Patriots Beat Rams, 30-28, on a ‘Hail Irving’ : New England Win Spoils Fine Debut by Jim Everett

Irving Fryar said it was a “Hail Mary” pass, but New England Coach Raymond Berry disagreed.

“It’s called a ‘Miracle Right,”’ a beaming Berry said Sunday after the Patriots pulled out a 30-28 victory over the Rams on the final play of the game.

The winning play was a floating, 25-yard touchdown pass from Tony Eason that Fryar hauled down in a crowd at the back of the end zone. Another Patriot receiver, Stanley Morgan, leaped high in a group of Ram defenders to tip the ball, then Fryar made a diving catch.

“I was just trying to stay in the end zone,” said Fryar, who’d lost two fumbles earlier in the game but also caught a 6-yard scoring pass from Eason midway through the fourth quarter to pull the Patriots to within 28-23.

“Stanley tipped it but I didn’t see that. I just got there and it was in my hands,” Fryar said.

The stunning finale dampened what was nevertheless a memorable pro debut by the Rams’ Jim Everett. The rookie quarterback threw three touchdown passes to rally the Rams from a 13-0 deficit in the second quarter.

Eason, who set club records with 36 completions and 52 attempts while throwing for 375 yards, agreed with Berry that the winning touchdown was something of a miracle.

“I just threw it up for grabs and prayed,” he said. “It was great.”

Starting from the Patriots’ 13 with 1:45 remaining, Eason marched his team to the Ram end zone, picking up 26 of the yards on a scramble on the play before the winning throw.

The victory gave the Patriots an 8-3 record and kept their playoff hopes alive in the AFC East. The Rams are 7-4 and a half-game behind San Francisco in the NFC West. The 49ers play Washington tonight.

Everett, seen as the quarterback who can finally give the Rams a passing threat, said he had mixed emotions about his first NFL game.

“I felt happy I had a chance to get in the game, but I’m sad we lost,” he said. “I felt good about what I did.”

Everett replaced Steve Dils and connected on scoring throws of 34 yards to Henry Ellard and 24 yards to Barry Redden as the Rams pulled to within 16-14 by halftime.

Then, after Redden scored on an 11-yard run to give the Rams a 21-16 lead 5:45 into the third quarter, Everett threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Ellard early in the fourth period for a 28-16 lead.

Everett, the former Purdue star acquired by the Rams from the Houston Oilers early this season, completed 12 of 19 passes for 193 yards and was not intercepted by the Patriots, who came into the game with the NFL’s second-best pass defense.

The Rams’ Eric Dickerson, falling behind his pace when he set the NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards in 1984, gained 102 yards on 24 carries. He has 1,300 yards through 11 games this season, compared to 1,320 at the same juncture two years ago.

On their final drive, the Patriots faced a fourth-and-7 at their 42-yard line, but Eason hit Tony Collins with a 7-yard pass to keep the march alive. Other key plays included an 18-yard pass to Morgan and a 13-yarder to Fryar.

The Patriots’ earlier scoring came on field goals of 42, 45 and 19 yards by Tony Franklin, and Rod McSwain’s 31-yard touchdown run with a punt he’d just blocked.

Eason improved his own club record with the 36 completions, seven more than his mark set two years ago. His 52 attempts also was a Patriot high, two more than the standard set by Babe Parilli in 1965.

Morgan wound up with seven receptions for 118 yards, Collins had 10 for 66, and Fryar had six for 72.

Ellard led the Rams’ receivers with eight catches for 129 yards.

Greeted by a rousing ovation when he entered the game, Everett handed off to Redden for a 2-yard gain on his first play as a pro, was sacked on the next, and threw an incomplete pass on third down.

But he quickly got another chance as, for the second time in the first half, the Patriots’ Fryar fumbled a punt and Ram linebacker Norwood Vann recovered, this time at the New England 34-yard line.

On the next play, Everett lofted a perfect pass to Ellard in the back of the end zone.

After throwing his first pro pass incomplete, Everett connected on six in a row for 101 yards, including the touchdown pass to Redden with 1:30 left in the first half.

After that Ram touchdown, Eason brought his team right back, driving New England to a first-and-goal at Los Angeles’ 1-yard line. But the Rams’ defense stopped the Patriots three times, and they settled for a 19-yard field goal by Franklin and a 16-14 halftime lead.

Franklin’s third field goal of the game, his 12th in a row, gave him 27 for the season and bettered the club record of 26 set by John Smith in 1980.