Rams Hit an Early Peak in 39-7 Win
The St. Louis Cardinals came into Anaheim Stadium Thursday night, riding a wave of what many consider to be Super Bowl potential, but the Rams sent them home with second thoughts, 39-7.
It was a meaningless midsummer exercise, but still, the 40,518 spectators couldn’t help but be impressed as the Rams seemed to solve all their problems at once.
A souped-up passing game? Dieter Brock completed 13 of 24 passes and had 5 others dropped in a 20-0 first half.
Eric Dickerson’s holdout? Barry Redden, who rushed for 94 yards last week, had 109 yards and two touchdowns this time in only 12 carries.
Pass rush? The Rams neutralized the Cardinals’ talented quarterback, Neil Lomax, and his backups with a banzai rush that produced 10 sacks and 2 interceptions. Rookie linebacker Kevin Greene from Auburn had four sacks, while veteran Gary Jeter and Doug Reed had two apiece.
One of Reed’s sacks was a safety. He was playing left end, a position that may or may not await the return of Jack Youngblood for a 15th campaign.
Mike Lansford kicked two field goals, including the longest of his life--53 yards--and the Rams totaled 484 yards in offense against the team that ranked eighth in the National Football League in defense last season.
A.J. Jones, too ill last week to compete for a running-back position, ran 8 times for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Charles White was 9 for 62. The Rams trampled the Cardinals almost at will for 243 yards on the ground, while allowing only 49.
Ram Coach John Robinson can hardly carry his charade of a quarterback contest any further.
“I thought Dieter Brock played almost a perfect game in the first half,” Robinson said. “It looked like he had played in the NFL 11 or 12 years. I’m not talking about just throwing the ball. I’m talking about the ability to play the position.
“As a team, we were just ‘on’ for the night. It was no indication of the merits of the two football teams but a case of us getting in the flow pretty fast.
“Defensively, we put pressure on the quarterback all night and forced them to move around. Kevin Greene is an exciting football player.”
Reggie Doss and Ed Brady also had sacks. They got Lomax’s backup, Rick McIvor, eight times.
Robinson may have a problem keeping his players humble next Friday night when they go to Columbus, Ohio, to play the Philadelphia Eagles in their third exhibition game.
“The lack of continuity I talked about last week (in a 7-3 win over Houston) was not there tonight,” Robinson said. “You hope you can play better than this as many times in 16 weeks (the regular season) as possible to have a chance to be a contender.”
The Rams scored the first three times they had the ball as Redden ran for all of his yards and Brock completed 8 of 16 passes, with 4 drops.
The question they must ask themselves, however, is whether the offense has become a juggernaut without Dickerson or whether the Cardinal defense just took the night off. The Rams weren’t nearly as impressive five nights earlier.
Time will tell, but the Cardinals, 10-3 winners over the Chicago Bears last week, were missing both of their regular defensive tackles--Mark Duda and David Galloway--along with free safety Benny Perrin and linebacker Charlie Baker, all of whom stayed at training camp with injuries.
Redden was in for a big night from the outset, breaking for 15 yards off left tackle when the Cardinals’ middle linebacker, E.J. Junior, lost him in the traffic. With nifty moves and the Cardinals’ indifferent tackling, Redden slipped and slashed 5 times for 57 yards on the Rams’ first possession.
The drive stalled at the Cardinal five-yard line when Brock threw away one pass, then was sacked by rookie linebacker Freddie Joe Nunn, the Cardinals’ first-round draft choice from Mississippi.
Lansford kicked a 27-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
St. Louis was stuffed by the Ram defense on three plays, and the Rams were rolling again. Brock completed 3 of 4 passes--11 yards to Henry Ellard, 19 to Ron Brown and an improvised 31-yard strike to tight end Mike Barber after being chased from the pocket.
Near the goal line, Redden crashed for eight yards to the one against a six-man defensive front, then dived over right guard behind Mike Guman and guard Dennis Harrah for his first touchdown.
Lomax, who played only three series at quarterback, stirred up a strong drive by completing his next six passes and scrambled nine yards from the shotgun to reach the Ram five.
At that point the Ram defense tightened up. Reserve linebacker Mark Jerue tackled Ottis Anderson for a four-yard loss, Lomax threw an incomplete pass and linebacker Jim Collins got in front of Pat Tilley at the goal line for a third-down interception that spoiled even a field-goal opportunity.
On the Rams’ next scoring drive, Brock wouldn’t be denied, despite three dropped passes and a holding penalty. The Rams were third-and-long three times, but the Canadian Football League repatriate completed passes to Ellard for 23 yards and Michael Harper for 13, and Redden burst for 27 when a draw play opened up a hole similar to the St. Louis Arch.
Harrah’s block freed Redden for an eight-yard scoring run off left tackle.
Brock almost salvaged his only non-scoring possession when he found Ellard over the middle for 22 yards on third-and-23, but by that time the Rams were up, 17-0, and Lomax had departed in scoreless frustration.
Brock’s passes to tight end Mike Barber, for seven, seven and six yards, moved the Rams along to Lansford’s 53-yard shot for a 20-0 lead seven seconds before halftime.
The Ram defense held St. Louis’ regular offense to 37 yards rushing in the first 30 minutes. Lomax completed 7 of 13 passes for 78 yards and was sacked by Jeter, who also got McIvor before the first half was over. Jeter, with three sacks in parts of the first two practice games, seems to be slipping smoothly into his role as designated pass rusher.
Doss, who plays on the run-defense platoon, also nailed McIvor, whose career hit a new low when the second half opened. The Ram kickoff coverage crew buried the Cardinals at their own 13 when Greene, who was everywhere, stopped returner Curtland Thomas in his tracks. On first down, McIvor dropped back to pass--and dropped back and dropped back--until Reed smothered him in the end zone for a safety.
Steve Dils ran the Ram offense in the third quarter and on his first series made it look as easy as Brock had. He completed all three of his passes--9 and 12 yards to Otis Grant, 11 to White--and White ran a cutback play for 13 before A.J. Jones came in to score from six yards away for a 29-0 lead.
By then, most of the headliners had departed, giving St. Louis a chance to break the shutout. McIvor capped a 92-yard drive with a 42-yard rainbow pass to Clyde Duncan over cornerback Jerry Gray, the Rams’ first-round pick.
Jeff Kemp--remember him?--came out of the bullpen in the last quarter and led two scoring drives. He completed 3 of 7 passes for 50 yards. Dils was 4 for 5 for 42.
Kemp’s 13-yard pass to tight end James McDonald and runs by Jones for 11 and by White for seven put backup kicker Ken Potter in position for a 31-yard field goal.
Kemp took the Rams 78 yards with passes to rookie Michael Young for 12 yards and McDonald for 25 before White churned for nine and Jones went the last 20 up the middle, weaving through defenders left and right.
Rookie cornerback Holbert Johnson gave the Rams another chance to score in the last two minutes when he intercepted a pass by Kyle Mackey and returned it 21 yards to the Card 22.
But the Rams were content to run the ball and let time run out, sending the Cardinals on a long, red-eye flight home this morning.
Ram Notes
The Rams had no serious injuries. Offensive tackle Bill Bain and tight end Tony Hunter did not play because of minor injuries. . . . The Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers at home next Friday night. . . . The Rams waived five players Thursday and placed three others on injured reserve, leaving the roster at 75. Released were defensive back Kevin Brown, an 11th-round draft choice from Northwestern, and free agents Jonathan Finstuen (running back) from Occidental, Raymond Arnold (wide receiver) from Hayward State, Ed St. Geme (safety) from Stanford and Jim Palmer (safety) from Boise State. Put on injured reserve were rookie wide receivers Sam Moore from Sam Houston State and seventh-round draft choice Danny Bradley from Oklahoma, and rookie defensive end Steve Gibson from Cal Poly SLO.