Despite both residing in southern California for many, many years the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers have met precious few times in the regular season. Yes, there was the St. Louis period for the Rams, but even so the two teams have squared off just 11 times since the AFL/NFL merger.
This Sunday’s game at the Coliseum will be the first time the two teams have met while both residing in Los Angeles. But I want to go back much further, to the first season of the merged league when the then-San Diego Chargers met the Rams for their first regular-season game.
The Rams entered week 3 with a two-game winning streak, while the Chargers had lost to the Colts and tied the Raiders. L.A. had come within one game of an NFL championship the season before, while San Diego finished a respectable 8-6 in the AFL’s Western Division.
The Rams piled on the points in the first half, thanks mostly to strong special teams. David Ray kicked three field goals while the second period featured a blocked punt recovered for a TD by Jeff Jordan. Rams QB Roman Gabriel threw for 104 yards and one score, while the Chargers managed just 168 total passing yards between John Hadl and Marty Domres. The beleaguered tandem was sacked 10 times by the Rams defense.
