Chargers to Start Season at Point of No Return : Pro football: Opening game has proven to be a sign of the times. The Chargers hope the times have changed.

PITTSBURGH — Welcome to the turning point in the 1991 season for the San Diego Chargers.

“You’re not going to start with that must-win stuff, are you?” said Coach Dan Henning.

How do you think Chargers’ owner Alex Spanos would answer that question?

How significant is Game No. 1?

Check out the Steelers’ press release for today’s 1 p.m. contest in Three Rivers Stadium: “The sold-out contest gives the Steelers an opportunity to get off to a good start, something they have not done the past three seasons despite finishing with a 9-7 record each of the last two seasons.”

Check out whom the Steelers are playing today.

Check out the record books. The Chargers have opened each of the past three seasons with consecutive defeats and have gone on to finish 6-10. The Chargers travel to San Francisco next week.

“There has been a lot of heat on a lot of people around here,” quarterback John Friesz said. “It would be nice to start on a good note and put that heat on the back burner. If we start out poorly, all the same questions are going to pop up.”

The questions:

Can a young quarterback, who has one NFL start and who failed to play against a first-string defense this preseason, live up to General Manager Bobby Beathard and Spanos’ expectations?

Can a football team that sleepwalked through its final three exhibition games turn on the pep--just like that?

Can a pair of safeties--one making his first start at a new position (Anthony Shelton) and one making his first start in a new league (Stanley Richard)--match wits with the NFL’s veteran quarterbacks?

Can Marion Butts play like Marion Butts after a long summer’s nap?

Can Rod Bernstine play like Butts and not fumble?

Can the defense avoid its traditional collapses in the final two minutes of the first half and the closing moments of the game?

Can the Chargers win a tight game?

Can the big boys up front muster a pass rush without Lee Williams?

Can the offensive line pave the way for Butts & Bernstine and keep Friesz standing on two healthy legs?

Can anyone catch the ball?

Can anyone stop the other guys from catching the ball?

Can the Chargers soothe the Henning naysayers and begin the season with a victory for the first time since 1986 when Gary Anderson went airborne against Miami?

“It depends on how the team plays,” Henning said. “I think we can win the football game. It’s not going to be easy; they’re good.

“They have the edge on us on special teams, they probably have the edge on us their defense versus our offense, and our defense and their offense are probably even.”

So how do the Chargers hope to win?

“Anything else?” Henning said. End of interview.

The Steelers, 2-2 in exhibition play, will try to win by relying on the NFL’s No. 1 defense in 1990 and an offense that scored 21 of their 31 touchdowns in the final nine games.

They can also fall back on kicker Gary Anderson, who has made his last 50 field-goal attempts from 35 yards or closer. Anderson is nine for nine on field-goal attempts against the Chargers in Three Rivers Stadium, including a team-record 55-yarder in 1984.

“We need to run the ball,” Charger starting right guard David Richards said. “We were successful running the ball against them last time (5.8 yards per carry), they know that and they’re going to defend against that which should open up some of our play-action passes.

“The key thing in this game is not to end up playing catch-up. That’s for our team confidence’s sake, and for John Friesz’s sake. We need to play a very controlled game, the way we want to play the game.”

Butts, who missed training camp because of a contract dispute, has been added to the active roster and will relieve Bernstine. Butts carried the ball 265 times last season without a fumble. He has not fumbled in his last 284 attempts and has dropped the ball only twice on 435 career rushes.

“I can play the whole game,” Butts said. “I’m ready.”

The Steelers opened last season by failing to score a touchdown in their first four games under new offensive coordinator Joe Walton. They became a scoring machine during Week 5 of last season thanks to the generosity of the Chargers.

Pittsburgh scored four touchdowns in a 36-14 victory and improved its record to 7-0 in regular-season games against the Chargers in Three Rivers Stadium.

“We’re a much better team now than we were at that point last season,” Charger linebacker Billy Ray Smith said. “It’s kind of pointless to spend a lot of time dwelling on that game.”

The Steelers will start Bubby Brister at quarterback despite his poor exhibition performance and the emergence of backup Neil O’Donnell. O’Donnell completed 62% of his passes in exhibition play with five touchdowns and three interceptions. Brister failed to throw a touchdown pass and was intercepted five times.

“Brister is the kind of guy who will either kill you or kill them,” Charger defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. “If he has a great day, whoever he’s playing against is in trouble. If he doesn’t have a great day then he’s going to put a real load on them. They’ll have to carry it with the running game.”

Running back Tim Worley, who rushed for 53 yards on 17 carries against the Chargers last year, is not expected to play because of a knee injury. Barry Foster, a 5-foot-10, 218-pound fullback from Arkansas has been moved to halfback, and Merril Hoge will start at fullback.

Tight end Eric Green, who caught 34 passes last year as a rookie including a pair of touchdowns against the Chargers, missed the final three exhibition games and has been listed as questionable with a knee injury. Louis Lipps and Dwight Stone, a converted running back, will open at wide receiver.

“Joe Walton’s offenses historically run, run and run and then they go for a big play,” Lynn said. “If he doesn’t get a big play then he gets a little antsy. And I’m sure they’re going to try and test our new guys at safety; I know we would.”

While the Giants and Bears are regarded by most as the premier defenses in the league, it’s the Steelers who finished on top of the league last season. They were also No. 1 in defending the pass, surrendering an NFL record-tying low of nine touchdown passes.

“It’s a bend but don’t break kind of defense,” Friesz said. “On third and long they hover around the 12- to 15-yard area, and force you to check down to a receiver. If he doesn’t break a tackle, you don’t get the first down.

“That’s the reason they didn’t give up a lot of touchdown passes last year and a lot of big plays. They force you to throw underneath. That’s what I did against the Raiders last week (completing 17 of 19), and to a degree that’s what I’ll continue to do. The word is efficient, more than being conservative.”

Most defenses like to greet an inexperienced quarterback with all-out blitzes. Friesz, however, doesn’t expect such an onslaught.

“In the past they haven’t been a big blitzing team; I don’t think they’ll change that because they’re facing a young quarterback,” he said. “It’s similar to what the Raiders did last year.”

Friesz was 11-for-22 for 98 yards with a touchdown and an interception against the Raiders in his only action last season. He finished exhibition play and allowed the Chargers to send Billy Joe Tolliver packing to Atlanta by completing almost 68% of his passes with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.

“I think I’m ready,” Friesz said. “We’re going to go out and try to establish the run just like we will every game this entire season.”

Last season, the defense was charged with responsibility of carrying the day for an inexperienced offense. The party line this year has a new theme.

“We just need to take care of ourselves,” Smith said. “I don’t think we need to worry about Friesz or the offense. The defense doesn’t need to worry about carrying this team; we’re going to be all right.”

The Chargers finished last season 0-5 in games decided by seven or fewer points. They are 7-17 in such games over the past three seasons.

“I think this team has given away games more than lost them,” said Charger linebacker Leslie O’Neal. “I don’t think we went out there and really got physically beat. Even in Pittsburgh last year, they didn’t really beat us, we just didn’t play well.

“We just need to worry about ourselves. It’s like the Little League World Series. They were saying the Taiwanese kids really don’t study their opponents; they feel if they take care of their responsibilities, they’re gonna win. And they’ve beaten the heck out of everybody they’ve played. That’s what we need to do.”

They might also need to keep a close eye on Henning, just in case he gets any opening-day ideas about calling for a fake punt.