Flutie to start
By David Neville, Chargers.com
Doug Flutie
12.03.03 - So much for suspense.
On Monday, Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer said he would announce later in the week who would start at quarterback between Doug Flutie and Drew Brees when the Chargers face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday.
Schottenheimer’s reasoning: Make the Lions’ defense prepare for both quarterbacks, who employ different styles, with Flutie using his legs more to keep defenses off balance, compared to Brees, who usually takes a more controlled, play-within-the-offensive-scheme approach.
But after watching tape of the Lions’ emerging defense over the past two days, Schottenheimer decided there wouldn’t be much difference in how the Lions would approach San Diego’s offense this weekend. Thus, there really was no reason to keep the identity of Sunday’s starter a secret, so he announced after Wednesday’s workout that Flutie will get the nod.
“After having had an opportunity to look at Detroit and what they are doing on defense -- they are a very good defensive football team -- but with what they are doing, they are not going to change, no matter who is playing quarterback,” said Schottenheimer. “So on that basis, I feel very comfortable making that decision today.”
Why did Schottenheimer stick with Flutie?
“I’m basing it on what is in the best interests of our football team,” said Schottenheimer. “I had not taken a hard look as of Monday at what the Detroit Lions are doing. But it became apparent to me that it won’t make any difference to them. They are going to play what they are going to play defensively, irrespective of who the quarterback might be.”
Detroit’s defense is under the direction of Schottenheimer’s younger brother, Kurt, who is in his second year as Detroit’s defensive coordinator. After watching the Lions on tape, the elder Schottenheimer saw a unit that has continued to improve while holding opponents to 13, 10, and 14 points during a three-game winning streak in their last three home games at Ford Field.
“They are a 97 percent zone football team. They probably blitz one out of every 10 snaps at the most,” said Schottenheimer. “They are an outstanding defensive front. The two defensive tackles as a pair are the best we’ll see all year. Shaun Rogers and Dan Wilkinson, they take up a lot of space in the middle. We had Dan in Washington. He played well for us. In the game (last) Thursday against Green Bay, he played the best I’ve ever seen him play.”
“They are a team that’s relying on running their base defense and executing,” said Flutie. “They don’t get really fancy on you. They play a lot of zone coverage. They do what they do and try to do it well. They don’t give up big plays and they want to see if you can put together a 15-play drive. Last week, Green Bay turned the ball over, and that gave Detroit the opportunity to win the game.
“They are not going to try and fool you. They are going to line up and execute. The trick is to be as efficient as possible offensively, don’t turn the ball over and see if you can put some drives together.”
Schottenheimer switched to Flutie prior to the ninth game when the Chargers hosted Minnesota on Nov. 9. Since then, Schottenheimer has continued to name the starter on a weekly basis, which isn’t likely to change any time soon.
“We’ll take a look at it, week-to-week, as we have since we made the change, and that’s the way we’ll continue,” said Schottenheimer.
When asked about whether he thought about starting Brees this week, Schottenheimer replied: “At this point in time, I thought about it and gave it some consideration. We talked about it as a staff and then we decided to proceed as we have been. I think right now, with Doug, he has shown an ability to enable the offense to make progress and score some points. That’s the primary reason.”
Flutie, who will be making his fifth consecutive start, is clearly relishing his role as the starter.