A Bruise to Bettis Hobbles All Hope : Rams: Pain in his lower back throws the offense off kilter when he is needed most, in fourth quarter.

Tailback Jerome Bettis had done his best to disguise quarterback Tommy Maddox’s inexperience in the Ram offense Sunday. All Maddox had to do was hand Bettis the ball and get out of the way.

Simple enough, right?

The Rams abandoned their basic but effective strategy late in the fourth quarter of their 8-5 loss to the Falcons on Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

Bettis carried 16 times for 72 yards in the second half, but with the Rams behind and driving with less than two minutes left, Maddox put the ball in the hands of jersey No. 36--not Bettis, but Falcon defensive back Kevin Ross.

Ross intercepted Maddox’s pass, which was intended for Isaac Bruce, at the Falcon 38-yard line and returned it to the Rams’ 46. The Falcons ran out the clock, dropping the Rams to 2-3 overall and 0-3 against NFC West opponents.

So why was Maddox (seven of 15 for 86 yards passing with two interceptions) throwing the ball instead of handing it to Bettis when the game was on the line?

After all, Bettis had given the Rams a first down at the Falcon 27 with a 10-yard run up the middle, dragging four tacklers with him.

“That’s a hard call to make,” said Bettis, who gained 117 yards in 29 carries. “I was a little banged up, so you have to take that into consideration. That was a decision that they (coaches) had to make in the heat of battle.

“And they made it.”

Bettis, along with the defense, gave the Rams a chance to win despite three key injuries to the offense.

Starting quarterback Chris Chandler watched the second half on crutches after suffering a sprained left ankle in the first half. Starting center Bern Brostek sat out the second half because of sprained ankles, and Bettis bruised his hip while being tackled on a 27-yard gain early in the third quarter.

Maddox became the No. 2 quarterback this week because Chris Miller was still suffering from shoulder and rib injuries. Maddox had sat out Wednesday’s practice because of flu and got only a handful of snaps in practice this week.

“We never got anything going like we wanted to,” Bettis said. “We tried to get the passing game going, but when Chandler went down, that made things a little rougher for us. That was a key injury for us as far as our offensive production.

“When Chris went down, you had to run the football. We couldn’t put a lot of pressure on Tommy because he didn’t have a lot of practice time and reps.”

Which was why Bettis carried eight consecutive times for 44 yards to open the second half. He put the Rams in position to score by bursting up the middle for a 27-yard gain to the Falcon one, but it was called back because of a holding penalty on left guard Chuck Belin and the Rams settled for a 28-yard field goal by Tony Zendejas.

Belin, playing in his second NFL game, said he didn’t believe he was holding on the play.

“The guy beat me upfield and I moved inside and tried to ward him off,” said Belin, who came in the game when left guard Tom Newberry replaced the injured Brostek at center. “His hand broke through (under Belin’s arm) and the official thought it was holding.

“It’s a mistake nobody wants to make, and I feel bad about it.”

As the officials marched off the 10-yard penalty, Bettis got up slowly, having been hit hard by Vinnie Clark as he was trying to pound his way into the end zone.

“The guy hit me pretty low, in my upper buttocks and low back,” Bettis said. “That’s how it got bruised. He got me pretty good, and the muscle started tightening up. It was rough to keep it loose out there.”

Trainers hurriedly worked on Bettis on the sideline, stretching his legs as he lay on the ground. He returned later in the drive, and remained the focal point of the Rams’ ball-control offense the rest of the game.

Bettis has rushed for more than 100 yards in four consecutive games. But the Rams are 1-3 this season and 3-8 overall in his 100-yard games.

With the Rams tied with New Orleans for last place in the NFC West, they need a victory this Sunday at Green Bay, where they lost by 30 points last season.

Is Bettis worried? He didn’t seem to be Sunday.

“We played a pretty good game today even though we lost our starting center, our starting quarterback, and I was banged up,” Bettis said. “So we’re going to rebound from this loss.

“I know we can.”