Chargers Take Wind Out of Rams, 38-24

So much for breathers on schedules, weak-sister divisions, odds-makers, Mark Malone haters and plain ol’ logic.

The San Diego Chargers, scorers of 27 total points in their last 4 games, winners of 3 games in their last 11, are suddenly as close to the top of their division--2 games--as the Rams are to theirs.

OK, so who really resides in the Mild, Mild West--the Chargers or Rams? It was difficult to tell Sunday in the aftermath of San Diego’s 38-24 victory over the Rams at Anaheim Stadium.

Breather? How about gagger? And we’re not talking about the smog in Anaheim, where the air was clean and the Chargers were mean.

Yes, the Chargers, a team that tore into the Rams’ secondary with the dreaded Marked Men--Vlasic and Malone--two guys who wouldn’t know a quarterback rating if they had one. The same Chargers who hyperventilated when they scored more than a field goal in any one quarter this season.

Was this the same team? Sunday, San Diego made the razzle-dazzle plays (a 75-yard fumble and pitch return for touchdown in the third quarter by the option team of Keith Browner and Sam Seale), the quarterback sacks (Jim Everett went down five times) and two, shoot-from-the-hip third-down conversions in the fourth quarter that knocked the Rams out cold.

Apparently, the fans above the Rams’ exit tunnel found the performance unacceptable, and responded with accorded grace.

“People were spitting on us,” said Ram linebacker Kevin Greene, who offered to meet some of fans and their saliva outside.

Ram fans or Charger fans?

“Who knows?” Greene said. “Who cares?”

The Chargers, assumed out of the race in the AFC West--but are they really?--played like the team with nothing to lose, refusing to sit on several second-half leads when sitting made sense.

The Rams, a presumed contender in the NFC West--but are they really?--played like one with everything to lose. The Rams sputtered and splattered and hesitated when it mattered, deciding to punt the ball back to the Chargers with 4 minutes left and trailing by 14.

But that was small potatoes.

“Obviously, we can’t seem to get out of our own way,” said Ram Coach John Robinson, who watched his team lose for the third straight time.

Or the Chargers’ way.

So where did it all go wrong for the Rams and right for the Chargers?

Start in the third quarter, with the Chargers clinging to a 17-14 lead and the Rams--actually with a pulse at this point--driving hard toward the San Diego goal line. On first down at the 30-yard line, Charles White lunged up the middle with everything he had--except the ball.

Browner plucked it out of the air at the 25 and raced down the right sideline, well, as fast as Browner could race.

Seale, who obviously has watched Browner closely in practice wind sprints, trailed the play.

“I kept yelling at him to pitch me the ball,” Seale said. “I could see he was getting tired. Nothing against Browner. It’s just that he’s a big guy.”

Browner flipped the ball back to Seale at the 50 and the cornerback took it in from there, avoiding one last-grasp, belly-flopped tackle attempt by the Rams’ Jackie Slater.

Afterward, Browner acted as if the pitch was in the playbook.

“I ran as far as I could and I saw Sam and threw the ball to him and he took care of the rest,” Browner said.

It put the Chargers up, 24-14.

If the Rams were shocked by that play--and they were--it was nothing compared to later in the quarter, when they thought their fortunes had turned.

With 1:26 left in the third quarter, on an incomplete pass that didn’t even count because of a penalty, Vlasic’s left leg crumbled under the pass rush of Shawn Miller.

Vlasic left the field with serious ligament damage that will require surgery today.

In stepped backup Mark Malone, one of three one-time San Diego starters this season--remember The Babe?--and maybe the most maligned.

On third and 15 and with little warm up, Malone sent up a wobbler of a pass that was intercepted by LeRoy Irvin. A personal foul after the play gave the Rams the ball at the San Diego 12.

Three Greg Bell runs produced little, but a 20-yard Mike Lansford field goal cut the lead to 24-17 with 14:13 left.

Hey, it was a start. The best part? Malone was coming back in, of course.

But this time he stuck it to the Rams and the world, really.

On third and 7 at the 36, Malone fired a bomb to Anthony Miller, who had beaten Irvin in one-on-one coverage.

“We needed someone to come up with big plays,” said Miller, who had already returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to put his team up, 14-10, in the first quarter.

This big play went for 49 yards to the Ram 15, and led to the first of 2 Barry Redden 1-yard plunges with 9:08 left. San Diego 31, Rams 17.

Less than a minute later, though, the Rams had pulled to within seven points. All it took was two Everett passes to Flipper Anderson--19 and 29 yards--and a 20-yard scoring pass to Aaron Cox.

With 8:14 left, the Rams still had a chance. Again, the Rams’ defense held on first and second downs on the Chargers’ next possession.

But on third down at the 40, Malone struck again, hitting tight end Rod Bernstine over the middle. Two Rams collided on the coverage and Bernstine was left free to run 59 yards to the Rams 1. Redden, who had 2 touchdowns but zero net yards rushing, went over again with 5:26 to clinch it.

“They made the plays they needed to win,” cornerback Jerry Gray said. “They had two big plays in there. Plays like that really kill you.”

Also killing the Rams is their current three-game losing streak, which has seen them fall from behind early in each game, rally to make it interesting, only to lose in the end.

“All we find ourselves doing is fighting to get back in games instead of being out in front,” tailback Bell said.

So what’s a coach to do? You can’t play the fourth-quarter first.

What Robinson did on Sunday was witness a young team unraveling before his eyes.

“I thought our performance was a disgrace,” he said. “I can’t remember when we’ve played any worse than that. We’ve gone from a football team I thought was a very dynamic, exciting football team to one that seems hesitant and stumbles and falls at every turn.”

So much for playoff momentum. Any momentum. No one can explain it, this fall from glory. Defensive end Doug Reed suggested the Rams seek professional help.

“I don’t think we took them lightly,” Reed said of the Chargers. “But something deep down is happening that I can’t explain. I guess we should all go see psychiatrists to see what the problem is.”

Next week, in a real battle of head cases, the Rams travel to Denver to meet the Broncos, 42-0 losers to New Orleans Sunday. Get the couches ready.

Or is it too late?

“These are symptoms of a football team that has gone into a comatose state,” Robinson said. “We’d better get rid of it fast or we’re headed toward oblivion.”

Meanwhile, the 4-8 Chargers, renewed by victory, charge toward first place.

Ram Notes

Well, at least the running game is better. . . . The Rams, held to fewer than 100 yards 4 out of the last 5 weeks, got 151 yards against the Chargers. Greg Bell, who did not start at tailback, finished with 83 yards in 14 carries, a 5.9 yards-per-carry average. Bell also scored on a 12-yard run in the second quarter, his 14th touchdown of the season. . . . He had other runs of 19 and 26 yards called back because of penalties. . . . Kevin Greene recorded his first sack in 5 weeks when he dropped Mark Vlasic for a 12-yard loss in the third quarter. . . . In the first quarter, the Chargers scored on a 4-yard pass Quinn Early and the Rams countered with a 4-yard scoring pass from Jim Everett to Pete Holohan. . . . Anthony Miller’s 93-yard touchdown return was the first kickoff returned for a score against the Rams since 1981. . . . Everett completed 17 of 34 passes for 243 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, but his numbers in the first half were 6 of 13 for 68 yards.