Allen Goes Over Top as Raiders Defeat Rams : He Wins NFL Rushing Title in 16-6 Victory
‘Twas two nights before Christmas and, boy, was Marcus Allen stirring.
The Raiders’ vocal fans, among Anaheim Stadium’s second-largest football crowd of 66,670, would say that Allen deserves a mug, one filled with holiday cheer, for his contributions to the Raiders’ 16-6 victory over the Rams Monday night.
Until quarterback Marc Wilson passed 21 yards to Dokie Williams to clinch the win for the Raiders with 3:28 remaining, it was a tight, tense struggle of defense and kicking. Allen provided most of the offense with 123 yards rushing on 24 attempts, plus 25 yards receiving.
He passed Atlanta’s Gerald Riggs early in the last quarter and went on to win the National Football League rushing title with 1,759 yards--less than what Dickerson had in each of the last two seasons, but the first time a Raider has led the league in rushing in their 25 years.
Allen’s three-figure total also equaled Walter Payton’s recent record of nine consecutive games over 100 yards, and he was only the second player after Riggs to do it against the Rams this season.
Dickerson didn’t exactly take the night off himself, although Ram Coach John Robinson gave him the chance. Dickerson shook off a tight right hamstring that had made his participation doubtful, rushed 25 times for 98 yards and was still in the game on the final series.
Maybe it was a foolhardy act to risk injury in a game that was technically meaningless for the Rams, but they played as if they wanted to win. The Raiders just wouldn’t let them.
It meant more to the men who now occupy the Coliseum. The AFC West champions (12-4) know now that if they defeat the AFC wild-card winner (the New York Jets or New England Patriots) at the Coliseum Sunday, Jan. 5, they’ll also play the Miami Dolphins or Cleveland Browns at home Jan. 12.
The NFC West champion Rams (11-5) already knew they would be home against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, Jan. 4. But, there they were, scrapping and scuffling to the finish.
While the Raiders’ former Heisman Trophy winner spurred his team’s victory, the Rams’ former Heisman winner, Charles White, did his part on special teams with no less intensity.
White was ejected from the game for attempting to kick Raider safety Odis McKinney as they wrestled in front of the Rams’ bench after a punt in the third quarter.
One play earlier, Ram nose tackle Charles DeJurnett, who at 33 is old enough to know better, skirmished with Raider guard Curt Marsh, indicating that this could be a big rivalry if the teams met more than once every three years.
The win increased the Raiders’ series edge to 4-1 and pushed their Monday night record up to 24-3-1, but at the end good cheer prevailed. David Hill shared a TV interview with Howie Long, former Penn State pals Matt Millen and Mike Guman talked about old times, and Brad Van Pelt went mellow with former Giant teammate Gary Jeter.
The Raiders never trailed, although the Rams got even twice at 3-3 and 6-6 before Chris Bahr’s third field goal and Wilson’s touchdown pass to Williams put it away.
Bahr connected from 27, 51 and 29 yards after missing his first attempt from 49. The Rams’ Mike Lansford was good from 52 and 40 yards and missed from 50.
The Raider defense fought its way past three Pro Bowl players in the Rams’ offensive line to sack Ram quarterback Dieter Brock six times--twice each by Greg Townsend and Mitch Willis--and limited the Rams’ offense to 220 total net yards. It was the second time this season the Rams had been held without a touchdown, the other being their 29-3 loss at New Orleans.
Brock completed 14 of 28 passes for 159 yards, with no interceptions, but a lot of that was in garbage time. He was 7 for 10 for 74 yards on the Rams’ final drive as an unconcerned Lester Hayes sat on his helmet between plays. Brock threw his last pass over the end zone from the 30-yard line.
Minutes earlier, a tough stand by the Rams’ defense averted a second Raider touchdown. Ram tight end Tony Hunter had the ball stripped by safety Stacey Toran after catching a pass and linebacker Jeff Barnes caught it in the air and returned it to the Rams’ 12-yard line.
But with fourth and one at the two and Allen safely out of the game, Ram linebacker Carl Ekern met backup Kenny King in mid-air to stop the bid.
