Rams Are Far From Perfect : Football: Chargers hand them first loss in final exhibition, 30-19. It looks a lot like last season.

It began ugly, ended ugly, and it was ugly in between for the Rams.

In other words, for one summer night in San Diego, at least, it looked very familiar, a reminder of the experiences this team has tried to forget.

In Thursday night’s exhibition finale, a 30-19 loss to the Chargers before 46,949 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, opposing receivers broke open all over the field, the Ram defense was outmuscled, Ram runners struggled to find holes and much of the scoring was left to a Ram kicker who refuses to miss field goals.

Familiar?

The Rams, who had been gaining confidence in three exhibition victories in three tries, hoped this game would answer a host of major questions heading into the Sept. 6 season opener at Buffalo.

Will this team be able to turn to a consistent running back? How will the defense hold up against the real thing?

But the only question that seemed settled is that 1991 isn’t so long ago, after all, although the gloss of the Rams’ 3-0 exhibition record had seemed to make it so.

“We made too many mistakes,” Coach Chuck Knox said afterward. “You can’t win and make as many mistakes as we did. We had everything from 12 men on the field, a personal foul, lined up offsides twice, fumbled a kickoff return. . . . We just have to go back, regroup and take it from here.”

The Rams ended the preseason 3-1. The Chargers were 2-2.

Knox made no secret that he hasn’t found what he is looking for in a running back and was going to look hard Thursday night to discover it.

What did he see? He saw a host of Charger runners power for big gains and none of his own rise to the top.

He saw Cleveland Gary start the game at tailback and carry eight times for 23 yards. He saw Robert Delpino featured in a one-back set, carry six times for 21 yards and catch two passes for 21. He saw very little of Marcus Dupree, who carried only three times for seven yards.

He saw the Rams carry 18 times for 60 yards, a 3.3-yard average. The starter is still anybody’s guess.

This wasn’t quite what the Rams had in mind:

--The defense, playing short on the defensive line because of injuries to their two starting ends, was pushed around by the Chargers, especially when 248-pound running back Marion Butts got going.

Until Thursday night, the Rams hadn’t had to deal with anyone like Butts, who gained 59 yards on nine first-half carries, a 6.6-yard average. Overall in the first half, the big Charger backs carried 16 times for 79 yards and a touchdown by Rod Bernstine.

On the night, the Chargers carried 33 times for 124 yards.

--The Ram first-line secondary, seeing the first exhibition appearance by starting left cornerback Todd Lyght, looked wobbly and surrendered 204 passing yards.

--The only offensive spark the Rams enjoyed was the continuing knack for making the big play by rookie receiver Todd Kinchen, who scored the Rams’ two touchdowns, one on a 41-yard Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half.

But Kinchen also made a big play for the Chargers, fumbling a kickoff return that was recovered by defensive back Darren Carrington at the Ram 18, setting up the Chargers’ second touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

--The only other Ram point-scorer was last week’s hero, makeshift kicker Steven Domingos, who is still battling to win the team’s punting job. Domingos made two more field goals Thursday night subbing for Tony Zendejas after going three for three last week.

From the outset, the Rams were backpedaling in this one.

Behind passes from Bob Gagliano to open receivers and tough runs by Butts, the Chargers took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards in nine plays without facing a third-down situation. Bernstine finished it off with a two-yard touchdown run.

The Rams’ first-team offense failed to stir things up. Jim Everett was seven for 13 for 62 yards. The only score by the first-line offense came when the defense forced a Charger punt deep in their own territory. The Rams took over at the San Diego 30, setting up Domingos’ 28-yard field goal and a 7-3 first-quarter score.

Mike Pagel moved the Rams from their 25 to the Charger 41 with three passes over the middle, but there were only nine seconds left in the half.

Pagel’s rainbow pass into the right corner of the end zone was caught by Kinchen, who took the ball away from three Charger defenders and teammate Aaron Cox for the touchdown. That brought the Rams within 13-10 at the half.

The Rams opened the third quarter with a 66-yard drive to set up Domingos’ second field goal, a 31-yarder, but then the Charger avalanche hit.

The Chargers, featuring the catching and running of yet another quality runner, Ronnie Harmon, scored on their next three possessions.