Tale of the Tape Is 41-10 Win for Chargers : Interconference: Henning fires up his team by saying that Perkins and Tampa Bay had no respect for San Diego.

Before Sunday’s game with Tampa Bay, Coach Dan Henning told his San Diego Chargers that Buccaneer Coach Ray Perkins had guaranteed a victory.

He said Tampa Bay didn’t think much of the Chargers, and Perkins had said so. He said the Buccaneers weren’t starting quarterback Vinny Testaverde because Tampa Bay was taking the Chargers lightly.

And Henning said he had the tape to prove it, and so after the Chargers thrashed Tampa Bay, 41-10, before 40,653 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Sunday, linebacker Gary Plummer went looking for Perkins.

“I told Perkins that he better think twice before he guarantees a victory against the Chargers again,” Plummer said. “He played dumb, which probably wasn’t real hard to do, but we have the tape to prove it.

“You know they say don’t burn any bridges, but I’ll blow that one up. Because I’ll tell you, I was fired up for this game because of what Perkins said and so were a lot of other guys.”

But did any of the Chargers ever actually hear this tape in which Perkins allegedly guaranteed a win for Tampa Bay?

“Here’s the thing that matters,” quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver said. “If Dan Henning told me a chicken dipped snuff, you could look under his wing and there’d be a snuff can.”

The pumped up Chargers scored the first four times they had the ball against the Buccaneers, posted a season-high 24 points in the first half, and went on to record their most points in a game since defeating Kansas City, 42-21, two years ago this week.

Marion Butts, who entered the game as the NFL’s leading rusher, scored on runs of one, two and five yards, and became the first Charger to score three touchdowns in a game since Curtis Adams did so against the Raiders in 1986.

Rod Bernstine ran 15 times for 75 yards, including a 20-yard run for a touchdown, wide receiver Anthony Miller caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Tolliver, and kicker John Carney added a pair of field goals to run his streak to eight since joining the Chargers.

The seven turnovers forced by the Chargers were the most since 1981 when Kansas City gave the ball to San Diego eight times, and the eight first downs recorded by Tampa Bay (4-4) were the fewest given up by the Chargers since the Buccaneers got seven during a 1987 strike replacement game.

“The coup de grace for me,” Henning said, “was when they put Vinny Testaverde inactive before the game (with a toe injury). That’s what I told our players. I sure did. I told them that was proof positive that this was a game that didn’t mean much to them.”

And the tape . . .

“I just thought it was a pretty good approach,” Henning said, smiling.

The Buccaneers were ambushed and left crawling for the locker room trailing, 24-7, by halftime. They fumbled five times, losing three.

Quarterback Chris Chandler, starting in place of the injured Testaverde, threw four interceptions and was sacked four times.

“At times we play like we’re a playoff team, and then there are times when we look like the last place team in the league,” Charger linebacker Henry Rolling said.

The Buccaneers took advantage of an all-out blitz and Chandler hit Mark Carrier for a 68-yard touchdown, getting Tampa Bay to within 14-7 in the second quarter.

But the Chargers inched ahead, 17-7, on a 28-yard field goal by Carney with 5:54 left in the half.

Donnie Elder’s first interception for San Diego set up Butts’ two-yard touchdown dive with 54 seconds remaining.

After Steve Christie’s 48-yard field goal for the Buccaneers in the third quarter, the Chargers scored 17 consecutive points in the fourth quarter.