It’s a Game of Inches (36) as Rams Stay Unbeaten : Vikings Pass Up Sure Field Goal and Lose, 13-10

A yard away and a second remaining: this is what coaches get paid--and fired--for.

Bud Grant needn’t worry. He has a lifetime job with the Minnesota Vikings but, all in all, maybe he should have kicked the field goal.

That virtually automatic chipshot would have given the Vikings a 13-13 tie and sent Sunday’s game into overtime. Instead, the Rams threw back Darrin Nelson’s desperate dive and emerged with a 13-10 margin as one of only two 5-0 teams in the National Football League. Chicago is also undefeated.

Why did Grant gamble?

“We had a chance to win the ball game,” he said.

No chance, said Ram nose tackle Greg Meisner and linebacker Jim Collins, a pair of knockabout best pals who teamed up to stuff Nelson for a half-yard loss.

It was, Meisner said, “One of those plays you dream about when you’re 8 years old.”

In a contest building from boredom to tense drama, the Vikings (3-2) took the play away from a sluggish Ram offense, overcame a 13-0 deficit and were on the edge of an upset, or at worst an overtime.

Tommy Kramer, a quarterback with a club fighter’s tenacity, started them on their last knockdown, drag-out drive at their own 26-yard line with 5:26 remaining. They had a fourth down at their own 45, but Nelson--a bar of soap squirting through the line all day--burst for 11 yards, and then Kramer--no antelope--ran around right end for 11.

Another test came on third-and-2 at the 17, but Nelson again found a seam in the center of the defense and darted all the way to within 1 1/2 yards of the goal before cornerback LeRoy Irvin dragged him down in a headlock.

Seven seconds remained, and the Vikings used their last timeout.

“We were looking for a pass all the way,” said the Rams’ other cornerback, Gary Green. “With seven seconds left and with no timeouts left, there’s no way in the world they’re gonna run it. We figured it would be a run-pass option.”

Kramer sent tight end Steve Jordan to the far-left corner of the end zone, but his pass sailed beyond Jordan’s reach--probably because Green had grabbed him going by.

“He got up on me so fast I knew if I let him go by me it would be a touchdown,” Green said. “So I reached a hand out and just kind of hooked him for a second. I get away with that sometimes, but flags hit me in the head and everywhere else.”

The pass interference call in the end zone automatically put the ball on the one-yard line, with 0:01 showing on the clock. No regrets, Green said.

“Rather than give up a touchdown, I’ll hold every time,” he said.

The Rams weren’t sure what the Vikings would try next, except they were pretty sure it wouldn’t be a field goal since Jan Stenerud was still standing on the sideline.

The Vikings line up in an “I,” with Nelson behind Ted Brown, hands on his knees--a run formation. Brown would be the lead blocker.

One problem: over on the Ram sideline, defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur had called for a Goal Line Blitz defense, anticipating a pass.

“We only have two goal-line defenses,” Shurmur said, “Goal-Line Gap and Goal-Line Blitz. If they’re running straight at you, that’s a bad call.”

Wrong defense, right players. The Rams dug in down in the infield dirt that the Angels won’t need until next year, and prepared to test their resolve.

“My objective is to get some penetration,” said Meisner, who burrowed through the Viking offensive line from below as Nelson started his run. “I turned my shoulder and was able to keep my feet and force him to jump a little sooner than he wanted to.”

Collins said: “I thought they might run a lead play right up the gut, so I just started forward (at the snap). I was diving over the top. I saw him coming all the way and just hit his bottom side.”

Nelson disappeared in the mass of flailing bodies, but the officials said there was no doubt he had not scored.

Line judge Dan Wilford said: “He was a good yard and a half away from the goal line. He didn’t get back to the line of scrimmage.”

Ram Coach John Robinson said: “Given the seven seconds, I was insisting they were gonna pass and (then) come back and kick it. Then I think the penalty got them tempted. They were down there close and had us going.

“Minnesota played an almost perfect game, and I’m not sure we did, but we came away with the win and that’s most important. We had control of the game for a long period of time, but it seemed when we went ahead 13 to zip they started saying, well, to heck with being conservative, and started pushing the ball up the field.

“I really like Kramer. He’s one of those competitive type of guys. Their defense came after us hard and had us off balance. We just couldn’t seem to generate anything.”

On the other hand, Robinson said he loved the goal-line stand.

“That’s the first time this year I’ve said, hey, we might have something here. It’s great to be 5 and 0. God knows we’ve got a thousand miles to travel, but we’ve got the right kind of men to travel it.”

The Rams’ first six points came on field goals of 43 and 33 yards by Mike Lansford, and 61,139 fans in Anaheim Stadium seemed to relax.

Relax? They almost went to sleep, but after halftime the action picked up.

The Vikings’ only turnover set up the Rams’ only touchdown. Kramer passed 13 yards to Leo Lewis on the first play of the second half, and Irvin stripped the ball loose as Lewis ran upfield. Linebacker Mel Owens scooped it up and returned 14 yards to the Viking 19.

Quarterback Dieter Brock passed 10 yards to Henry Ellard and Dickerson’s three runs got the rest--the last two yards off right tackle behind Irv Pankey and Jackie Slater.

Then, for the last 26 minutes and 48 seconds, the Rams ran only 14 plays to the Vikings’ 44. The Vikings’ defense--ranked 26th in the league before Sunday--constantly tried to claw the ball loose from Dickerson and ultimately shut him down with only 55 yards on 25 attempts (2.2 average).

Brock completed 14 of only 20 passes for 144 yards, with no interceptions--another error-free but uninspiring afternoon.

It seems the Rams’ basic third-and-long play is still a draw handoff to Dickerson--and punt.

Kramer was 21 for 36, mostly short stuff and dumpoffs to his backs and tight ends, but the surprise was Nelson’s success on the ground against the league’s top-ranked rushing defense.

Nelson, only 5-9 and 185, ran 17 times for 94 yards (5.53), hitting the holes quickly and slipping past the linebackers before they could find him.

Overall, the Vikings outgained the Rams, 306 yards to 188, and led in first downs, 25 to 14.

But, as Shurmur said, “The payoff is in points. I still believe that.”

The Ram defense has allowed only 62 points, best in the league.

Shurmur also pointed out that the Vikings’ longest pass completion was 23 yards.

“No big ones,” he said. “The fact our corners played so well and didn’t give ‘em the big ones was significant.”

The Rams might have known it would be a difficult day when Dickerson lost a pitchout on their opening series and linebacker Chris Doleman, the Vikings’ first-round draft choice, recovered.

Kramer and Nelson took the Vikings back to the Rams’ 11-yard line, but Owens sacked Kramer and a third-down pass fell incomplete. Stenerud tried a field goal, but safety Vince Newsome slipped through from the left side to deflect it.

“I just jumped through,” Newsome said. “They were concentrating on Gary Green on the outside. I call it the Ivory Sully technique.”

Sully is the former Ram known for blocking kicks who now plays for Tampa Bay, the next opponent.

There were other big plays from the Ram defense. Midway in the fourth quarter, Green reached around Nelson to bat down a third-down pass in the end zone, forcing the Vikings to settle for Stenerud’s 24-yard field goal.

In the third quarter, linebacker Mike Wilcher sacked Kramer, but when the ball came loose Nelson picked it up and ran for 15 yards to boost Minnesota’s only touchdown drive.

On third and 8 at the 11, Kramer hit wide receiver Mike Jones on a quick slant for 10 yards, and Brown rammed the last yard off left tackle to make it 13-7, the first time anyone had run the ball into the Rams’ end zone this season.

Collins led all defenders with 16 tackles, along with one sack, but he still saved his best for last.

“I knew we were capable of coming up with one more big play,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want every game to come down to that.”