Rams Give Chargers New Life but Hold On to Win, 31-24

The Rams left the exhibition season behind Friday night with a 31-24 victory over the San Diego Chargers at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The Rams held on after they almost blew a 31-0 lead, and they emerged from the exhibition season with the following exhibits:

Exhibit A--Jim Everett. When he left the field at halftime, his team was leading, 31-0. Enough said. Everett completed 8 of 10 passes for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns and appears headed full-steam into next week’s season opener against the Packers at Green Bay, Wis.

For the summer, Everett completed 52 of 80 passes for 750 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Maybe the larger question is what happens after Everett and the Rams’ first-team offense or defense leave the field. In the third quarter, the Rams’ second offense went nowhere, and the defense allowed the Chargers to cut the lead to 31-21 on Babe Laufenberg’s touchdown passes of 18 and 35 yards to Darren Flutie plus Barry Redden’s 1-yard run.

The comeback forced the Rams’ first-team defense back on the field to begin the fourth quarter. Still, San Diego’s Vince Abbott cut the lead to 31-24 with a 21-yard field goal with 9:55 left.

Now, back to those exhibits.

Exhibit B--Greg Bell. If the Ram tailback hadn’t already won a roster spot with his play this summer, he seemed to clinch one Friday. Bell gained 46 yards in 9 carries for 2 touchdowns in the first half. He has gained more yards and looked better than starter Charles White.

Exhibit C--Tom Newberry. The Ram left guard played the first half after he ended his 34-day holdout Wednesday. You can ask Charger linebacker Keith Browner if Newberry is back. On one play, Newberry knocked Browner on his backside.

Exhibit D--Gaston Green. The former UCLA flash had his longest run from scrimmage--26 yards--in the first half and is finally showing some speed. Green added another nice 14-yard run late in the third quarter.

Exhibit E--Michael Young. There was some doubt coming into training camp whether he would stick as the fourth wide receiver, but Young seems to have fought off the competition. He had 2 catches for 28 yards in the first half, including a fairly spectacular 19-yard touchdown reception from Everett late in the half.

Exhibit F--That’s F as in receiver Flipper Anderson, who scored on a 54-yard touchdown pass in the first half, a nice bookend for his 70-yard scoring reception against the Chargers two weeks ago. Any doubts as to whether Anderson is a legitimate deep threat were put to rest.

For the Rams, who finished the exhibition season at 2-3, the toughest news of the night was learning that cornerback Clifford Hicks suffered a broken left fibula and will be lost for an indefinite period.

The Chargers (1-3) looked miserable in the first half, amassing only 104 yards of total offense.

But it was hard to put the blame on starting quarterback Laufenberg, who warmed up in the third quarter and left with some impressive numbers: 15 for 25 passing, 214 yards and 2 touchdowns. Mark Malone played in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter, you could tell that the season opener was only a week away. After showing off their passing game most of the summer, the Rams went back to the running game early, maybe just to prove that they could still do it.

Or maybe it was just to get White some work. White, bothered by bruised ribs, came into the game with just 22 carries in 4 exhibition games.

On Friday, he carried 9 times on the first two drives alone. He rushed 7 times for 24 yards on the 13-play, 67-yard drive that led to the game’s first touchdown, a 4-yard run by Bell to give the Rams a 7-0 lead with 47 seconds left in the quarter.

The Chargers had a great chance to tie it up on their next possession, but a perfectly thrown pass from Laufenberg was dropped in mid-stride by rookie Anthony Miller, who had beaten cornerback LeRoy Irvin down the left sideline.

Instead of tying the game, the Chargers were forced to punt back to the Rams, who would soon show San Diego the art of the deep pass. Imagine the Rams saying that a few years ago.

On the Rams’ first play after the punt, Everett threw deep down the middle for Anderson, who slipped past cornerback Elvis Patterson and into the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown reception.

Just like that, it was 14-0 with 14:01 left in the half. The Chargers, meanwhile, continued their self-destruction.

On their next possession, after a completion from Laufenberg to Rod Bernstine, Vince Newsome knocked the ball from Bernstine’s hands, with Mel Owens recovering for the Rams on the San Diego 25-yard line.

That led to a 25-yard field goal by Mike Lansford with 9:37 left.

The Chargers continued to slide. Miller fumbled the ensuing kickoff, only to be ruled down after a review of the instant replay.

Kevin Greene sacked Laufenberg for a five-yard loss. Then the Chargers jumped offside. Faced with third and 16 from their 29, the Chargers finally did something right. Laufenberg hit Quinn Early for 14 yards, but again San Diego came up short.

Going against the will of the crowd, the Chargers decided to punt on fourth and 2.

The Rams took over again with 6:47 left in the half and didn’t give the ball up again until they scored with 1:57 left on a 1-yard plunge by Bell.

It was another one-sided drive; the Rams went 72 yards on 9 plays. It featured Bell’s 14-yard run, rookie fullback Robert Delpino’s 10-yard run and Green’s 26-yard run.

That burst took the Rams to the San Diego 2, where Bell went in after two tries.

That made it 24-0, but there were still two minutes left in the half. In other words, plenty of time to get the ball back.

Sure enough, the Chargers went one, two, three, kick, and the Rams got the ball with 1:22 left at the Charger 40.

At this point, the Rams were moving with ridiculous ease.

Everett threw quickly to Aaron Cox for eight yards. Then it was Bell around the left corner for 13 yards. On first and 10 at the 19, Everett split the Charger defense and found Young open in the end zone.

Young, working around cornerback Gill Byrd, made a wonderful catch as he lunged his body toward the ball in the right corner of the end zone, giving the Rams a 31-point lead.