CHARGER REVIEW : Those Andersons Weren’t Any Problem for Chargers

ANAHEIM —  Here’s the problem: The Chargers studied the Rams’ personnel, and expected the Rams to run, and then spent the week preparing to stop the run.

But just how hard did they study?

“They don’t have Flipper Anderson,” Coach Dan Henning said, “and they deactivated Willie Anderson so we expected them to play more . . .”

Ah, Dan, hold on there. Flipper Anderson is Willie Anderson. The Rams were without the services of only one wide receiver. So much for weeklong preparations.

Quarterback Jim Everett did as he pleased against the Chargers’ defense. After throwing two incomplete passes to open the game, Everett completed 10 consecutive passes.

Everett entered the game having not thrown a touchdown pass this season, but he has two touchdown passes after playing the Chargers. He finished the game with 19 of 25 for 219 yards.

“You got to realize Ernie Zampese (Rams offensive coordinator) was here in San Diego, he knows the staff and the weaknesses in the staff and he had two weeks to prepare for us,” linebacker Leslie O’Neal said. “Every system has flaws, and when you have two weeks to prepare.”

While reporters waited to enter the Chargers locker room, shouting could be heard through the doors. A moment later, secondary coach Jim Mora bolted from the locker room and left the stadium.

The Chargers now have lost 11 of their last 13 games going back to last season.

“How low can you go?” defensive end Burt Grossman said. “We’re low now, but how much farther can you go?”

How significant was the safety before the half?

Quarterback John Friesz: “The whole ordeal shouldn’t be made bigger than it was. It was only two points and it didn’t affect the game that much. If it would have been a one-point game, the safety would have been different.”

Linebacker Gary Plummer: “It gave them optimism because we had the game in hand. We were doing what we wanted to do and that gave them life.”

Rams Coach John Robinson: “That play (safety) was a big factor in the outcome of this game.”

As everyone knows, the media have been most helpful in offering the Chargers suggestions on to improve their chances for success.

This past week, Henning reacted angrily when asked why running back Rod Bernstine did not play a larger role in the team’s passing attack.

After calming down, Henning apparently took note and inserted Bernstine into the team’s passing attack. On third and one from the Chargers’ 40, quarterback John Friesz passed to Bernstine, who gained 25 yards.

Further suggestions from the media will be forthcoming.

Ten of the 11 games played this weekend, including tonight’s game between the Giants and Steelers, were sold out 72 hours before kickoff.

The one exception: The Chargers versus the Rams in Anaheim Stadium. The Rams fell some 12,000 tickets short of selling out the game.

The Chargers had the ball for 13 minutes 19 seconds in the first quarter. The Rams, who have yet to score a touchdown in the first quarter this season, ran five plays in 1:19.

Although the Chargers hogged the ball, they sabotaged their scoring efforts by drawing four penalties in the opening quarter.

They overcame Eric Moten’s holding penalty on the first drive to score, but retreated on their next possession after advancing to the Rams’ 28.

Derrick Walker’s 12-yard reception to the Rams’ 16 was wiped out by a holding penalty on center Courtney Hall. Two plays later Kitrick Taylor’s dazzling 24-yard catch was negated by illegal procedure on the Chargers. An 18-yard Ronnie Harmon run on the next play was taken away because of holding on guard David Richards.

Penalties and more penalties.

In the second quarter, Grossman was flagged twice for lining up offside, Moten received a second holding call and safety Martin Bayless was penalized for pass interference on tight end Jim Price in the end zone.

By halftime, the Chargers had been penalized seven times for 58 yards. The Rams had one penalty for five yards.

A fourth-quarter pass interference call on cornerback Donald Frank allowed the Rams to push the ball into Chargers territory.

The Chargers finished the game with nine penalties for 99 yards.

Like many of the Chargers, H-back Craig McEwen did not stick around to discuss the game. McEwen was asked what happened on his fourth-quarter drop of a Friesz pass in the end zone. “Everybody saw what happened,” McEwen said before sliding out the locker room door.

Defensive lineman Gerald Robinson helped his former team by lining up offside on Chargers’ initial drive, which eventually ended in John Friesz’s 30-yard touchdown to Anthony Miller. Robinson came back strong later, however, and sacked Friesz for an eight-yard loss.

The Chargers placed tight end Arthur Cox, who has played a major role in the team’s successful ground attack, on their inactive list with a foot injury before the game. Cox had played in 54 consecutive games for the Chargers . . . On the Rams’ first possession, linebacker Junior Seau picked up his fourth sack of the season . . . The Chargers elected to punt in the first quarter rather than allow John Carney to attempt a 51-yard field goal; John Kidd’s punt landed in the end zone and the Rams took possession at the 20-yard line.

Tight end Jim Price’s touchdown reception was the first scored by a Ram other than Robert Delpino. Delpino, who scored the Rams’ first five touchdowns of the season, dived in for a sixth just before the close of the first half. Price and Delpino each scored additional touchdowns in the second half.

Charger linebacker Henry Rolling left the game to have his forearm X-rayed in the third quarter, but returned later to play . . . Mike Zandofsky, who spent the first six weeks on injured reserve (knee) relieved rookie Eric Moten in fourth quarter at left guard because Moten continues to be bothered by a sore neck . . . A fourth-quarter kickoff to Donnie Elder slammed off Elder’s chest, but was recovered by Nate Lewis at the Charger 12.

Final thought from Grossman on next week’s matchup with the lowly Browns: “The way we’re playing now we’re not in a situation to say if anybody is good or not good. We’re 1-6. If we were playing Mesa Collge right now, we’d have to say they’re good.”