CHARGER REVIEW : NOTEBOOK : Mims Beginning to Pull His Own Weight

When the season began, it appeared as if Chris Mims, the Chargers’ first-round draft pick, was going to give former Charger offensive lineman James FitzPatrick a run as one of the team’s all-time first-round stiffs.

But after 11 games, Mims has eight sacks. That’s eight sacks, and that’s no typographical mistake, although it could be classified as a miracle.

“After the team’s 0-4 start people were saying, ‘What’s the first-rounder doing?’ But I couldn’t let that get to my head,” Mims said. “I just had to work hard, and I’ve grown up a lot.”

Mims picked up three sacks Sunday against the Buccaneers in the Chargers’ 29-14 victory, and dropped Vinny Testaverde for a safety.

“Chris continues to get better,” Coach Bobby Ross said. “What is so unique about Chris is that he is playing tackle as well as defensive end. When you can get a rookie to do that . . . I think he is having a heck of a year.”

Mims did not have a sack in the first four games, and on one occasion he remained on the sideline throughout the game. However, he has reported to the team’s weight room faithfully this season, and his increased strength has allowed him to become a factor along the defensive line.

“I still don’t like to be in there (weight room), but it’s helping me a lot,” Mims said. “I was frustrated at the start. I didn’t have the strength. I was running into people and just stopping.

“I’m just learning and taking it a step at a time. I feel fine now at defensive tackle and will continue to feel comfortable as long as I can get to the quarterback.”

Defensive end Burt Grossman began the game by playing on a left sprained ankle. And then he sprained his right ankle.

“It was a problem,” Grossman said. “I didn’t know which ankle to limp on.”

Grossman took a shot in his injured ankle before the game to deaden the pain, but he was not pleased with the results.

“This one got numbed up so bad you could have sawed it off and I wouldn’t have felt it,” he said. “I told them to get the ligament, but they got my heel, my toes and everything. I didn’t know my foot was on.”

Gary Anderson became a highlight film sensation when he leaped over a Miami defender to fall into the end zone in the opening game of the 1986 season.

Anderson tried a similar leap in the fourth quarter Sunday for the Buccaneers on fourth and four, but he failed to clear linebacker Junior Seau and came up one yard short.

“I wouldn’t bet against Junior Seau anytime someone tries to leap over the guy,” linebacker Gary Plummer said. “Gary just took the wrong approach. I don’t think you’re going to win that battle.”

And how would you win that battle?

Said Plummer: “Run the other way.”

The Chargers traded Anderson to Tampa Bay in 1990 for a third-round pick in 1990 and a second-round pick in 1991. They used the third-round pick on linebacker Jeff Mills, who they later released, and the second-rounder on running back Eric Bieniemy.

Anderson, meanwhile, has played backup to Reggie Cobb in Tampa Bay. Before Sunday’s game he had carried the ball 41 times for 151 yards, and caught 24 passes for 189 yards.

His 18-yard run in the second quarter was his longest of the season. Anderson finished the game with 12 yards on four rushes and caught two passes for 16 yards.

Anderson rushed for 1,119 yards in 1988 for the Chargers, but sat out 1989 in a contract dispute.

The Buccaneers employed the no-huddle offensive attack all day, and took advantage of the Chargers’ confusion on fourth and three in the third quarter with the ball on the Tampa Bay 48-yard line.

The Chargers were caught with too many men on the field, and despite the extra personnel, they were unable to keep Testaverde from completing a 14-yard pass to Mark Carrier for the first down.

“We had a little bit of miscommunication there,” Ross said. “Whenever something of that nature happens I have to take full blame for that and I do.”

After the earning the first down, the Buccaneers went on to score on Testaverde’s one-yard run.

It’s lost in victory, but what a strange call. The Chargers had a third and two at their 47-yard line, an eight-point lead and a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Marion Butts was on his way to rushing for 100 yards and the Chargers needed to only run out the clock to win, but they threw the ball. Quarterback Stan Humphries not only threw it, but he tried to go deep to tight end Derrick Walker. The pass fell incomplete, and the Buccaneers took over with 10:05 left on the clock.

Strange call.

Maybe it’s something about San Diego that puts coaches in apologetic moods. Earlier this season, Ross apologized for his team’s poor play. After Sunday’s game, Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche apologized to his team for poor coaching decisions.

He admitted making the wrong call on a third and one late in the first half, saying the missed opportunity might have been the turning point. Testaverde was sacked for a two-yard loss when he tried to run. Wyche insinuated he should have given the ball to running back Cobb, who rushed for 73 yards.

The Chargers followed with a late-scoring drive to make it 22-7 at the half.

Then, Wyche questioned his late game strategy.

“With 6 1/2-7 minutes left, we should have taken the ball and said, ‘OK, we need two scores. We’re going to grind it out,’ ” Wyche said. “We had them. They were worn down.

“Instead, we tried to go like it was a two-minute attack, and their pass rush just got to us. They were too good for us. That was my fault. Strategy could have come up differently and maybe the outcome would have been different. Maybe not.”

The Buccaneers haven’t won in California since 1980, dropping their last eight. They are 1-14 overall in this state. But then . . .

“To be honest with you, we haven’t really won at home, away . . . So it’s not like you can pinpoint this,” Cobb said. “We had a road streak in addition to the West Coast. But if we keep playing like we’ve been playing, we’re going to start making things happen.”

The Chargers’ offense line did not allow a sack--the first time they have done that all season . . . The Chargers’ defense has now not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 23 games--presently the best mark in the NFL . . . The Chargers had only one five-yard penalty. The last time they played such errorless football was Sept. 29, 1985, against Cleveland . . . Nate Lewis’ 14-yard punt return was the longest against the Buccaneers this season . . . Charger linebacker Henry Rolling sprained an ankle and did not return to the game.