The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 42

C2 The Sacramento Bee Monday January 111982 Wind ooEt Out Of Chargers Bob Padecky Survival I Bee News Services CINCINNATI The Cincinnati Bengals closed the door on the San Diego Chargers Sunday at cold and windy Riverfront Stadium Charger Coach Don Coryell wishes they had closed it sooner Coryell although saying he would not get into any discussion about complained that one of the huge sliding doors at one end of the stadium was raised during the first period creating a wind that made it very difficult for quarterback Dan Fouts to pass Coryell said the door was closed during the second quarter when the Bengals who captured the AFC championship game 27-7 over the Chargers were driving in that direction and then reopened in the third quarter had to request that it be closed at the start of the third quarter and the officials stopped the game to close Coryell said guess it was opened for the But there was no band show because of the extremely cold weather which saw the wind-chill factor stand at 59 degrees below zero door is no excuse though" said Coryell were beaten by a good team We play very well If we had played as well as we can it would have gone down to the The coach said if he had to do it over again he would have gone to the air more despite the miserable conditions into the game we felt we could run against them but we do as well as we thought we would Despite the conditions we would have thrown more especially on first Coryell said say how well I think both teams played under the Coryell continued "The footing was good the field was hard but the traction was there "It was as cold a day as ever seen as player or coach We just had to realize that it was a big game and we had to handle it the best way we could "We juet do our job We were soundly beaten by a fine football are no excuses no making said Charger running back Chuck Muncie who carried 23 times for 94 yards just played good hard "I send my dog out in that kind of said San Diego tight end Kellen Winslow who caught three of 15 completions receptions included a 33-yard touchdown pass-run with a screen early in the second period were dressed for it (the weather) the only people it really affected were the quarterbacks they dressed for Winslow said felt fine we have no excuses" Fouts had two passes intercepted The first was picked off by Louis Breeden and Bobby Kemp intercepted the other in the end zone halting a San Diego drive late in the second quarter That left Cincinnati ahead 17-7 at halftime was trying to get it up and let Kellen (Winslow) outjump him Fouts said "But the ball went straight down Kemp had good position but take my chances on UPI photo fumbles the ball after being hit by Bengal Reggie Williams No 57 pass from Anderson to wide receiver Bass Beating the Willie Buchanon across the middle Bass caught his first pass of the season Bass went into the game only because David Verser the third wide receiver was injured of a sudden they tell me to get into the Bass said was surprised But they have to tell me to warm up I was just paralyzed with happiness Today I feel like a legitimate player and not a special teams The Bengals are now on the brink of going from 6-10 in 1980 to becoming the best team in professional football in 1981 Such an accelerated pace even stuns the usually stoic Anderson "I think going to hit me until home and I realize in the Super Anderson said believe it one of only two teams no question in the mind of linebacker Williams who he wants to face in the Super Bowl was only one team all year who we lost to who I felt beat Williams said was San Francisco why I want to play them CINCINNATI The AFC Cham- pionship game will forever send a thill down my spine because well it sent a chill down my spine I knew something was up Sunday when I went down to the hotel lobby and saw my breath explode from my mouth in a cold vapor I thought I saw an ice floe in the gift shop but I was probably just hallucinating And I even gone outside This was INSIDE where it 59 -'degrees below zero with the wind chill factor At least I have to wear pantyhose ML Harris one of the Bengal tight ends wore pantyhose I wore pantyhose and a girdle Harris said ashamed to admit it Now I know how the ladies keep them-I selves warm" ML is no lady however and neither was this game When you play on a polar ice cap the weather becomes more interesting than the game What happens is this: not how the players play the game how they play the weather THE sad part Because 1 Pete Rozelle decided to go ahead 1 and play the game football fans were robbed of seeing Wes Chan- dler or Cris Collinsworth go deep The weather robbed Dan Fouts of his best attribute his confidence A simple 10-yard pass became a flying brick The weather limited the talents of the participants was just happy to said Collinsworth NFL players use that phrase a lot in the playoffs and usually it means nothing when vival is just winning a game But this just wasn't a game Sunday A sports-writer spilled a cup of hot coffee in the press box and the java became a brown sheet of ice within seconds You have to ask a sports- writer however for an example All you had to do was look at Eddie Edwards and his right ear Edwards is a defensive end for Cincinnati who grew up in Florida The only thing that grew on Eddie Sunday was the size of his ear frostbitten and enlarged like someone took a club and beat on it the first quarter I felt a little tingling and then I feel anything anymore" said Edwards rubbing his ear so gently as if he were afraid it would fall off so swollen I feel like the Elephant There were a lot of jokes in the Cincinnati locker room after the game They came in spurts and after a while they came to relieve the tension was a little scared out there" Edwards said never played in anything like that BECAUSE OF the cold nev-! er seen a post-game football locker I room like either Walking around the locker room I felt myself looking at the bodies of the players I had never done that before I felt peculiar I help myself There was wide receiver Isaac Curtis his feet enclosed in plastic wrap to break the wind There was tight end Dan Ross wearing earmuffs There was place-kicker Jimmy Breech among -others wearing pantyhose said Breech asked if he felt uncomfortable wish I had two There was center Blair Bush taking off his pantyhose I saw Blair put on his pantyhose before the game it was all I could do to keep from Collinsworth said The club made available 50 pairs of pantyhose before the game but not every player took advantage of that wonderful opportunity Collinsworth got my macho he said still a single guy I still got to go out with Guard Max Montoya wear those skin-tight britches either he said not going that TO EASE the bite of the wind most of the players rubbed Vaseline all over their faces and whatever other body parts were exposed guys were covered like said cornerback Louie Breeden Collinsworth may joke about his macho image but it was no joking matter to the Bengal offensive and defensive linemen They decided before the game they would dress as they have all season They would keep their arms sleeveless to make it harder for the opposition to grab them not every day when you report to work in your shirt sleeves when 59 degrees below zero wanted to let them know we meant business" said nose tackle Wilson Whitley were serious about what we were Collinsworth had a slightly different interpretation el he said crazy Nothing they do surprises me Montoya had second thoughts See PADECKY Page C7 A Bee file photos Dan Fouts Wes Chandler Fouts downplayed the effect Qf the weather on the San Diego defeat saying "Both teams had to play in To his credit Fouts refused to use the cold as an excuse for so many flutterballs and ill-conceived throws into heavy Bengal coverage I was able to throw the ball sometimes I he said was even for both sides We have no excuses ball gets slippery but the turf was Fouts continued the ball got out of round (a perfect spiral) the wind just took it i San Diego wide receiver Wes Chandler who caught six passes for 79 yards said the wind was more of a factor than the cold Chandler said he began the day wearing a pair of gloves switched to golf gloves and ended up with the gloves on top of the golf gloves Chandler said the fact that the high-scoring San Diego offense only put seven points on the board was "We can only fault Chandler said "They play that But Chandler called Cincinnati "a great football adding sure represent the AFC very well in the Super Bengal quarterback Anderson hurt the Chargers on several occasions with his running after he was flushed out of the pocket 1 "It was one of those unexpected said defensive tackle Louie Kelcher of scrambling in a championship game you take anything He hurt imagine a windier or colder concluded Fouts were just lucky it A photo Charger Charli Joiner No 19 Charger Chuck Muncie No 46 Bengals Continued from Page Cl Wilson Whitley knew after he threw that pass he would have to adjust Obviously he adjust in the Moaned Fouts: you threw a spiral today you had a The first drive ended with another indication of how cold it was Charger punter George Roberts who had a 403-yard average this season hit a 27-yarder (he averaged 295 yards on his kicks) The Pat Mclnally who hit for 448 this season averaged only 306 yards on the tundra