Raiders Like to Think There Wasn’t Much for Rams to Keep Hidden
Final thoughts from Southern California’s warmest non-rivalry:
The champions of the AFC West and Los Angeles and environs heard on Tuesday that the Rams’ John Robinson was suggesting his team had played under wraps. See if you can guess how the Raiders reacted to that one.
Coach Tom Flores, Robinson’s ex-roommate and good friend: “Well, maybe. But (Eric) Dickerson must have carried 25 times.”
Matt Millen: “If they were under wraps, then they’ve been under wraps for 16 weeks. That was the same thing they did all year.”
Howie Long: “I broke down 2 1/2 hours of film the night before the game. They’ve got eight plays and they ran all eight of them: counter-trey-oh, counter-trey-oh the other way, trap one way, trap the other way, flip one way, flip the other way, and two dives.”
Rod Martin: “I saw where Dickerson said we didn’t beat them, that they made mistakes. . . . If they care to put it to another test, we’ll be happy to see them again in New Orleans.”
Some final Raider defensive statistics:
--No one rushed for 100 yards against them, including 1,000-yard rushers Dickerson, Gerald Riggs, Curt Warner, Freeman McNeil and Kevin Mack. Only two players got to 90, Dickerson (98 in 25 carries) and Riggs (95 in 25).
--They had 65 sacks, high in the AFC, second in the NFL to the Giants’ 68. The Bears were third with 64.
--Ray Guy finished 10th in the AFC with a 40.8 overall punting average, but first with a net average of 36.3.
Two of the Raiders’ six sacks of Dieter Brock were registered by Mitch Willis, an Al Davis-style defensive lineman--he’s 6-7, 270--whose previous fame was limited to notices reporting that he was back on injured reserve.
Drafted seventh from SMU in 1984, Willis spent that season on injured reserve with a dislocated shoulder, and four weeks of this one on injured reserve after arthroscopic knee surgery.
Willis: “I enjoyed this game a lot. The sacks came out of our four-man line and I know teams don’t want to go against that, not with guys like Howie Long, Greg Townsend, Sean Jones, Lyle Alzado. I’m an unknown. They’re probably looking through our press guide right now, going: ‘Who is this guy?’ ”
Notes
The Raiders reactivated strong safety Mike Davis before the game. They still can activate three others, with the possibilities including quarterback Jim Plunkett and wide receiver Jim Smith. If Plunkett is brought back, it’ll be as a backup to Marc Wilson, and even that is in doubt. Tom Flores: “We still haven’t made a decision.”