Ram Notebook : Majkowski Cites Smog as Biggest Stumbling Block

Green Bay has snow, Anaheim has smog. Getting accustomed to one or the other takes some doing, but Packer quarterback Don Majkowski would take the white stuff on the ground over the gray stuff in his lungs any day.

“I couldn’t breathe for some reason,” Majkowski said after his team lost to the Rams, 41-38, Sunday afternoon at Anaheim Stadium. “My lungs were killing me. I could barely spit the plays out in the huddle.”

Majkowski said he was out of gas by the middle of the second quarter when, while giving chase to Ram safety Vince Newsome after throwing an interception, Majkowski crumbled to the turf 20 yards before Newsome scored on an 81-yard touchdown return.

“I was so tired at that point I needed to rest,” Majkowski said. “I was short of breath all day. After a couple of scrambles, I was done.”

Majkowski threw three interceptions in the first half before passing for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. For the day, Majkowski completed 25 of 43 for 335 yards.

And just when he was getting acclimated, the game had to end.

Green Bay publicity hound/offensive tackle Tony Mandarich made his NFL debut Sunday, appearing in two series for a total of eight plays.

The first series ended in Newsome’s 81-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The second ended in Brent Fullwood’s critical fumble at the one-yard line.

There was one highlight: On one second-quarter play, Mandarich lined up as a tackle-eligible.

“A fair performance” was Mandarich’s subdued assessment. “That’s the best way to describe it,” he said.

At least better than the way Packer Coach Lindy Infante described it.

“I have no idea how he did,” Infante said. “I’ll have to see the films.”

After conducting his contract negotiations as if he were the Son of Boz, Mandarich adopted the humility mode following his indoctrination against the Rams.

“These guys are pros,” he said of the Rams. “This ain’t the old Illinois team, with (Coach Mike) White, talking more than they perform. They could be Super Bowl contenders.”

And the Packers?

“I think we showed a lot of heart today,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going back to Green Bay and playing in front of the fans there.”

Former Anaheim High and Fullerton College linebacker Brian Noble provided family and friends with a treat by intercepting a Jim Everett pass in the third quarter, returning it 10 yards and setting up the Packers’ first touchdown.

And how many family and friends were there to take it in?

“Only 400,” Noble said. “My dad got 350 seats through the Ram ticket office. I had a few people there today.”

Noble’s interception was his first since 1987 and the second of his career.

It is becoming a weekly custom:

Ram secondary takes the field. Ram secondary gets burned by the long pass.

This time it was Green Bay’s Sterling Sharpe who did the honors, collecting eight passes for 164 yards and a touchdown (a 57-yarder over cornerback Cliff Hicks). By game’s end, Hicks was on the bench--replaced by Darryl Henley--and Robinson was predictably concerned.

“I thought Sterling Sharpe gave evidence of being a great player, truly,” Robinson said. “We probably should have had more help against him. A lot of times they try to put formations so they can get single (coverage) on you, and they did and they bombed us again.”

Despite his day’s work, Sharpe could have cared less about his statistics.

“We are 1-2 right now and it does not make a difference about individual success,” he said.

It does to Robinson and the Ram secondary, who would like to go one game without seeing a receiver enter triple digits on yardage.

“Again, we’re having problems with the deep ball and it’s something we have to keep working on,” Robinson said. “It’s scary, certainly. It’s something we absolutely have to do something about because the best deep receiver in the history of the game, in my view, is coming up next week. I don’t think we’ll have single coverage on him very much.”

The receiver? Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers.

The Pack might not be back yet, but Ram running back Greg Bell said the Green Bay franchise is on its way.

“You’re looking at some great guys on Green Bay’s team,” Bell said. “Give them credit. They’re not the Green Bay Packers of the ‘60s under (Vince) Lombardi, but they’re not the Buffalo Bills of 1984, either, where we were just blowing anything. They’ve got a good team and they could strike. They’ve got some guys there that are quality players.”

Defensive end Doug Reed, who recovered Fullwood’s fumble in the end zone to perhaps save the game for the Rams, on what it was like to almost blow a 31-point halftime lead:

“It was scary. We didn’t want to lose that way. We’d rather be flat-out whipped. But that would have been embarrassing. It’s good we got the win, though I’m sure we’ll get some flak for that.”

Newsome said the Rams’ defense had better shape up or else.

“There’s no way we’ll win the championship playing the way we did today,” he said. “You never want to reflect on a season and the game that got away. We almost ended up doing it.”

Add Newsome: His 81-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter was the longest since Johnnie Johnson’s 99-yard return against Green Bay in 1980.

Ram Notes

Mike Lansford’s extra point after a first-quarter touchdown was the 600th point in his career. Lansford is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, having surpassed Bob Waterfield last season. . . . Greg Bell had 117 yards rushing in 15 carries in the first half. . . . The Rams only punted once in the first half. The team’s 38 first-half points were the most ever by the Rams at Anaheim Stadium. . . . With a one-yard first-quarter touchdown run, Bell extended his streak to 10 straight regular-season games in which he’s scored at least once. Bell led the National Football League in touchdowns last season with 18.