Anderson in his first series moved his club 51 yards before it stalled on San 13 Breech who hit 15 of his last 19 field goal attempts in the regular season kicked a 31-yarder He later added one from 38 yards kicked well today but I really have a reason Breech said the ball was so hard you get a feel for kicking it I just had to go through my rhythm and then see what Seconds later came the first break in the game for Cincinnati James Brooks was returning a kickoff when Rick Razzano stripped him of the ball The Ben-gals' Don Bass recovered on the Charger 12 It only took Anderson two plays to make Brooks pay for his fumble After a four-yard run by Charles Alexander Anderson spotted second-string tight end ML Harris open in the end zone "It was an option play on my said Harris who only caught 13 passes during the 1981 season I broke off the line of scrimmage the linebacker who was covering me dropped off after five yards I knew then he had deep help I looked to where it was and I saw white jerseys to the inside That meant there was room to the outside I broke to the outside and the ball was With 7:06 still left in the first quarter the Bengals led 10-0 Charger place-kicker Rolf Be-nirschke who had the opposite kind of day than hit a waffle-ball from 37 yards near the end of the first quarter Hitting 73 percent for the season Benirschke barely made it to the end line After one of the few four-down series by Cincinnati the Chargers made their most serious push of the game Fouts took his team 55 yards for a touchdown the last 33 coming on a little flip pass to Winslow The score was now 10-7 Cincinnati As if he were making a statement Anderson quickly took the Bengals to another touchdown on the next series Moving 55 yards in just over three minutes Anderson let 246-pound fullback Pete Johnson carry from the one for the touchdown The bulk of the distance 51 yards was gained against the Charger pass defense Fouts turned the momentum completely over to the Bengals by throwing two interceptions before the half The first came at the Cincinnati 33 He was trying to throw to Charlie Jpiner but the ball was lofted into the hands of Bengal cornerback Louie Breeden As interceptions go it a hard one A minute later after driving San Diego to the Bengal 22 Fouts saw Winslow with single coverage from Bengal strong safety Bobby Kemp in the end zone was hoping Kellen could outjump Fouts said the ball started to float then I just dropped Right into hands Beginning the second half Charger running back Chuck Muncie ended another drive when he lost a fumble on the Cincinnati 38 noticed in the films that Muncie always liked to run wide to the said Bengal linebacker Reggie Williams thinking was to keep him inside We knew historically that Muncie fumbled the ball so we decided to keep him near the middle of the field where we could get to Added Bengal defensive end Eddie Edwards: wanted to stick him pretty good all the time because we knew that sooner or later he would fumble the ball Sure enough he That fumble was converted into three points when Breech hit the 38-yarder Oddly it might have been worth seven On a 28-yard attempt by Breech Cincinnati tried a fake field goal Steve Kreider holder took the snap and ran untouched into the end zone But the Tom Dinkel was caught holding on the play and the touchdown was called back was jumping up and Breech said was really excited I been in the end zone all The Bengals blew another potential score later in the third quarter when Ross lost a fumble on the San Diego 17 That turnover however did no damage as San Diego replied with a drive that ended with a badly missed 50-yard field goal by Benirschke It was a line-drive kick that barely reached the five-yard line Already ahead 20-7 the Bengals performed taps for the Chargers when they put together a 68-yard touchdown drive that consumed 8:04 of the fourth quarter It was an Anderson and Jack Thompson directed masterpiece Anderson had to miss two of the plays because of a hard tackle was hearing the Collinsworth said Thompson then entered and threw a third-down pass for 14 yards to Johnson For the rest of the series it was vintage Anderson mixing off-tackle runs with short passes was just a typical Ken Anderson Ross said was just Anderson said he felt no hesitancy to throw despite the weather said before the game that I was going to keep throwing the ball until something disastrous would he said nothing did The grip the problem for me It was the wind It did funny things to the ball why I ran a little more than normal We only threw 22 times which is below normal" The final three yarls came on a I I Bengal Louis Breeden jniercepts vaw hi -C-W a third quarter pass intended for.