Rams Come Long Way--From New Orleans to Near-Perfect Win

Oh, Ram Coach John Robinson had seen enough, all right. After all, how much can a man take?

So there, in front of the hometown crowd, for the second time in three games, Robinson pulled quarterback Dieter Brock from the lineup.

By then, Brock had done enough damage. Anything more would have been inhumane. Robinson knew it. The St. Louis Cardinals, the Ram opponents Sunday, knew it. And so did Brock, who reacted accordingly.

He smiled. He shook hands with teammates. He donned a warmup jacket.

Brock spent about half the third period and the entire fourth quarter standing on the sideline and loving every moment of it. It’s not often that you’re told to take the rest of the day off because you did something right.

But there was Brock, who threw four touchdown passes against the Cardinals and completed 13 of 20 passes for 216 yards and zero interceptions, enjoying the luxury of idleness. This wasn’t New Orleans, where Brock had been summoned to the bench by Robinson as the Saints humiliated the Rams, 29-3. This was Anaheim . . . the Cardinals . . . a 46-14 win.

Soon there were other starters on the sideline. Running back Eric Dickerson exited early, as did guard Dennis Harrah and receiver Henry Ellard. Everyone on the Ram roster played Sunday.

Before the game was finished, before the Rams officially could claim the NFC West division title, Brock had been joined by his backup Jeff Kemp, who had been replaced by Steve Dils.

“It was nice to get our uniforms dirty,” said Kemp, who usually can fold his Ram attire following a game and hand it back to team equipment men.

Said Brock: “I don’t know if you can expect to have games like this all the time.”

All Brock did was lead the Rams to scores six of the nine times he was in the game. His first touchdown pass, a 13-yarder to wide receiver Ron Brown, came after Brock noticed one of the St. Louis Cardinal safeties sneaking up to the line of scrimmage. Brown said he didn’t see the safety but he did hear Brock signal for the new play, and that’s all that mattered. Brown ran a slant pattern, caught the pass and then carried Wayne Smith on his back for five yards and a touchdown.

“Said Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin: “When we went back down there and scored, I knew we were going to win the game today. Once you get rolling against a team like that, you can blow them out.”

Brock’s next touchdown pass came on a 47-yard reception by Tony Hunter. Brock saw linebacker Freddie Joe Nunn attempting pass coverage of the swifter Hunter and took advantage of the situation.

Later, on another audible, Brock completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Henry Ellard.

Allowed Brock: “We had a couple of audibles that really worked for us.”

The Rams could count the number of noticeable errors on one hand Sunday. There were two missed field goals and an errant extra point by placekicker Mike Lansford (“Yeah, start with Lansford and end with Lansford,” he said). An end-around didn’t work and, let’s see, the part in Robinson’s hair looked a bit crooked. Otherwise, this was an afternoon of pleasure for the Rams.

“Everything went according to script,” defensive end Gary Jeter said.

That would be the script that had Brock throw a season-high touchdown total while Dickerson eased in and out of gaping holes for 124 yards, two touchdowns and an impressive 6.2-yard average.

“This is like the old days when we opened up holes,” tight end David Hill said.

What else? Well, Hill caught a pass for 37 yards, which is only his longest reception in eight years. Injured free safety Johnnie Johnson and center Doug Smith were able to view the game as spectators as Vince Newsome and Tony Slaton took their places in the lineup. Lansford forced a fumble during a St. Louis kickoff return. And, get this, Ram wide receiver Bobby Duckworth was in attendance.

Lansford did add a 46-yard field goal for the final Ram points, but it was his tackle of St. Louis returner J.T. Smith that pleased him the most.

“I’m tired of hearing about kickers aren’t athletes,” he said.

The Rams also witnessed an uninspired effort from the Cardinals, who may have well seen the last of Coach Jim Hanifan. St. Louis owner Bill Bidwill was at the game. “Normal procedure,” said a St. Louis official.

But holding pink slips?