Rams at Height of Imperfection : Pro football: It’s the same old story as mistakes prove costly in 31-17 defeat in San Diego.

They know how to lose, how to get the lead then blow it, how to throw a scare into the opposition before faltering, how to collapse.

They could be 8-4, but for a play here and there, they claim, but they are not.

The Rams are losers again for a fifth consecutive season. The San Diego Chargers’ 31-17 come-from-behind victory Sunday at Jack Murphy Stadium before 59,579 assured the Rams (4-8) of finishing no better than .500.

“Loser’s delight,” Ram cornerback Darryl Henley said. “You know what that means? It means when you have been losing so long, you become surprised to find yourself winning.

“I feel sorry for Chuck Knox. It’s not that we are unprepared. How can you be ahead, 14-6, at halftime and then come out and be completely ineffective? It’s not the coaching, it’s not the scheme, it’s not who ran it or who should have thrown it. It’s the people in this locker room; the guys on this team just aren’t doing it. It’s an attitude; someone forgot to tell us it’s not OK to lose week in and week out. I’m telling you, we don’t know how to win games.”

The Rams wasted a halftime advantage for the third time this season, absorbed their sixth defeat in the last eight games and helped push the Chargers (9-3) within two victories of clinching the AFC West Division title.

“It’s the same thing that’s been happening all year,” said Ram defensive end Fred Stokes. “It reminds me of my basketball team my sophomore year in high school. If the game had ended at halftime we would have been 15-0. We look back at our record now, and we just can’t hold on.”

The Rams took a 14-6 halftime lead, and the hometown fans were booing the stumbling Chargers after wide receiver Tony Martin dropped two potential touchdown passes.

But after taking the second-half kickoff, the Rams were forced to punt. Charger cornerback Darrien Gordon, who returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown earlier this season, went 75 yards for a score, and Ronnie Harmon’s run for two points tied the game 1:48 into the third quarter.

“Just a fantastic play,” said Charger Coach Bobby Ross. “That kind of ignited us.”

Earlier this season, Green Bay used an 85-yard punt return in the third quarter for a touchdown to help overcome a 17-3 Ram halftime advantage, and New Orleans used two Tyrone Hughes kickoff returns to claim a 37-34 victory over the Rams.

“How unbelievable is that?” asked Ram cornerback Todd Lyght. “How many times have we gone into the locker room and come out flat in the third quarter?”

The Rams had the opportunity to immediately deflate the Chargers on the ensuing kickoff only to have Todd Kinchen’s 99-yard return for a touchdown nullified by a holding penalty on linebacker Tom Homco.

Stan Humphries’ 10-yard touchdown pass to Harmon midway through the third quarter gave the Chargers a 21-14 lead, but the Rams were in position to tie the game in the closing seconds of the quarter.

On third and one from the Charger seven-yard line, the Rams opted not to give the ball to running back Jerome Bettis, and instead had quarterback Chris Miller rolling to his right to pass.

“That kind of surprised me,” said Bettis, who had 38 yards on 10 carries, “but the way our running game has been going, maybe they didn’t think we could get it.”

Miller, who was chased by Charger defensive lineman Chris Mims, tried to squeeze a pass into Flipper Anderson’s hands in the end zone, but Gordon got a hand on the ball, tipped it into the air and then caught it for the interception.

“I was just trying to make a play, make something happen to help this team,” said Miller, who completed 26 of 47 passes for 298 yards with four interceptions.

In the fourth quarter, the Chargers added a 37-yard John Carney field goal, his third successful kick of the day, and extended their lead to 24-14.

The Rams tried to fight back with a trick play with Kinchen taking a punt and lateraling it to Lyght for a 27-yard return to the Chargers’ 48-yard line. But again they were penalized for holding, and while they were able to eventually gain three points on Tony Zendejas’ 33-yard kick, they were running out of time.

The Ram defense forced the Chargers to punt, and with 2:38 left the Rams had the ball and the chance to send the game into overtime. Jessie Hester dropped two passes and the Rams were out of timeouts, but still Miller got the Rams to their own 44-yard line with a little more than a minute to play.

On fourth and five, however, his pass for Hester landed in the hands of Charger cornerback Sean Vanhorse, who returned it 50 yards for the game-clinching touchdown.

“We have letdowns, you know,” said Lyght, who has yet to experience a winning season with the Rams. “It’s tough to keep going at this point, but we have no choice, I guess.”

The Rams have lost three games in a row, and while earlier they were counting on the final four games on their schedule to propel them into the playoffs, they are all but mathematically eliminated from postseason play.

“If anyone has an answer to what’s going on, I’ll listen,” said Ram linebacker Shane Conlan. “It’s definitely not a lack of effort; it’s just stupid stuff that we keep getting caught with. This team needs to grow up and start winning these games. I’m just tired of this crud.”