NOTEBOOK : Finally Getting Chance to Play, Rams’ Piel Makes the Most of It

ANAHEIM —  For a guy who didn’t expect to get much playing time Sunday, Ram nose tackle Mike Piel had no problems getting ready for the fourth quarter of the Rams’ 34-31 overtime loss to the Bengals.

Piel, a reserve, slowed two Bengal drives in the fourth quarter, allowing the Rams to tie the score, 31-31, and force overtime.

He sacked Bengal quarterback Boomer Esiason for a seven-yard loss and later stopped running back Harold Green for a two-yard loss on a third-and-one situation.

“This was a great chance for me to get some work,” said Piel, who played two seasons at Saddleback College before moving on to Illinois. “I was just happy to get in there.”

Piel’s playing time was limited last season when he dislocated his left elbow twice.

“My arm feels great and I feel confident again,” he said.

Cincinnati’s Jim Breech, who kicked a 44-yard field goal in overtime to win the game, said the controversy surrounding Bengal Coach Sam Wyche and women reporters in the locker room didn’t overshadow the Bengals’ victory.

“This is a big win for us and everything else is insignificant,” said Breech, who also kicked a 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. “All I’m going to look at (today) is the boxscore and see ‘Field goal, Breech, 44.’ ”

Wyche, who was fined a record $30,000 for barring a woman reporter from the Cincinnati locker room last Monday night, had a little plea for the mass of media members grouped around him after Sunday’s game.

“There’s a little pot in there on the right and when you go in (the locker room), if you would just drop in a dollar or a half-dollar, anything you can do. I guess we need a bigger crowd than this to make up the money I’m out, but it might be worth the cost if we can operate the way the rest of the world does.”

Barry Turnbull, a sports reporter with KVEN radio station in Ventura, arrived at Wyche’s postgame press conference wearing a gold-tassled wig and a brown dress.

“I particularly like your hair,” Wyche said.

Turnbull, who normally doesn’t wear dresses to Ram games, said he wore it as a gag. He paid $3.98 for the size extra-large dress at a thrift store.

“I was trying to lighten up what was a deadly issue,” Turnbull said. “I hoped some people would see the humor in it. This isn’t the Middle East we’re talking about.”

The Bengals’ no-huddle offense caught the Rams napping early in the first quarter. As the Rams tried to run in their nickel defense, Cincinnati snapped the ball with at least 15 Rams on the field. Unfortunately for the Rams, none of those 15 were covering James Brooks, who caught a 26-yard pass.

The Bengals declined the penalty.

Wyche said his team “stunk up the house” during last Monday’s 31-16 loss to Seattle, but Cincinnati came out of the first half Sunday smelling like roses.

The Bengals had 230 yards of total offense against the Seahawks. Against the Rams, they had 234 yards with 9:31 left in the first half.

Say What? The Bengals’ Natu Tuatagaloa was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a punt return in the second quarter, but Steve Lopez, the press box public address announcer, had another complaint to register.

“Fifteen-yard penalty on Tuatagaloa,” Lopez announced, “ . . . for having a name that’s too hard to pronounce.”

Sign O’ the Times: “C’mon Rams Get Your &*!! Together.”

Times staff writer Tim Kawakami contributed to this story.