Rams' rushing total too much for Bolts

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Sunday, Aug 17, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Chargers defenders left the Edward Jones Dome Saturday night feeling good about keeping St. Louis’ first-team offense out of the end zone. They were happy with the fact they created two turnovers and came away with three sacks.

But one number they were less than satisfied with was 183. That’s how many rushing yards the Bolts allowed Saturday night, a total that is very uncharacteristic of the group.

“That’s not us,” safety Clinton Hart said. “Teams are going to challenge us on the ground and we’ve got to respond better. We will.”

St. Louis rushed for 90 yards in the first quarter and ripped off 11 runs of eight yards or more throughout the game with a big chunk of the yardage coming after contact.

“To me it’s part of the preseason,” Head Coach Norv Turner said. “I’d certainly rather have it happen now. I thought we tackled pretty well last week. We didn’t tackle as well as I’d like us to tonight.”

Several Chargers defenders mentioned tackling when asked what they need to do in order to hold up better against the run. They felt like their alignment and run fits were good, their execution simply wasn’t as sharp as it could have been.

“We were in position to make plays, we just have to finish them,” cornerback Cletis Gordon said. “If we do that we’ll be fine.”

Last Saturday’s preseason opener was the first time in seven months that most Chargers had gone full contact. Of all the things emphasized in training camp, teams don’t practice with live tackling, which means preseason games bring their first opportunity to work on the basics.

“We don’t tackle all training camp long and you get in the game, it’s full speed and you’ve got to do it,” Hart said. “It’s that simple. We’ve been tackling since we were 10 years old. We know how. That’s what makes it a little frustrating.”

Added linebacker Stephen Cooper, “A lot of guys were getting there but weren’t breaking down, sliding down the backs’ legs and holding on. It’s fundamental. It’s early and we’ve got an opportunity to get it right before they start counting. We’ll get there.”

Hart believes tackling is an attitude, one that he and his teammates have but will have to show better next Monday when they return to preseason action against Seattle.

“Guys just have to want to tackle,” Hart said. “It’s all want to. We just didn’t get it done tonight in that part of the game.”

Jeff Roberson, AP

DeJuan Tribble locked up Brian Leonard here, but as a whole the Bolts weren't pleased with the way they tackled Saturday night.

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