EARTH CITY, Mo. – The frustration was evident when St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher met with the media Monday after Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the San Diego Chargers.

The Rams fell to 4-7 Sunday and an interception ended their last threat on a play that began at the Chargers 4-yard line in the final minute of the game. However, much of the focus was on several penalties by the crew led by referee Carl Cheffers that entered the weekend as league leaders in calling an average of 19.6 penalties per game, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Asked about the officiating, Fisher, co-chairman of the NFL competition committee, said Monday, “You know, every week we play a different opponent and there are different challenges associated with the teams that we play. Unfortunately, it seems like every week is an adventure with the officiating. We deal with it and we move on. They’re doing the best they can.

“(NFL vice president of officiating) Dean (Blandino) is doing the best he can from a consistency standpoint. That’s what he’s striving for. It is inconsistent week-to-week. There were some things that I disagreed with yesterday, but you can’t change it.”

When it was noted to Fisher about Cheffers crew’s penchant for calling penalties, he said, “We knew that going in. I knew that this crew’s going to throw and we talked about it. They were incorrect at times during the game. They missed some things as well. It’s just part of our game. It’s the human element in the game.

“I feel bad for Tavon (Austin) because we go to San Francisco and we were called out of bounds and we’re called for an illegal block above the waist and it’s not. So, they take a touchdown off the board. We had the same thing happen yesterday.”

Fisher was referring to a play in the fourth quarter after the Rams had cut the San Diego lead to 27-24. The Rams then stopped the Chargers, and they punted from the 23-yard line. Austin fielded the ball at the 22-yard line and then returned the punt to around the San Diego 5-yard line.

However, officials called an illegal block against a Rams player in which the number was apparently announced incorrectly. In addition, there was a Chargers penalty on punter Mike Scifres for going low against a Rams player.

The officials first ruled the offsetting penalties would result in the Rams getting the ball at the 22, where Austin fielded the punt. After a discussion between Fisher and the officials, the placement of the ball was changed to the San Diego 40-yard line, where the Rams penalty allegedly occurred. Linebacker Marshall McFadden, No. 51, was identified as the culprit. However, he was nowhere near the San Diego 40. Rams safety Maurice Alexander, No. 31, was in the area of the 40-yard line, but did not appear to be guilty of an infraction.

For Fisher’s part, he disputes that a penalty happened. “I didn’t see it, we’ve been looking for it today,” he said. “Seriously, we looked all over the place for it. We just didn’t see it.”

When a follow-up question was asked again if coaches looked everywhere for the penalty, Fisher laughed and said, “We did. Yeah, we did. We even looked at some other games and didn’t see it.”

Meanwhile, Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt said after the game he was held on the play that resulted in a Shaun Hill interception on the final Rams play.

Said Fisher succinctly, when asked about Britt’s claim, “He was held. Yes. Sometimes that’s not called.”

But he also acknowledged quarterback Shaun Hill shouldn’t have thrown the ball to Hill because if Hill, who looked left at first, had waited an extra moment, he would have seen running back Benny Cunningham open.

Fisher said, “Sometimes your guys are held and Kenny was grabbed on the last play, but that’s no reason to throw the ball to Kenny. You guys saw it, Benny came open and Shaun just made a bad decision.”