PRO FOOTBALL / BOB OATES : Quarterback Trouble Proved a Godsend for the Chargers

Of the many NFL coaches with serious quarterback problems, Bobby Ross, the new San Diego leader, has had the happiest year.

His players will be charging for the division championship against the Raiders on Sunday with a quarterback who wouldn’t be here if John Friesz were still in their lineup.

Stan Humphries was with the Washington Redskins as a backup last summer when Friesz, the designated Charger starter, suffered a knee injury. And although the world will never know what Friesz would have accomplished this season, Humphries probably has done more.

It is a fact that Humphries is the more experienced professional.

It also figures that in his fifth season in the league, Humphries would have beaten out his younger rival had he and Friesz started on even terms at training camp.

Thus, in a sense, the Chargers have lucked into their quarterback.

The best explanation for their 0-4 start this season is simply that any new quarterback struggles for a while against NFL defenses until he learns his team’s system and personnel.

One reason the Chargers (9-5) are tied with Kansas City for third in the AFC--behind only Buffalo and Pittsburgh (10-4)--is that Humphries is pretty good.

Who knows how far the Redskins would have gone this year had they kept him.

Wilson remembered: Of the many quarterbacks the Chargers have gone through and cast off in recent seasons, one is young Billy Joe Tolliver, who has been struggling in Atlanta, too.

But against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Falcon Coach Jerry Glanville finally remembered that a veteran quarterback, Wade Wilson, has been sitting on his bench.

And although Glanville sent Tolliver in for the fourth quarter, Wilson had a 35-7 lead by then, on five touchdown passes.

Wilson, 33, is an accurate passer who has spent his 12 NFL seasons trying to persuade a number of somewhat obtuse coaches that he is all the quarterback anybody needs. He is, that is, if there’s an Anthony Carter or Andre Rison in the lineup.

Almost certainly, the Minnesota Vikings’ offense wouldn’t have ground to a halt five weeks ago if they still had him.

An Atlanta victory in Dallas on Sunday is too much for Glanville to contemplate--but earlier in the season, Wilson would have made him more competitive.

Changes work: The success that NFL teams with new coaches are having this year could be making some incumbent coaches nervous.

After 14 weeks, Ross, Dennis Green, Bill Cowher and Mike Holmgren are a composite 36-20--.643.

In the first year that any of them ever led a pro club, all are on a pace to get their players into the playoffs:

--The Pittsburgh Steelers, coached by Cowher (10-4), have already won the AFC Central championship.

--In the NFC Central, Green has the Vikings close (9-5).

--But the Green Bay Packers, who have won their last six starts under Holmgren (8-6), could still punch out the Vikings, or edge Washington or Philadelphia for a wild-card berth.

--Under Ross (9-5), the Chargers are a championship threat only in part because they are playing a fifth-place schedule.

Their leaders, Ross and Bobby Beathard, have made most of the right moves.

Of the five coaches who never bossed NFL clubs before 1992, only Dave Shula of the Cincinnati Bengals (4-10) is at a loss this season.

Ted Marchibroda of Indianapolis (7-7) leads the retreads. The others all took over teams with shaky personnel bases: Chuck Knox of the Rams (5-9), Sam Wyche of Tampa Bay (4-10) and Tom Flores of Seattle (2-12).

With Stan Humphries at quarterback, Flores could be contending for the playoffs.

Unbalanced league: In Chicago Sunday, the Steelers proved to be another nice AFC club, much like Miami, Houston, Buffalo or Denver.

With rare exceptions in this era, the best AFC teams can’t do it against the NFC’s best.

Not that the Bears should be mistaken for NFC quality--but when veteran Steeler quarterback Bubby Brister couldn’t throw the ball straight, the Bears took Steeler running back Barry Foster out of the game, and then walloped the first AFC club to earn a division title this season, 30-6.

After 46 interconference games, NFC teams are ahead, 27-19--but that doesn’t tell the half of it.

The seven best NFC teams are winning eight of 10 of their interconference starts. As a group, San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans, Washington, Philadelphia, Minnesota and Green Bay are 19-4--.826 against AFC opponents.

The Kansas City Chiefs, erratic in their own conference, have shown the most power in NFC competition, defeating both Philadelphia and Washington.

In September, the Bills beat San Francisco, but don’t get carried away betting they can do it again.

Gadget time: Talking about the Denver Broncos’ offense, the Dallas defensive back from UCLA, James Washington, said the other day: “There are trick plays almost every play. I felt like I was in a Nintendo game.”

Football purists don’t care much for trick plays. The fact that there is a place for them in pro football--a much larger place than the average coach will concede--is lost on most pros and old pros.

For example, after the Redskins scored on such a play Sunday, Terry Bradshaw, the old Steeler quarterback, said: “Gadget plays are a sign of weakness.”

They are also, however, a sign of wisdom. Consider:

--Without Coach Dan Reeves’ gadgets or trick plays, the Broncos, with their inferior personnel, would have been out of the race weeks ago.

--Without a trick play that began as a double reverse and ended as a flea-flicker touchdown pass, the Buffalo Bills would have been hard pressed to beat Denver on Saturday.

--Without a halfback pass by Earnest Byner on a well-executed trick play, the Redskin offense might never have scored against Dallas on Sunday.

“Football is the kind of game where anything different--anything--is usually better than the same old thing,” former coach Clark Shaughnessy used to say.

Against Dallas, the Redskins certainly weren’t going to score on quarterback passes.

Anxiety case: During the Dallas game, another subpar performance by Redskin quarterback Mark Rypien helped clarify what has gone wrong with him.

It seemed obvious that his slow start this year has made him so fearful--so anxious that he will do something else wrong on his $3-million salary--that his muscles have locked up on him.

He was throwing the ball like a man throwing a brick. There was no spiral there. A pass by Rypien might wander anywhere this year, into the ground, or five yards off target in any direction.

He and the Redskins are through if they can’t find a way to relax him.

Early Christmas: Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, who has done almost everything right this season, lost the Redskin game by doing two things wrong. The game turned on two Dallas calls that were too bold, considering the impotence of the Redskin offense:

--With a 17-10 lead during the second half, the Cowboys asked their quarterback, Troy Aikman, to throw the ball on third and goal at the Redskin one-yard line. An interception and lengthy runback set up a Redskin field goal.

--With 3:14 to play, the Cowboys, on second and long at their one-yard line, asked Aikman to pass again. A sack and recovered end-zone fumble won the game for the Redskins, 20-17.

To win, the Cowboys didn’t have to throw the ball on anybody’s goal line. They merely had to keep from presenting the game to the Redskins.

Quote Department:

--Joe Montana, 49er quarterback, on possibly playing elsewhere for a loser next year: “Losing every game of the year is better than sitting on the bench.”

--Buddy Ryan, Chicago’s former defensive coach, explaining why Bear linebacker Mike Singletary is usually in the right place at the right time: “Singletary has the will to prepare to win.”

--Marv Levy, Buffalo coach, on the fans who are unhappy that the Bills have lost four games: “It bothers me that this is a more pessimistic nation than it was 20 years ago. (I resent) the bludgeoning talk-show and letter-to-the-editor mentality. I think (some sports fans) would have been ready to surrender to the Japanese the day after Pearl Harbor.”