The Saints were unable to overcome San Diego's early, sizable lead and allowed the Chargers to keep their perfect record intact. Natrone Means ran all over the D in a manner reminiscent of Jerome Bettis' performance in the 'Dome last year. San Diego didn't have to punt until the 4th quarter. Tyrone Hughes' 46 yard return of the opening kickoff gave the O good field position to start the game, but the drive stalled at the SD 37. Morten Andersen hit his 55 yard FG attempt solidly, but it was barely wide. The Chargers took over at the SD 45 and quickly marched for a score. Three runs by Means moved the ball to the 27. Harmon ran for the necessary yardage on a 3rd & 2 from the 19, and on the next play Means rumbled into the endzone. The Saint offense moved the ball well on the next drive, but again no points were forthcoming. Starting at the 34, a short pass to Michael Haynes and a reverse by Quinn Early were good for 10 yards. Two passes to Haynes for 23 yards and an 11 yard pickup by Derek Brown on a draw play moved the ball to the 22. The drive stalled, though, and Andersen uncharacteristically blew a 38 yard FG attempt. Two catches by Martin helped move the ball to the NO 42. On the next play, Stan "Who's that guy with the Big Head?" Humphries hit Young for a 32 yard gain. Means soon scored his second TD of the day on an 8 yard run just before the end of the first quarter. A 3 & punt Saints series gave SD the ball at their own 45. Jefferson caught a pass to the NO 37, but 3rd down pressure stopped the Chargers' march. Carney hit a line drive 50 yard FG to up the lead to 17. Hughes fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give SD the ball at the Saints' 28. After Carl Lee was called for pass interference in the endzone (he was all over the receiver), Means chalked up an easy 1 yard TD run. With less than 20 minutes gone, the Chargers were ahead 24-0. The Saints went to the air to get some points on the board. From the 20, a 12 yard pass to Haynes and an 8 yard toss to Early got things started. Brown picked up 15 on a draw. Two consecutive defensive pass interference penalties (the second one was questionable) moved the ball to the 10. A sack backed the team up 8 yards, but Early went up and got Jim Everett's throw into the endzone to complete the drive. On the ensuing kickoff, a great hit by Derrick Ned and a personal foul against the Chargers fired up the crowd. San Diego defused the emotion, however, with a seven minute drive. The Bolts used a mixture of runs and passes, picking up a 3rd & 2 from the NO 37 and a 3rd & 6 from the NO 30 to keep the drive going. After Seay dropped a potential TD pass on 3rd & 7 from the 14, SD kicked a 32 yard FG with a minute to go to close out the first half scoring. The Chargers returned the second half kickoff 46 yards from the goal line to give themselves good field position. Another pass interference call on Lee (who injured his hip on the play) moved the ball to the NO 11, but three consecutive incompletions forced SD to settle for a 29 yard FG. The Saints responded with a 14 yard reverse by Haynes and a 17 yard run by Brown to move to the SD 44. A 7 yard pickup by Brown and a 25 yard catch and run by Torrance Small put the ball at the 12. The defense committed pass interference while intercepting a ball in the endzone, and on the next play Irv Smith caught a one yard TD pass near the endline. San Diego went back to Means on the next drive. Three of his runs and a 7 yard catch by Martin moved the ball to the NO 48. Harmon caught a an eleven yard pass to convert on 3rd & 3 from the 42. A great third down throw down the middle from Humphries to Pupunu put the ball at the 1. However, a holding penalty and two touchdown-saving pass deflections by Hughes forced SD to settle for another FG, this one from 29 yards out. A 15 yard loss via sack on 1st down sabotaged the Saints' next possession, though a sliding Early had his hands on a 3rd down pass that would've kept the drive going. The D did its job, though, as a good 3rd down hit by James Williams prevented SD from gaining a 1st and brought about a Charger punt. Starting from the NO 16, a 12 yard catch by Wesley Walls and a 7 yard reception by Early got things rolling. Yet another defensive pass interference call saved the Saints' necks on a 3rd & 2, and Brown ran 15 yards to the SD 41 on on the next play. Consecutive catches by Early, Haynes, Small, and Early again put the ball at the 8. Two plays later Lorenzo Neal barged into the endzone from 2 yards out. A dump over the middle to Walls made for a successful 2-point conversion, and the Saints were within eleven with 9:39 to go in the game. Though two runs by Means immediately moved the ball to midfield, the defense stiffened and prevented the Chargers from gaining further yardage. An unlucky punt roll all the way to the 3 put the Saints in a hole. The Saints picked up a first down via (say it with me, now) defensive pass interference (actually, Brown made the catch for a 1st down anyway this time). A run by Brown and a catch by Early gave the Saints another 1st at the 30. The team's hopes were dashed though, when Junior Seau poked the ball from Brown's grasp. San Diego kicked a 28 yard FG with 3:39 remaining, stopped the Saints on downs at midfield, and ran out the clock. This will sound strange coming from someone who attended Georgia Tech from 1987 to 1992, but I've always been a Bobby Ross skeptic. Yeah, the 'Jackets won the national championship in 1990 (Colorado, kindly bite me), but Tech wasn't *that* great. I won't bother to disrespect the Chargers here (partially because I half-way respect them and partially because the rest of r.s.f.p. will pooh-pooh them for me anyway). The Saints are in bad shape with one week to go before the bye. The Rams game is not the gimme it appeared to be at the start of the season. If the defense doesn't figure out how to stop a big back soon, Bettis will eat us alive again. I must say that the offense actually looked pretty good today, but that's little consolation in the wake of a 2-5 record. stats- Everett: 24-35-206, 2TD Brown: 13-81 rushing; 5-29 receiving Neal: 3-0, TD rushing Haynes: 1-15 rushing; 7-51 receiving Early: 1-8 rushing; 6-58, TD receiving Small: 3-48 receiving Walls: 2-19 receiving Smith: 1-1, TD receiving San Diego: 40-198, 3TD rushing; 180 passing yards ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu