Quarterback Hunt Still on for Chargers : Offense Struggles Throughout as Rams Roll to a 27-6 Victory
Asking Babe Laufenberg to start at quarterback is a little like asking Tom Hanks to play MacBeth. He may surprise you by having the range for the role. But if he gets the part, he may be just another tragic hero.
The Chargers gave Laufenberg a dress rehearsal Saturday night against the Rams, allowing him to play the first two periods.
The results were inconclusive, as the Chargers fell behind by 14 points in the first half and eventually lost, 27-6, at Anaheim Stadium.
Working behind an offensive line that provided little protection and even less time, Laufenberg somehow managed to complete 5 of 11 passes for 67 yards. This against the defense that finished 26th in NFL pass defense last year.
But Laufenberg mostly just ran for his life. The Rams sacked him four times for minus 44 yards. The Charger line got caught holding on three occasions. And tight end Arthur Cox wounded another drive with an offensive pass interference penalty that backed the Chargers to their own 11 in the first quarter.
Mark Malone, playing in the third period, completed 5 of 12 passes for 45 yards and took the Chargers as close as they came to a touchdown with a time-consuming, 46-yard drive that ended when the Rams took over on downs at their own one-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
Mark Vlasic played the fourth quarter and completed 4 of 13 passes for 101 yards.
Laufenberg drove the Chargers to one field goal, a 34-yarder by Vince Abbott in the first quarter. Vlasic took them to the other, a 40-yarder by Steve Deline.
Before the game, Jerry Rhome was beginning to sound more and more like a man who had already made up his mind about who will start at quarterback for the Chargers when they open the regular season Sept. 4 against the Raiders. Rhome is the first-year offensive coordinator and self-confessed Laufenberg fan.
“He (Laufenberg) has been a fine quarterback all along,” Rhome said. “He’s just never been given an opportunity to show it. Now he knows he’s got a situation where he’s got a fair chance.”
Whether or not the Chargers offensive line afforded him that against the Rams was debatable.
When Laufenberg wasn’t running in the first half Saturday night, running back Barry Redden tried, despite a broken bone in his left hand. With his left arm heavily taped, the former Ram started and gained 25 yards on 8 carries. Other Charger highlights in the first two periods, which ended with the Rams leading included an interception by Gill Byrd and two sacks by rookie outside linebacker Joe Campbell, the current substitute for holdout Chip Banks.
The game was really all Rams on both sides of the line. They finished with more than 300 yards in total offense and sacked the three Charger quarterbacks 7 times for 80 yards. Linebacker Mike Wilcher led the team with 3 sacks for 32 yards.
Their defense was the story, particularly in the second half.
The highlight was the goal-line stand that stopped the Chargers from getting back in the game early in the fourth quarter.
Two pass interference penalties on Ram cornerback Mickey Sutton set the Chargers up at the Ram three-yard line.
Fullback Tim Spencer gained two yards on first down but couldn’t get any closer.
Spencer was stopped cold on third down by nose tackle Alvin Wright and on fourth down by rookie linebacker Fred Strickland.
The celebration was short-lived, when Greg Bell fumbled the ball back to the Chargers at the 16 with 10:38 left.
San Diego turned the mistake into Deline’s field goal to cut the Ram lead to 17-6 with 9:13 left.
As in most exhibition games, much of interest in the game was in the first half, when the starters play.
Looking down from the press box, former Charger quarterback Dan Fouts watched the young Ram Jim Everett, the man so many are comparing to him.
But there were times when Fouts probably wanted to turn his head. At one point in the second quarter, Everett had completed 3 of 8 passes for 17 yards and had an interception.
But before the half ended, Everett had turned his numbers and a few heads around.
Tied at 3-3 in the second quarter, Everett finally got it going, driving the Rams to a go-ahead touchdown on a nice 12-yard touch pass with 4:10 left to Buford McGee, who lost Charger linebacker Chuck Faucette in the left corner of the end zone.
It was pretty much an all ex-Charger drive. Earlier, Everett passed 24 yards to tight end Pete Holohan down to the Charger 24. McGee also had an 8-yard run before his touchdown catch.
The Chargers thought they’d tied the game again at 10-10 on the ensuing kickoff when Anthony Miller, the team’s first-round draft pick, returned the ball 100 yards down the right side line for an apparent touchdown.
But an instant replay review showed that Miller had stepped out of bounds at his own 38.
It was a big call, because the Chargers went nowhere on the drive and punted back to the Rams, who took it 83 yards the other way on 9 plays in two-minute scoring drive before the half.
It ended with 30 seconds left in the half on a 20-yard scoring pass from Everett to rookie Willie Anderson. That made it 17-3.
After his slow start, Everett finished fast, completing 5 of 6 passes for 60 yards on the last drive.
His final numbers weren’t bad, considering four of his team’s first five drives end up punt, punt, field goal, punt, interception.
Neither team was impressive early.
The Rams’ first-team offense, effective in the first two exhibition games, stumbled from the start. Everett was sacked for a seven-yard loss on the first possession and overthrew two passes on the Rams’ second drive.
The Chargers scored first with 3:58 left in the first quarter on Abbott’s field goal. The kick was set up by a 46-yard pass from Laufenberg to Jamie Holland down to the Ram 29-yard line.
The Ram defense tried to lend a hand when linebacker Kevin Greene, who started ahead of Mike Wilcher, intercepted a Laufenberg pass at the Charger 14 and returned it 5 yards to the 9.
But the Rams could only move it three-yards closer and had to settle for a 23-yard Mike Lansford field goal to tie the game, 3-3, on the first play of the second quarter.
The Rams’ defense in the first half was better than their offense, holding the Chargers to 60 total yards.
