Analysis : Abrupt End to Season Has Rams Bewildered

The tears will soon dry from another frozen-knuckle playoff loss and, bet your bottom Ram dollar, the sun will come out tomorrow.

It always does in Ramland.

Forget the loss to the Washington Redskins. The truth is, the Rams have a nice little thing going here. Since 1983 and the arrival of Coach John Robinson, it has been 10 wins a year, playoff money, huge profits--thanks to a sweet little arrangement with Anaheim Stadium--and plenty of laughs.

Does this team really need a Super Bowl to be happy?

Sure, there was real sadness in the Ram locker room Sunday. No one takes a loss harder than veteran guard Dennis Harrah, who could have kicked a mule across the Potomac.

“It takes time to analyze this,” Harrah said of the loss Monday. “But I can’t now. It still hurts too much.”

Tackle Irv Pankey wanted to win so badly that he stopped the Redskins’ mad sacker, Dexter Manley, even though he had a torn quadriceps muscle in his left leg. Harrah compared it with Jack Youngblood’s playing Super Bowl XIV with a broken leg.

Plenty of Rams have heart. Yet, year after year, they come up short.

“We always seem to bow out of this thing a little early,” defensive end Gary Jeter said of the playoffs. “We lack the killer instinct. It’s our mental attitude. All around, we have to get tough.”

The Rams don’t lack talent. Seven of them are going to the Pro Bowl in February.

After a 29-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys Dec. 7, the Rams were considered by many as one of the top four teams in the NFL. And then, poof, they lose two games, the division title and then a wild-card game.

No one can explain it, not even Robinson, who was not around Monday or Tuesday to even try.

So we are left to wonder whether a team can find comfort in just a winning record. We wonder why Rams are not as hungry as Bears.

“You look at the way (Chicago Coach Mike) Ditka shakes up his guys,” Jeter said. “That’s nothing against John Robinson. But those guys play real hard. We’ve got to be able to respond.”

Does it start at the top with the Rams? Can a fiscally sound management team led by Vice President John Shaw squeeze the hunger right out of a team?

Is a blockbuster, headline-making, million-dollar, franchise-saving trade for quarterback Jim Everett overshadowed by the plight of others such as wide receiver Henry Ellard, the receiver who played the last nine weeks for $9,968.75 a game? The same Ellard who was told during an 89-day holdout that his value to the team was minimal? The same Ellard who ended up leading the team in receptions?

How can safety Vince Newsome feel about leading the Rams in tackles and making $99,000 for the pleasure? Or outside linebacker Mike Wilcher, who played for $137,000 this season? Or tackle Irv Pankey--$215,000--who allowed only three sacks all season? Is this what separates Rams from Bears?

Will it be something to think about when 18 Rams become free agents Feb. 1?

Or, were the Rams just doomed by fate?

Oh, how different things might have been had Stanley Morgan tripped in the end zone and not tipped the ball to Irving Fryar for a touchdown that gave New England a last-second miracle victory over the Rams Nov. 16. If only Miami center Dwight Stephenson had called tails instead of heads in an overtime coin toss Dec. 14.

And who would have guessed that Eric Dickerson, the great back, would fumble three times and take his team out of a playoff game.

“We could have won in New Orleans, against New England, against Miami, the 49ers,” cornerback LeRoy Irvin said. “If only . . . we should’ve . . . we could’ve.”

IF ONLY . . .

Nov. 9 at New Orleans--Can the Rams ever forget this 6-0 loss in the Superdome? The Saints held Dickerson to 57 yards in 21 carries. Afterward, Dickerson was speechless. The Ram offense was motionless. It was also Jim Everett-less, but not for long. Everett made his debut the next week against New England. A week too late? The loss to the Saints dropped the Rams’ record to 7-3. The Ram offense gained a season-low 172 yards in total offense.

“We never claimed to be a great team,” Robinson said afterward. “I don’t think that adjective has ever been used?”

WE SHOULD’VE . . .

Nov. 16, vs. New England--Everett rocks an Anaheim Stadium crowd when he enters the game with 14 minutes 35 seconds left in the second quarter and the Rams trailing, 13-0. Everett’s first NFL pass goes for 34 yards and a touchdown to Ellard. Everett throws two more scoring passes, completes 12 of 19 passes for 193 yards and the Rams take a 28-23 lead in the fourth quarter. The Patriots get one last chance with 1:45 left and the ball at their 14-yard line. Patriot quarterback Tony Eason drives his team downfield. He completes a seven-yard pass to Tony Collins on fourth down to the New England 49 with 34 seconds remaining. Later, he scrambles 26 yards to the Ram 25 with three seconds left.

The Patriots call “Miracle Right,” a desperation pass toward the end zone. Eason’s pass into a crowd is tipped by Morgan to Fryar for a touchdown. New England wins, 30-28.

WE COULD’VE . . .

