Tolliver’s Troubles Continue : Football: Quarterback goes 15 for 33 with an interception as Chargers fall to Rams, 24-3, in exhibition.

Wide receiver Anthony Miller had left Ram cornerback Latin Berry behind, and was all alone at the L.A. 30-yard line, when he was given the opportunity to catch a well-thrown pass.

OK, so you have already guessed that Billy Joe Tolliver was not the Chargers’ quarterback at the time.

No matter. Miller dropped it, and the stumbling Chargers continued on their way toward absorbing a 24-3 exhibition defeat to the Rams Monday night before 41,616 fans in Anaheim Stadium.

“That was an example of how not to play football,” Coach Dan Henning said. “This was a sloppy football game. We had too many penalties, too many missed tackles, too many missed passes and too many missed assignments.

“We can play better than that and we will play better.”

If Miller had caught that pass, however, folks wouldn’t have paid no mind to the final score and all that went wrong. No sir, if Miller had caught that ball, the Chargers would have had a 79-yard touchdown pass from John Friesz and a major-league quarterback controversy to resolve in the coming weeks.

As Tolliver filled the sky and stands with his errant passes on a 15-for-33 performance for 123 yards, including an interception, Friesz came close to pulling a Mark Vlasic.

Last year, the Chargers anointed Tolliver the team’s starter in training camp, then watched Tolliver self-destruct, while Vlasic shined.

Friesz completed 6 of 13 for 70 yards, but take out an eraser and consider how 7 of 13 for 149 yards with a touchdown looks--if Miller hangs onto that ball?

“I enjoyed going in when I did,” Friesz said. “The game was on the line and I had a chance to be a hero.

“It was tough for Billy Joe and I tonight; we both struggled. He had an off night, but so did everyone. The quarterback position has got to be more consistent in order for us to win. Every facet of the passing game was down tonight.”

Tolliver, meanwhile, was in for trouble from the outset. He opened Monday night’s game on the run. He bounced a bad pass to Ronnie Harmon with a Ram defender hanging on his legs, and then was sacked by Mike Piel on second down. Tolliver completed a third-down pass to Harmon, but only after he escaped the clutches of a pair of defenders.

The Chargers’ offensive line, it seems, has no intention of handing the starting job to Tolliver.

“I missed a lot of open receivers,” Tolliver said. “I made bad throws, there were dropped passes, and when there was a completion, the penalties killed us. All I can do is get ready for San Francisco next week. I am not going to dwell on this game.”

Tolliver remained under pressure in the first quarter, and threw a pass in the general direction of Disneyland that was intercepted by Ram safety Anthony Newman at the Charger 48-yard line.

The Rams took possession and five plays later, running back Robert Delpino ran into the end zone for a six-yard touchdown and 7-0 lead.

Three Tolliver misfires after a 16-yard completion to Miller forced the Chargers to punt. And Los Angeles then went on to increase its advantage to 10-0 on Tony Zendejas’ 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

The Chargers had moved to the Ram 35-yard line in the first quarter, but a John Carney 53-yard field-goal attempt had traveled about 40 yards before falling wide right.

Carney got another opportunity in the second quarter, however, and kicked a 35-yarder to pull the Chargers within a touchdown of the Rams.

The Chargers went into Ram territory on their next possession. But after Tolliver’s screen pass to Harmon earned four yards, he failed to complete passes to Craig McEwen and Miller, and the Chargers punted.

The Rams then reminded the Chargers of what went wrong in 1990. The Rams marched the length of the field against the Charger defense in the closing minutes of the first half, and quarterback Jim Everett threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Flipper Anderson.

Friesz came on in the third quarter, stood his ground and got hammered as he let loose with his long pass to Miller. Miller stretched out his hands and dropped the ball and the rest of the game belonged to the Rams.

The Chargers, while predominantly a run-oriented team, ran the ball only 12 times for 66 yards. Rod Bernstine gained 38 yards on seven carries, while Eric Bieniemy made a cameo appearance and gained nine yards on three carries.

Harmon, the Chargers’ all-purpose running back, caught six passes for 41 yards, while Miller came off a quadriceps muscle pull with five catches for 53 yards.

The Rams got a 6-for-13 effort Everett before he gave way to Mike Pagel in the second half. Running back Aaron Emanuel finished the scoring in the fourth quarter with a one-yard run, and the Chargers got no closer to scoring than the Rams’ 43-yard line.

Cleveland Gary led the Rams with 77 yards on 14 carries, and to the complete the kind of night the Chargers were having, he ran without fumbling.