Hayes said: “The key to our success was our defense tonight. The silver and black is invincible in Los Angeles.”
Although his geography was off and he may have ignored Allen’s exploits, Hayes had a point. The first half was all special teams and defense--areas where both sides had excelled all season.
At halftime Dickerson, on 17 rushing attempts, had 63 of the Rams’ 50 total net yards after Brock was sacked four times for 40 yards.
Otherwise, kickers were hogging the limelight. Besides the field goals favoring the Raiders, 6-3, punters Ray Guy of the Raiders and rookie Dale Hatcher of the Rams were sending spirals high into the night mist--Guy’s keeping the Rams pinned in their own end, while Hatcher’s--two from the end zone--kept the Raiders somewhat at bay.
Bahr’s 51-yard punt was his longest this season. Lansford’s 52-yarder equaled his longest.
Wilson, who has rivaled Brock as the most maligned quarterback in either county this season, completed 19 of 29 for 188 yards and was sacked only once, by Jeter. Otherwise, the Rams hardly pressured him, although their structured zone coverage did force him to throw short most of the night.
His touchdown pass to Williams, Raider Coach Tom Flores said, was an accident.
“We actually ran the wrong play,” Flores said. “Marc misunderstood the play we called and called a different formation. Fortunately, it worked.”
The Rams were in their nickel defense with rookie Jerry Gray playing left cornerback. Williams ran past Gray and caught Wilson’s perfect pitch in the end zone.
The Raiders blew their best early scoring opportunity on a mixed-up field-goal attempt at the Rams’ three-yard line midway of the second quarter. Wilson, holding for Bahr, set the ball, but Bahr took off around right end, believing a fake was on.
Wilson then leaped to his feet but, with Gary Green rushing into his face, threw a wobbly pass toward Bahr that was intercepted by safety Vince Newsome, sending the Raiders away scoreless.
Wilson said: “I placed the ball down, and the next thing I knew he (Bahr) was running out of there. It’s funny now. It wasn’t funny then.”
Later, in the third quarter, the Rams, down 6-3, moved to the Raiders’ 12 on their best drive of the night, spurred by Brock’s 33-yard pass to Bobby Duckworth on third down.
On third and 11 at the 12, Brock went to Hunter at the right sideline and the tight end ran into the end zone for an apparent touchdown, but, on the other side of the field, Ram receiver Ron Brown was called for pushing off on Hayes, and the Rams had to settle for a tying field goal.
Otherwise, the Rams’ offense, pushed around deep in its own end in the first half, was given its best field position late in the half when rookie Kevin Greene stripped the ball from punt returner Fulton Walker, Newsome again recovering the turnover at the Raiders’ 37.
On that play, Walker passed former Raider Greg Pruitt for the NFL record in punt return yardage for a season, finishing with 692.
But after Dickerson swept right end for 10 yards on the first play, Willis sacked Brock, and all the Rams could manage was Lansford’s first tying field goal.
The Raiders had 35 seconds left after Lansford’s kickoff and made the most of it. On third down, Wilson passed 26 yards to tight end Todd Christensen, who absorbed a jolt by Green, juggled the ball twice and caught it with one hand, flat on his back, with eight seconds to play.
Bahr’s 51-yard kick put the Raiders back in front.
The Raiders took control with a drive starting at their 20-yard line near the end of three quarters. They ran a total of 22 plays on their next two series, driving 68 yards to a field goal and 55 to the touchdown, while the defense allowed the Rams only three plays and a punt in between.
The Raiders kept the Rams’ league-leading kick returners under control. Ron Brown’s longest of three kickoff returns was 24 yards, while Henry Ellard returned only one punt for four yards.
Robinson thought the Rams’ six penalties for 41 yards--two for holding and a couple of false starts--hurt his team.
“We lost because of a lack of efficiency,” he said. “They (the Raiders) were very efficient (2 penalties for 10 yards), which is unlike them. But it was our inability to get any kind of field position that was a major problem for us.”
Flores said: “We didn’t play a great game. We missed some opportunities. But tonight it was the Raiders who controlled.”
And Marcus Allen who delivered.