RAM NOTEBOOK : Chargers’ Means Beats Bettis in Ground Game

Natrone Means won the battle of the big backs Sunday, outgaining Ram tailback Jerome Bettis, 95 yards to 38 in the Chargers’ 31-17 victory at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Bettis found it tough going against a Charger defense ranked fourth in the NFL in rush defense (85.2 yards per game). It was the seventh consecutive game in which Bettis has failed to reach 100 yards rushing, and he has rushed for only 80 yards combined in the past three weeks.

“We know we have the best front four in football,” said defensive back Darrien Gordon, who had an interception and a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown. “We knew we would stop Bettis. We knew they were going to have to throw the ball.”

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Offensive tackle Jackie Slater, a 19-year veteran, passed an NFL milestone Sunday but it cost him some bruised ribs. Slater played in his 256th NFL game Sunday, moving past Earl Morrall into fourth place on the all-time participation list.

Slater left in the third quarter after a hit by San Diego’s Chris Mims. Slater was blocking for a scrambling Chris Miller on the play, and was leveled by an airborne Mims after Miller was intercepted in the end zone by Gordon.

“I didn’t see him coming,” Slater said of Mims. “If I had, I would have gotten out of the way.”

Was it a clean hit?

“Yeah,” he said. “It was clean.”

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Todd Lyght’s 27-yard punt return off a lateral from Todd Kinchen was a play straight out of the playbook of special teams coach Wayne Sevier from his days in Washington. Two years ago, the Redskins ran a similar play to then-rookie Desmond Howard, who scored a touchdown. Lyght’s return was called back because of a holding penalty on David Lang.

“We had been working on that in practice,” Kinchen said. “We had been watching old films of teams working on it, and we just put it in this week.”

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Rookie defensive tackle D’Marco Farr reached another career milestone Sunday, returning his first kickoff on a short kick in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers were leading, 31-17, with 51 seconds left, and wanted to kick short to prevent a long return by deep backs Kinchen and David Lang, and figured Farr (6 feet 1 and 270 pounds) wasn’t much of a return threat.

“Coach told us to look for the squib kick,” Farr said. “Before the kickoff, John Carney looked at me and smiled. I figured it was coming my way.”

Farr rambled 16 yards before Stanley Richard tackled him at the Ram 45-yard line. It was the first time in Farr’s career--pro or college--that he has returned a kick.

“What was there, 50 seconds left?” Farr said. “I could have returned it all the way, but by the time I got to the end zone, the clock would have run out.”

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Wide receiver Jessie Hester extended his streak of games with at least one catch to 74 with a 40-yard touchdown reception from Miller in the first quarter. Hester had three catches for 81 yards at halftime, but caught only one pass for 14 yards in the second half.

“We broke down in the second half,” Hester said. “I ran a couple bad routes for the quarterback.”

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Sean Vanhorse’s 50-yard interception return for a touchdown did more than clinch the Chargers’ victory. It answered that age-old question: What do I get my wife for our wedding anniversary?

Sunday was Vanhorse’s first anniversary and his wife, Juliee, sent him to work with specific instructions.

“She told me to go out and do something special for her today,” Vanhorse said. “God really came through for me.”

Vanhorse kept the ball to give to his wife.

Vanhorse had an open field in front of him after intercepting the pass, but he wasn’t home free.

“I saw No. 72 (lineman Clarence Jones) coming,” Vanhorse said. “I thought he was going to get me. I said, ‘The boy is going to talk all week about it if he gets me.’ I tried to pick it up.”

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The Chargers’ second-half rally got wide receiver Tony Martin off the hook.

Martin dropped two sure touchdown passes in the first half and heard about it from the fans.

“Any time you drop two touchdowns, it’s going to be bad,” Martin said. “It helps that we did win. If we came in here and lost, I would would have felt kind of bad.”

And the fans’ reaction?

“When you’re doing good, they’ll say you’re the best,” Martin said. “When you’re bad, they’ll boo you. I didn’t really acknowledge it.”

Ram Notes

Sunday’s loss leaves the Rams 0-4 against California teams, including consecutive losses to the Raiders, San Francisco and the Chargers. . . . Strong safety Marquez Pope, acquired in a trade with the Chargers in the off-season, led the Rams in tackles with eight.

Ram injury report: Cornerback Wymon Henderson (groin), offensive tackle Jackie Slater (bruised ribs) and wide receiver Isaac Bruce (sprained knee). Bruce suffered what might be a serious knee injury and will undergo an MRI exam today. Defensive tackle Jimmie Jones played despite a twisted right ankle. San Diego injuries: Tight end Duane Young (groin) and strong safety Darren Carrington (ankle).