Patriots Turn a Fantasy Into Ram Reality, 30-28

The only possible thing that could have ruined an otherwise perfect day for the Rams unfolded Sunday in the last second near the north end of a stadium that has, of late, inflicted more pain on its patrons than should be allowed.

A month ago, it was a baseball team from New England that somehow escaped from Anaheim Stadium, having stripped the home team of its pennant and its spirit.

And, while talk of curses and demons and broken mirrors might well be left for palm readers, who could deny that it really was the football team from New England that beat the Rams, 30-28, with a last-second touchdown pass that cut right through the heart of a home crowd of 64,339.

The record will show that the 25-yard pass with no time remaining went from quarterback Tony Eason to a mob scene in the right corner of the end zone that included one Irving Fryar, who was wedged in a Ram sandwich when the ball popped free and into his hands.

It was so improbable that reporters rushed quickly to the field to make sure it really was Fryar under that helmet and not, say, Dave Henderson of the Red Sox.

“We can go back out there and do that play 20 times and they don’t complete it,” Ram safety Johnnie Johnson said afterward.

But the Patriots did complete it. And isn’t that the way things work around here?

“We call it play miracle right,” Patriot Coach Raymond Berry said.

The Rams were calling it miracle wrong.

It seemed inconceivable that the Rams would lose this game, what with the fantasy story of Jim Everett having already been written in the minutes before.

The first chapter of what Coach John Robinson was calling a “new era” began with 14:35 left in the second quarter, when the rookie quarterback made his first appearance in a Ram huddle.

Everett would finish having ompleted 12 of 19 passes for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns. He entered the game with his team trailing, 13-0, and left it with the Rams ahead, 28-23.

His second career pass was a 34-yard touchdown toss to Henry Ellard. There was another 20-yard scoring pass to Ellard and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Barry Redden.

Everett’s impact sent shock waves through teammates and Ram fans who have for so many years settled for quarterbacks resurrected from so many used-car lots.

But here, finally, was something they could call their own; a quarterback with shiny new knees and an unbridled emotion.

“My vertical jump may have increased a few inches today,” Everett said. “I wanted to make sure my teammates knew I was happy.”

They were, they were. And so was the coach.

Robinson, so nervous about how he would introduce Everett to the NFL, had pulled all the right strings. He was so worried about wrecking a kid’s future just because he needed a passing game.

But Everett, of course, was fantastic. Even so, Robinson could not celebrate.

“The best (scenario) was to win the game,” Robinson said. “3-0, 3-2, 4-3, 7-6; just running, no passing, no scoring, boring. It takes none of the sting away. None. Zero. You play to win.”

Yes, the only thing missing here for the Rams was the ending.

“This is the kind of game that sticks in your mind for a long time,” Johnson said.

How do you ever forget?

“Amnesia is the only way I know of,” guard Dennis Harrah said.

The Rams were moments away from celebrating one of their most exciting wins in memory. And had it not been for the best quarterback in this game, Eason, who was overshadowed by the curiosity of Everett, the Rams would surely be 8-3 this morning, not 7-4.

It was Eason who played the game of his life, completing a team record 36 passes on 52 attempts for 375 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I knew we were going to throw,” Eason said. “But I didn’t know we were going to throw that much.”

It was Eason who almost single-handedly led the Patriots on their game-winning, 9-play, 87-yard touchdown drive.

Of course, the Rams should have known better than to give the ball back to Eason with a chance to win the game.

The Rams had the ball on their own 29 with 6:57 left after the Patriots had cut the lead to 28-23 on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Eason to Fryar.

Masters of ground control, the Rams slowly drove into New England territory, shaving time off the clock along the way.

With the two-minute warning approaching, the Rams had a third and one at the New England 33. A first down there would probably have clinched it, but tight end David Hill’s holding penalty on an Eric Dickerson run eventually forced a Ram punt.

The Patriots took over at their own 14 with 1:45 left.

Eason passed eight yards to Fryar and then for 18 more to Stanley Morgan (7 catches, 118 yards).

But the Ram defense tightened there, with a little help from Eason, who crossed the line of scrimmage on a completed pass, costing the Patriots the play and a down. The Patriots suddenly found themselves with a fourth and seven at their own 42 with 34 seconds left.

On fourth down, though, Eason passed seven yards to Tony Collins for the first down at the New England 49.

Eason then stopped the clock with an incomplete pass with 15 seconds left.

On the next play, he rolled out of the pocket and scrambled 26 yards down the left sideline to the Ram 25. Eason, his eyes riveted on the scoreboard clock as he ran, stepped out with three seconds left.

Time for one more play. A miracle play. The winning pass was, by design, was supposed to be tipped by Cedric Jones to either Morgan or Fryar. The ball was instead tipped by Morgan to Fryar.

The ball just eluded the out-stretched hand of Ram cornerback Jerry Gray.

“Boston College went to the Orange Bowl because of that play,” Berry said in reference to Doug Flutie’s famous last-second pass to beat the University of Miami. “I thought we should be able to use it too.”

But despite the loss and the heartbreak in the Ram locker room, no one will likely forget what happened when Everett entered the game in the second quarter.

The Patriots were dominating at the time. Tony Franklin, the NFL’s leading scorer, had already kicked field goals of 42 and 45 yards.

Rod McSwain had already blocked a Dale Hatcher punt and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.

The Rams were down by 13 points when Everett arrived.

And no one could deny that something happened when he stepped in the huddle.

The intensity level rose in the stands and on the field.

“Sometimes it can work that way,” said Ellard, who caught 2 Everettt touchdown passes and had 8 receptions for 129 yards for the day. “It was fun having a young guy in there. It makes you work harder.”

Everett’s first scoring pass to Ellard, which was first ruled incomplete, was overturned by instant replay, which showed clearly that Ellard had both feet in the end zone.

Everett’s second touchdown pass came right before the half. He scrambled in the pocket and threw to Redden, who was open over the middle. Redden rode a few tacklers into the end zone.

Everett’s final scoring pass came with 14:54 left, and put the Rams up, 28-16. It was a perfect strike to a wide open Ellard.

The fans then began the chant, “Everett, Everett, Everett.”

The rookie quarterback had played it out in his mind a dozen times before. Everett, who has practiced the art of positive thinking, spent some time this week throwing touchdown passes in his mind.

“I visualize the pass going through my own eyes,” Everett said. “I feel it and complete it. A lot of swimmers do it. They say they can almost smell the water.”

So guess who’s starting next week against New Orleans?

“I think he has a chance to be a great quarterback,” Robinson said.

It was so exciting that you almost forgot about Dickerson, who gained 102 yards in 24 carries.