Rams Notebook : Rams Hope Their Special Teams Will Make a Difference Against Bears
The Rams’ special teams have swung the balance in some games this season and represent their only real advantage in Sunday’s NFC title game at Chicago.
The Rams ranked first in punt returns, second (to the Bears) in kickoff returns, third in punt coverage and fourth in kickoff coverage for a league-leading total of 10 points on Gil Haskell’s personal rating scale.
Haskell, who coaches the Rams’ kick units, said the Bears ranked 12th in punt returns, first in kickoff returns, 11th in punt coverage, 25th in kickoff coverage and eighth overall.
In a statistical quirk, however, the Rams’ Ron Brown, a Pro Bowl selection, outranked the Bears’ Willie Gault in individual kickoff returns, averaging 32.8 yards to 26.2. Rams punt returner Henry Ellard ran second to the Patriots’ Irving Fryar, 14.1 to 13.5.
Haskell said television announcers weren’t creating alibis for Giants punter Sean Landeta and both teams’ placekickers when they said the wind caused their inept efforts at Soldier Field last Sunday. Landeta “foul-tipped” a punt that the Bears turned into a touchdown.
“That’s why I always tell the guy to ‘punt the ball out of your hands,’ ” Haskell said. “The wind is a factor.”
Asked if the wind could affect rookie All-Pro Dale Hatcher, whose towering punts have been a major factor in the Rams’ success, Haskell said: “It could. Those other guys are good kickers, and it affected them.
“Those kickers can’t be that bad. A placekicker, especially, will change his stance because the wind is in his face, trying to hit it harder, and that just screws up his motion. Then if it’s off line, the wind will move it just enough more to make him miss it.”
Temperature is another factor. Ram placekicker Mike Lansford works barefooted.
“But his strength is his ability to play well in big games,” Haskell said.
The Rams’ teams have been efficient all season. They lost two fumbles on kickoff returns, but Hatcher had no shanks while leading the league in net average (38.0). Long snapper Ed Brady was perfect, the coverage teams allowed no returns for touchdowns and the longest punt return allowed was 19 yards.
Haskell would settle for two more games just like that.
“This has to be an efficient game for us,” Haskell said. “We have to field all the balls, we’ve got to kick off to the right spot, and when we punt we have to make sure they don’t return it.”
There is much sympathy around Chicago and the National Football League that it would be a shame if Walter Payton never played in a Super Bowl.
Jackie Slater, the Rams’ offensive right tackle, blocked for Payton at Jackson State.
“As much as I love Walter,” Slater said, “I’d love to see him play in a Super Bowl--but not at the expense of the Rams. He can go later.”
The Rams were on Chicago time Wednesday, with earlier meetings and practices, and breakfast was served to the players instead of lunch.
On the milk cartons, somebody replaced the pictures of missing children with pictures of wide receiver Bobby Duckworth, who was AWOL for the game at New Orleans.
Odds on the Final Four teams winning the Super Bowl, according to The Gold Sheet:
Chicago Bears, 2-3.
Miami Dolphins, 5-2.
New England Patriots, 7-2.
Rams, 10-1.
One-line assessment of the Bears by Rams Coach John Robinson:
“They are potentially one of the great teams, but they aren’t now. They have to beat us and Miami or New England. We have a chance to be one of the best teams, too.”
The other side of the weather coin: Rams trainer Jim Anderson was working for the Oakland Invaders when they played a United States Football League game against the Blitz at Chicago on July 3, 1983.
“It was 129 degrees on the field, with no wind,” Anderson said. “Nothing was blowing.”
How hot was it?
“It was so hot,” Anderson said, “that the soles of the shoes were melting off.”
Robinson cut off any further radio or TV interviews with Chicago media after a distasteful experience this week.
Apparently, the Chicago interviewer was overly patronizing about the “no-name” Rams and suggestive that they couldn’t perform in cold weather--a theme that the patient Robinson is tolerating with greater difficulty each day.