Dec. 14 vs. Miami--The Rams, with a 1 1/2-game lead over the 49ers with two to play, could have clinched the NFC West title with a win. But Miami quarterback Dan Marino was just too much. He completed 29 of 46 passes for 403 yards and 5 touchdowns, the last one a 20-yard strike to Mark Duper in overtime that give the Dolphins a 37-31 win. Three plays before that pass, another pass by Marino was intercepted by cornerback Mickey Sutton, but the play was nullified by an offside penalty. Everett completed 18 of 31 passes for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Some Rams say they never emotionally recovered from this game. They played the 49ers for the division title the next Friday and were beaten badly, 24-14. They had lost momentum and the division title. A week later, their season ended in Washington.

“You can’t blame it on Miami,” Harrah said Monday. “Our job is not to sit and complain about the way things were scheduled. Our job is to play as efficiently as possible or be fired. It’s not to make excuses for a season.”

It was not a season without its moments.

The biggest was Sept. 18, when the Rams traded All-Pro guard Kent Hill, defensive end William Fuller and three draft choices to the Houston Oilers for the rights to quarterback Everett, the third player taken in the 1986 draft.

Signing Everett seemingly ended, once and for all, a quarterback controversy that has plagued the franchise for years.

More highlights:

--There was Nov. 3, during a Monday night game in Chicago, when Mike Lansford’s 50-yard field goal with no time remaining beat the defending Super Bowl champion Bears, 20-17.

--The Rams dominated the Dallas Cowboys, 29-10, in a nationally televised game at Anaheim Dec. 7. The Rams, most figured, were on their way to their second division title.

“Jim came in, it felt so good,” Harrah said of Everett. “Then it sort of slipped out of our grasp. You sit back and say, how did it slip away from us?”

PLAYERS TO REMEMBER

Jim Everett: The Rams think they’ve got a quarterback until the turn of century. Everett finished the season having completed 73 of 147 passes for 1,018 yards with 8 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He’s big--6-5--and strong and potentially great. Wait until he goes through an entire training camp, the Rams say.

Eric Dickerson: He led the NFL with 1,821 yards rushing and broke six team records this season. Dickerson has won the NFL rushing title in three of his four years in the league. He also led the NFL in fumbles with 15. There are three fumbles in a wild-card playoff game that he’ll have a hard time forgetting during the off-season.

Tom Newberry: The rookie guard, a second-round choice from Wisconsin La Crosse, was the surprise of the year. He stepped in for the departed Kent Hill and played at times like a veteran. Harrah predicts a Pro Bowl appearance for Newberry by his third season.

Henry Ellard: He gets the “In-your-face-Ram-management-of-the-year-award.” Ellard, a not-so-free agent forced to play or sit out the season, signed a nine-game contract Oct. 23 after an 89-day holdout. He didn’t catch a pass until the 10th game of the season but ended up leading the team with 34 catches for 447 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ellard becomes a free agent again Feb. 1.

WE EXPECTED SO MUCH MORE FROM . . .

Ron Brown: The world-class sprinter made the Pro Bowl in 1985 as a kick returner when he returned three kickoffs for touchdowns. In 1986, his longest return was 55 yards. Hampered by a slight break in his left wrist all season, Brown wasn’t much help as a receiver. He had just 25 catches for 396 yards.

Tony Hunter: The big tight end with the speed to go down the middle was hobbled all season and finished with 15 catches for 206 yards and no touchdowns. He missed nine games and made $400,000. You get the picture.

Mike Schad: The team’s first-round draft choice from Queen’s University in Canada was a bust at offensive tackle. He spent the entire season on injured reserve with a, uh, back injury. There was a reason that his back never got better.

Mike Wilcher: The outside linebacker led the Rams in sacks in 1985 with 11 1/2 but finished with just 5 1/2 this season. He’s a Lawrence Taylor-type linebacker at his best. This year, he wasn’t at his best.

TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS

The Rams improved in each of John Robinson’s first three years with the team. They were 9-7 in 1983, 10-6 in 1984 and 11-5 last year, winning the division title. This year, they slipped a bit, losing their final three games. Still, the Rams think their future is bright and secure with Dickerson, Everett & Co.

What the Rams need on defense is a dominating lineman who will drive quarterbacks crazy. The best the Rams have now is the 10-year veteran Jeter, who played only in passing situations. He led the team in sacks this season with eight.

The Rams have a lot of paper work to clear up, as in re-signing or getting rid of 18 free agents, including backup quarterbacks Steve Bartkowski and Steve Dils, Ellard, Wilcher, fullback Barry Redden, Newsome, injured linebacker Jim Collins, kicker Mike Lansford and receiver Michael Young.

The Rams will see you at the negotiating table. And not a day sooner.

“The last thing I want to think about is Cal State Fullerton and training camp,” Harrah said. “No sense adding depression on depression.”