the ball very quickly. McGwire doesn't stand
all that strong in the pocket, either- one advantage of McGwire is supposed
to be his great (6'8", 250 lb) size, but he seems to go down as easily as
smaller QB's, and he doesn't seem to make plays like throw the ball with a
lineman wrapped around his waist- he drops like any other QB. So, he'll
have to work on that. But McGwire has to learn sometime, so he's going to
get on-the-job training from the NFL's elite. One problem is Seattle can't
afford to put Stouffer on the injured list, because it is so crowded already.
They only have 4 moves left, so if they put Stouffer on the IR, they'll have
to use a move to reclaim him from the IR or risk losing him to another team.
But, if he isn't put on IR, Seattle wil only have 2 QB's, McGwire and
Stan Gelbaugh, and get this, punter Rick Tuten will be the 3rd QB, But it
must be admitted, he might no play much worse than the existing QB's, or at
least the offense won't be any less productive with Tuten and the helm. How
could it be?

	Tuten is worth his weight in gold, though, as a punter. One key to
the Seattle's defenses' effectiveness is his punting- he is really blasting
that ball giving the defense more room to work with. He punted for a 52.8
yard average, with a 45 net. The special teams are better than before, but
stillnot up to usual Seattle standards in coverage or returns- Warren has
been very mediocre on returns this year. The defense was adequate in this
game, but San Diego really pushed them around at the line of scrimmage in
the first half, and the defense had a lot of stupid penalties that prolonged
Charger drives, allowing SD to get one its two TD's. On at least two 3rd
down situations Seattle stopped the Chargers, only to commit a penalty that
gave SD a 1st down.

	The receiver corps is shot. Probably the biggest problem in Seattle's
offense is the lack of decent receivers. Guys like Louis Clark, who is
*the* main man for Seattle now, the guy McGwire locked onto the whole game,
are overmatched. They should be operating against the nickel backs and
safeties, and are outmatched as starters. They could put up good numbers
seeing reserve coverage,but not starting coverage. Yet, Tommy Kane will
not be back for at least one more week, and no word yet on the return on 
Brian Blades. Starting TE Paul Green was lost to IR, and Ron Heller, who
couldn't even make the roster last year, is now the starter, so you can
see how thin Seattle is at receiver/TE. Seattle signed Mike Jones, late
of Minnesota, as replacement, and he can help on special teams right away.

	Michael Sinclair was activated from IR with one of Seattle's moves
and looked OK in limited action against SD. It may be veteran Jacob Green
will not be activated this season- he's not yet 100%, and Seattle has so
many injured players, and defensive end is so well stocked for Seattle, 
that it will be hard for Seattle to make a move that will allow Green to
return. At any rate Seattle needs to groom his replacement, either 
Sinclair or Tyrone Rodgers. Also, Seattle needs a good young left 
defensive tackle. In pre-season Seattle looked jam-packed at this position,
but with Millard and Hayes waived it looks really thin. Seattle needs some
power players at tackle, and they can only hope Rodgers can pick up an
extra 25 pounds over the next year or so, because often San Diego blew
Seattle's linemen off the line of scrimmage. Against the rugged NFC East
it will look grim indeed. If only the Bengals hadn't claimed Mike Friar...


	So, onto Dallas. Seattle won their last meeting with them way
back in 1986 31-17 I believe, but that was with Steve Largent, Curt Warner,
and Dave Krieg. 31 points looks like such a utopian dream now, but there
will still be some interest, even though it may turn morbid, in watching
the play of Dan McGwire. This is the frist game he's started knowing he's
the man, and will be the man for at least 4 weeks. If he plays well, he'll
be the starter forever- he has a chance to win the job for good, so perhaps
that motivation will help. There were rumors that many of Seattle's players,
especially the younger ones, dogged it against San Diego. Those would have
to have been offensive players- the defense, even when beaten, still gives
a lot of effort and it has played well enough so that Seattle has had at
least a decent chance of winning- if Seattle's offense were merely average,
they'd have a winning record right now. But given the injury problems Seattle
has, it'll be a major victory if they get through the next game without 
another candidate for the IR.




Dave Jorgan
jorgand@sumax.seattleu.edu

Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro