All Carried Away With Takeaways : When It Comes to Turnovers, Nobody Does Better Than Rams

Any team playing the Rams these days is advised to watch those shifty-eyed guys on the other side of the line.

At the coin toss, make sure they don’t slip it into their pocket, and when they shake hands after the game don’t worry about your wristbands because they’ll already be gone.

Most of all, don’t leave any valuables lying around. Like the football.

The Rams lead the National Football League in picking opponents’ pockets--to the tune of 33 times in nine games, 12 fumble recoveries and 21 interceptions. The Bears are second with 30.

“You can look at turnovers two ways,” says defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur, “as gifts, or you gotta make ‘em happen. We’ve adopted the philosophy that we’re gonna make ‘em happen.

“A lot of ‘em are a direct result of our improvement in the pass rush and in our pass coverage . . . the quarterback being harassed to the point where he’s uncertain where he’s gonna throw and throws into coverage, or we’ve got such tight coverage that guys are in position to make plays on the ball.

“We don’t have any incentives. We don’t pay any money for it. We look at it as our job, (which is) to keep ‘em out of the end zone and turn the ball over for the offense in as good a field position as we can. We stress that--and, also, if we can score on defense.”

Already, defensive backs LeRoy Irvin and Johnnie Johnson and linebacker Carl Ekern have returned interceptions for touchdowns. “We’ve talked a lot about that,” Shurmur said. “We’ve talked about it for three years, and it’s finally happening.”

“They well deserve to have that know the strong’st and surest way to get.”--Shakespeare.

Takeaways can’t really be coached, the players and coaches say. Not directly, anyway.

Steve Shafer, who coaches the Rams’ secondary, says: “The first thing you’ve got you do is get yourself in position to make a play. Then you make a decision on whether you’ve got a chance for the football or you’ve got to strip the football to make it an incomplete pass. We don’t gamble to make that play. It’s experience that tells you when you’ve got a shot and when you don’t.

“Once we get position on the receiver we look for the football, and then we play the football just like the receiver does.”

Before this season, the NFL issued a new interpretation of its pass interference rule, giving defenders virtually equal rights to a pass, as long as they appear to the officials as though they are playing the ball.

“On the deep pass, it’s definitely enabled the defensive back to become more aggressive and (to think) ‘Hey, I am the receiver, it’s my ball, just as much as it is his,’ ” Shafer said.

But the part Shafer likes best is that the Rams have been handed only two pass interference penalties all season--both on cornerback Gary Green--and one of those saved the Minnesota win because the Vikings failed to score on the next play as time expired. Irvin, alone, used to be good for that many in a single afternoon.

“Oh, gosh, he was probably leading the league,” Shafer says. “We believe turnovers can make the difference in winning and losing, so we’re always thinking that. It’s the same idea of swarming the football with 11 guys. When the ball’s on the ground, if you’re all there, your chances increase of you getting it.

“If you can turn ‘em over and your offense doesn’t, your odds of winning go up drastically.”

“Thieves are never rogues among themselves.”--Cervantes.

The Rams share their booty equally and unselfishly. Irvin and Green have five interceptions apiece, tying them for the league lead with seven others. But they give credit elsewhere.

“The single-most important factor is our defensive line,” Irvin says. “They’re really putting pressure on the quarterbacks. We’ve had some big hits from the linebackers to force fumbles, but the pressure on the quarterbacks has been the big thing.”

End Gary Jeter enjoys sacks as much as any lineman but says: “A ‘hurry’ that causes an interception is definitely better than a sack.”

Johnson says: “I’d be curious to know how many of our interceptions have been the result of somebody being in the quarterback’s face. I know three of my four.”

Safety Nolan Cromwell: “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of planning. Interceptions come from making the quarterback throw on time, if not a little bit before . . . getting him a little rattled.”

“Let him take who take can.”--Rabelais.

The impact of having the ball taken away can be devastating to an offense.

“If you can get a takeaway, it’s a letdown for the offense and a pump-up for our offense,” Cromwell says.

Rams Coach John Robinson says: “It’s terribly demoralizing. It really hurts. Interceptions seem to be quite painful, but they’re really costly if they’re in your territory. If you fumble the ball in your territory, it’s usually points.”

Overall, the Rams are plus-11 in turnovers, second only to the Chicago Bears (plus 12). By coincidence or not, the Bears and the Rams have the best records in the conference.

“It’s a state of mind,” Robinson says.

In other words, think theft.