Bartkowski, Rams Ride Colts Into the Ground, 24-7
The Rams jumped out to a two-touchdown, second-quarter lead over the Indianapolis Colts here Sunday and it seemed both teams were perfectly willing to let it go at that.
The Colts perhaps figured a close loss was better than anything they’ve been handed so far this season, so why push it?
And the Rams, unsure of the procedure that comes with a big lead, were more than glad to kick the offense into cruise control and turn their thoughts to the charter flight home.
The Rams would venture briefly into Colt territory for a fourth-quarter field goal before making a bee-line to the exit, leaving with a 24-7 win before a crowd of 59,012 at the Hoosier Dome.
The Rams had proven all that was necessary barely one minute into the second quarter when Eric Dickerson scored on a one-yard run to put the Rams up, 21-7.
“You want to beat them good,” Dickerson said. “But you’ve always got to play these guys again sometime down the road.”
In other words, why push it?
It took less than a half for the Rams to prove:
--That they, at 3-0, are better than the winless Colts.
--That quarterback Steve Bartkowski, give or take a few minutes in the pocket, is every bit as good as the Rams said he was.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a game when no one’s even got close,” Bartkowski said of his pass protection. He wasn’t sacked.
--That Colt quarterback Jack Trudeau, making his first NFL start, would become the meat portion for a Ram Sandwich, in which you wrap one piece of quarterback between Gary Jeter and Mel Owens.
--That Eric Dickerson can get 100 yards in his sleep.
In the end, fans at the Hoosier Dome were so eager to get home that they booed when their team took two timeouts in the last minute.
The Rams booed, too.
After spotting the Colts a touchdown early--George Wonsley scoring on a 10-yard run after Ron Brown fumbled the opening kickoff--the Rams took control.
And, better yet, Bartkowski even had a hand in it.
With enough time in the pocket to order out for pizza, Bartkowski completed 11 of 15 passes for 116 yards in the first half alone. He finished with 18 completions in 26 attempts for 162 yards, an almost perfect day for a Ram quarterback.
But it was his opening act that was impressive. Bartkowski threw knuckleballs in the first minutes of the team’s opener in St. Louis two weeks ago, but was nearly flawless against the Colts.
After falling behind, 7-0, Bartkowski took the Rams 97 yards for the tying touchdown. True, the Rams needed a 52-yard pass interference call (on Leonard Coleman for a bear hug on Brown) to get them there, but it was Bartkowski’s perfectly placed, 32-yard pass to Tony Hunter that gave the Rams a first down at the Colts’ one-yard line.
From there, Barry Redden took it in for the touchdown.
“A good start is important when you’ve had the kind of start I have,” said Bartkowski, who had completed just 40% of his passes in two games.
Bartkowski got another chance seconds later, when the Rams’ Norwood Vann recovered Albert Bentley’s fumble on the kickoff.
Five plays later, Bartkowski threw 10 yards to Brown with 1:38 left in the first quarter for a touchdown. It was another pass that had to be perfectly thrown to be complete.
“That’s what we’re looking for,” Ram Coach John Robinson said of Bartkowski and the offense.
Bartkowski said afterward that he doesn’t feel the pressure of incoming rookie quarterback Jim Everett, whom the Rams expect to sign any minute.
Bartkowski met with John Robinson and owner Georgia Frontiere, and both assured him that Everett is the quarterback of the future, not the present.
“As far as Everett being ready to play, well he’s not that,” Bartkowski said. “The job is mine for now.”
As for what took him so long to come out of his slump, even he doesn’t know.
“I’m trying as hard as I can try,” Bartkowski said. “I can’t put any more pressure on myself than what I’ve been doing. But goodness gracious, we’re 3-0. I can’t remember the last time I was 3-0.”
After their third touchdown in the second quarter, the Rams left the rest of the game to Dickerson and the defense.
Dickerson, who had another ho-hum, 121-yards-in-25-carries day, ate up big chunks of yardage and time.
Members of the defense, in the meantime, were taking running starts to the line of scrimmage to get at Trudeau, the rookie from Illinois.
“We had to jump on him early,” said defensive end Jeter, who led the Rams with 2 1/2 sacks. “If you don’t, he gets some confidence and thinks the NFL isn’t as hard as they say.”
Trudeau wasn’t saying anything of the sort.
“We kept putting ourselves in bad situations,” he said.
Like on his back, for instance.
Trudeau was officially sacked only three times, but someone should come up with a statistical category for harassment.
His last sack, with 50 seconds left in the third quarter, would be his last. Ram linebacker Mel Owens, charging on a blitz, sacked Trudeau for a seven-yard loss, twisting his left knee in the process.
Trudeau left the game for good but not before the Colts had announced that they would ask the NFL to review the play, claiming malicious intent.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him, believe me,” Owens said.
The replay seemed to support Owens. With Trudeau out, the Colts didn’t have a chance, having to go with former Notre Dame quarterback Blair Kiel, who was only re-signed last week because the Colts had lost starter, Gary Hogeboom, with a shoulder injury.
The Rams showed their compassion by sacking Kiel four times in the fourth quarter.
“You can say it any way you want,” Colt Coach Rod Dowhower said. “But their front three guys, and a linebacker most of the time, they really did a job on us.”
The Rams had seven sacks in all, with Jeter leading the way. Owens had two, linebacker Mike Wilcher added 1 1/2 while Kevin Greene and Doug Reed split one sack between them.
Owens said that the key was getting a big lead early.
“You’ve got to put them in the situation where you can rush the passer,” Owens said. “We have to dictate policy.”
While the defense was looking formidable, Dickerson controlled the Colts and the clock. His longest run of the day was only 14 yards, but he didn’t seem to mind.
He wanted to talk about Bartkowski and all those strange balls that were suddenly finding the hands of receivers. “I’ve wanted all this for a long time,” Dickerson said. “This was balance.”
This was also the Colts, but it didn’t seem to matter.
