Gene Collier: Tomlinson provides rush for Chargers
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SAN DIEGO -- LaDainian Tomlinson, running with all his customary fluidity near midfield in the first half last night, dealt with the swift approach of Steelers safety Ryan Clark in the most unusual way.
He jumped in the air. Up, up, and ... no way.
Apparently he thought he could leap out of Clark's consciousness, but as he touched down near the Chargers' sideline, Clark pretty much knocked him into Tijuana.
That's the sort of first half Tomlinson experienced last night as the Steelers set out to solve the No. 1 problem presented by a Chargers offense that ranked No. 2 in the league. The Chargers had no rushing yards and no first downs in the first quarter, 8 rushing yards at the half.
Tomlinson had 9 yards on seven carries.
Still, two hours later, Casey Hampton could only shake his head at the colossal effort expended on Tomlinson, and what it got the Steelers, a 23-13 licking and a 1-3 record that officially ends all remaining reluctance to invoke the M word.
Must win? How about just win. Just any win.
"We just started missing tackles," Hampton said. "Late in the game, we started missing a lot of them. You're not going to stop [Tomlinson] for a whole game. He's a good back, which is why you can't hold him down forever."
The danger in dealing with Tomlinson is that schemes developed and deployed to close the running lanes often don't get you anywhere. The Chargers will simply dump it off to him and let him improvise his way into the secondary, and when you spend so much mental energy on L.T., you're susceptible to breakdowns. Like forgetting to tackle the other people too.
So the second half would be very different.
"It was a tale of two halves and they won the important one," said a subdued Bill Cowher. "We're not making important plays right now."
On San Diego's first possession after the intermission, with the Chargers chewing away at what was once a 10-0 Steelers lead, even Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer seemed to have lost confidence in the player often acknowledged as the NFL's most feared, most complete running back.
Three plays after Michael Turner broke the second-half kickoff straight up the middle and Steelers kicker Jeff Reed danced with him just enough to allow the pursuing Ike Taylor to make a touchdown saving tackle at the Steelers' 42, Tomlinson finally seemed to find his stride, slicing off right tackle for 11 yards. He thus gained more yards on that carry than he had all game.
But on the third-and-2 that would soon follow, the Chargers split three receivers wide left and send quarterback Rivers plowing forward for about 8 inches.
If you've got the player many say is the best at the running back position in the game today, when do you use him? Not on third-and-2 from the opponent's 11 when you trail by six, evidently.
And not on fourth-and-1 from the 10, I guess either, because that's when Schottenheimer sent Nate Kaeding out to thump the easy field goal that brought the Chargers within three, a decision that got booed scathingly by a San Diego crowd waving baby blue rally towels given away to at least camouflage the thousands of terrible ones again so readily evident.
But that little signal that perhaps Tomlinson could be had psychologically was just about the last detail of shutdown of L.T., a last detail that didn't come nearly late enough.
Tomlinson flashed for 12 yards to the 50 on the next possession, and it was his influence in motion that helped to facilitate Rivers' 25-yard strike to Eric Parker near the Steelers' 22.
Two plays later, Rivers found Antonio Gates floating in front of Deshea Townsend inside the 5, where Gates made the kind of play that makes him almost as dangerous as Tomlinson. As Townsend came toward him from near the goal line, Gates used his body to shield the fast-closing cornerback from the ball, made the catch as Townsend spun past him, and lunged into the end zone with the 22-yard scoring pass that put the Chargers ahead, 17-13, with 5:21 remaining in the third quarter.
On San Diego's next possession, Tomlinson took another of Rivers' little flips and zigged around Steelers zaggers for 19 yards, a dazzling little samba that seemed to take the heart of Pittsburgh's defense for the balance of a fast-curdling night. Only Larry Foote's critical sack kept the Steelers' head in it by forcing the field goal that made it 20-13.
In a game in which he looked as if he'd never get out of his own way, Tomlinson averaged 4.5 yards in the second half and caught eight passes for 34 yards, and on a night the Steelers seemed to be inside Tomlinson's head, he was instead all over them with 1,000 little cuts that made their performance a bloody shame.
Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette or 412-263-1283
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First Published October 9, 2006 12:00 am
