Rams Are 2-0 but Their Offense Is Sputtering : Coury Won’t Pass the Blame; He Says Bartkowski, System Need Time to Eliminate Bugs
The Rams are 2-0, so they really don’t need to go around diagramming for anyone the shortcomings of their new pass offense.
In fact, they have a good chance to go to 3-0 today when they play the winless Indianapolis Colts at the Hoosier Dome at 10 a.m. PDT.
And what’s so wrong with that?
Plenty, if you’re Dick Coury, the quarterback coach the Rams brought in to make passes spiral again.
And although John Robinson is the man generally blamed for his team’s plodding offensive scheme, Coury says he’s the one who should be taking the heat.
“I feel bad that people lambaste him,” Coury said of Robinson. “I’m the guy not doing the job I’m supposed to do.”
Through two games, quarterback Steve Bartkowski has completed 18 of 45 passes for 205 yards and no touchdowns.
The Rams’ leading receiver is, of all people, fullback Barry Redden, who has 6 catches for 52 yards.
Consider that through two games last season, quarterback Dieter Brock had completed 27 of 55 passes for 345 yards and 1 touchdown.
Anyone notice the difference?
“No one is personally responsible,” Coury said. “We all have a hand in it. But I feel they brought me in to coach the quarterbacks and help balance the offense. I feel the pressure as much as anyone.”
Coury swears that the new Ram offense is better. It just hasn’t looked that way yet.
He’d like everyone to consider the Rams’ final drive against the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday, the one on which Bartkowski moved his team 92 yards in the final six minutes to set up a winning field goal.
On that drive, Bartkowski completed all four of his passes for 60 yards.
Coury said the offense really is dynamic and a lot of other neat things but just needs time to work out the bugs.
“We’re just a step away,” Coury said.
The question is, though, from what?
From signing Jim Everett?
Will Bartkowski emerge from his slump and be the quarterback the Rams thought him to be? If not, how long will they keep Everett on the bench?
Coury said that Bartkowski’s problems can be traced to his head, not his arm. “Bart is always looking for the big play,” Coury said. “Maybe he’s trying to press for his acceptance by his teammates. Maybe that means to him having a big game.”
Coury said that Robinson has promised him that the Rams, despite their problems, will not abandon their plans to pass more.
And it’s not just talk, he says.
“The first play of the last drive against the 49ers was a pass,” Coury said. “That doesn’t seem like a big deal. But it says something about Coach Robinson.”
The feeling is that if the Rams can’t pass against the Colts today, it won’t happen.
The Colts’ defense has allowed 63 points in losses to New England, 33-3, and to Miami, 30-10.
“We’ve really struggled on defense,” Colt Coach Rod Dowhower said. “We’ve made so many changes in the secondary.”
If those aren’t magic words to a quarterback’s ears well, maybe it’s time to pick up the knee brace and go home.
The Colt secondary certainly isn’t filled with household names. The cornerbacks are John Holt and Eugene Daniel. The safeties are Leonard Coleman and Kenny Daniel.
“We’ve got enough talent,” Coury said of his offense. “We can’t use things like Henry Ellard not being here as an alibi. We miss him, no question, but the reason we’ve been down is no reflection on who has been here and who hasn’t.”
The Rams have added to their pass offense wide receiver Mark Pattison, who was released earlier this season by the Raiders. Pattison signed with the Rams Thursday, but he probably won’t play against the Colts.
Ram Notes
Jack Trudeau, the Colts’ rookie quarterback from Illinois, will start an NFL game for the first time today. Trudeau is being rushed into the lineup because of the injury to starter Gary Hogeboom, who suffered a separated shoulder in last week’s loss to the Dolphins. Hogeboom will be out at least until the final month of the season. “We know he’s not ready to be the difference in the game,” Dowhower said of Trudeau. “We want to make sure he operates in the framework that he knows.” . . . The Rams and the Colts have not met since 1975, when the Colts were still in Baltimore and the Rams in Los Angeles. The Rams won that game at the Coliseum, 24-13. Ram guard Dennis Harrah is the only remaining player from either team to have played in that game. . . . Add Harrah: Did you wonder how Raider tight end Todd Christensen ended up with all the lines in the latest hamburger commercial he did with Harrah? So does Harrah. He spent 12 hours taping the commercial, and his one line--”What’d he say?”--was edited out. “Hey,” Harrah said, “Charlie Chaplin never said a word and he was considered a genius.” . . . Wednesday was a memorable day for rookie guard Tom Newberry. That morning, he was engaged. That night, he became the starting left guard when Kent Hill was traded to the Houston Oilers.
