Rams, 49ers Meet in the Final Struggle : Showdown in NFC West Ends Regular Season of Uncertainty

Ram linebacker Mel Owens was talking the other day about tonight’s showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.

If, as he said, everyone just knew the season would come down to this one game, why did Owens bother risking his neck in all those others?

Who needs the pain? Why not just rest up all fall, catch a few rays and get ready for the 49ers in December?

Hmmm.

Of course, everyone didn’t know the NFC West title would come down to this, save the Amazing Kreskin.

For most, it was just a logical guess. In fact, both the Rams and the 49ers have gone through much pain and strain to get to the game everyone just knew would be for the division title.

Remember, the starting quarterbacks in the Rams’ 16-13 win over the 49ers Sept. 14 were Steve Bartkowski and Jeff Kemp.

The 49ers spent much of their season waiting and hoping for word from their beloved quarterback, Joe Montana, who eventually did return, miraculously some said, to his team just 56 days after back surgery.

There also was the much anticipated return of tailback Roger Craig, who finally seems fit again after a season of short gains and nagging injuries.

There were so many injuries and heartbreaks for the 49ers to endure.

“We’re a healthy team now,” 49er Coach Bill Walsh said. “And we’ve got Joe Montana back.”

The 49ers have been chasing the Rams in the standings all season.

They can drag the Rams down tonight.

So, let the sandbagging begin.

Walsh, perhaps the greatest of Ram admirers this time of year, isn’t sure his nice little team can stay with the mighty team from the south.

Though his 49ers have scored more points on offense, Walsh now refers to the Rams as “one of the most explosive teams in football.”

He called the emergence of Ram quarterback Jim Everett “a phenomenon.”

But that’s nothing when compared to how he talks about running back Eric Dickerson.

“I don’t believe you can prepare for the Rams and not prepare for Dickerson, the greatest offensive player in football,” Walsh said.

Yet for weeks, it was the Rams who wandered aimlessly through their schedule in search of answers. They held the lead in their division not so much because of their good play as because of the 49er misfortunes.

Season-ending injuries to two defensive starters humbled the Rams’ own championship aspirations.

Their offense meandered well into the season until righted by Everett, who finally left the bench in Week 11 and nearly led the Rams to a win over New England.

It is Everett who has nudged the Rams from the class of forever good to potentially great.

“He’s one of the few quarterbacks that have come into the league and played like a veteran,” Walsh said.

So after all the struggles, two teams at the top of their game meet to determine a division championship.

And what’s a great game without great matchups?

You start at the top with coaches Walsh and John Robinson, rivals since their days as college assistant coaches. Walsh is regarded as the master offensive strategist. Robinson is more the able tank driver.

Walsh is white wine. Robinson is light beer.

Walsh will intellectualize you to tears. Robinson tells great stories.

And what about Montana and receiver Jerry Rice going against the Rams’ two Pro Bowl cornerbacks, LeRoy Irvin and Jerry Gray?

Irvin hasn’t forgiven Montana for making fun of his large ears during last year’s game at Candlestick.

“Me and Joe have had a lot of heated confrontations,” Irvin said. “He’ll probably say something about my ears again.”

Someone mentioned countering with a verbal attack on Montana’s prominent proboscis.

Irvin said he’d consider it, assuming that meant Montana’s nose.

Of course, the Ram secondary is hardly in a bragging mood after last week’s clubbing by Miami Dan Marino and the Dolphins. Marino took the Rams for 403 yards passing and 5 touchdowns.

“Are those two cornerbacks going to show up?” Irvin said of himself and Gray, “Or will the two corners from two weeks ago show up? I think the good guys will be showing up.”

Gray doesn’t have to be introduced to Rice, who leads the National Football League in receiving yards. His 83 catches have been good for 1,499 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In the Rams’ 27-20 win at Candlestick last year, Rice had 10 catches for 241 yards, many of those against the rookie Gray.

But Gray wasn’t going to the Pro Bowl last season. He is this year.

There was a time, though, when Gray wasn’t a Rice believer.

“I’d seen him play in college,” Gray said of Rice, who scored 28 touchdowns as a senior at Mississippi Valley State. “I said, ‘No way this guy can do this (in the pros).’ But on the field, he can go out and do things that amaze you. I know, because I have to guard him.”

So let the mind games begin, if only to relieve the burden from Irvin.

“I pump myself up,” he said, “so that when I go into a game, I know they know. . . . I know they think that I think that they think that I’m no good.”

Ram Notes The loser of tonight’s game becomes an instant NFC wild-card team and will play the Washington Redskins Dec. 28 at Washington. . . . If the Rams clinch the NFC West title, they will play the Bears at Chicago or the New York Giants at the Meadowlands Jan. 3 or 4. . . . Oh Henry: Ram wide receiver Henry Ellard did not have a pass reception until the 10th week of the season. He sat out seven games because of a contract dispute and didn’t have a catch in his first two games back. He now leads the Rams in receiving with 31 catches for 406 yards. . . . Ram Coach John Robinson is only the third NFL coach to make the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. The others were Chuck Knox, who qualified his first five years with the Rams, and Paul Brown, who did it his first six years with the Cleveland Browns. . . . It could change tonight, but the Rams have led the NFC West for 28 of 31 weeks since the beginning of the 1985 season. . . . Fullback Barry Redden, who missed last Sunday’s game against Miami because of the flu, is expected back tonight. San Francisco safety Ronnie Lott is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with 9. The 49ers lead the NFL with 36 interceptions.