Rams’ 23-14 Win Over Seahawks Is for Fun, but Injuries Are Real
The Rams won an exhibition game Thursday night, but it didn’t seem to compare at all with what they lost.
They beat the Seattle Seahawks, 23-14, before a crowd of 57,772 in the Times charity game at Anaheim Stadium.
So much for the good news. The price the Rams paid for a game that won’t count in the standings amounted to two starting linebackers and a promising cornerback, all injured and carted away before halftime.
The first to go was inside linebacker Carl Ekern, who left midway through the first quarter with a hyper-extended right knee. Ekern said afterward he didn’t think the injury was serious.
“Just your classic hyper-extension,” Ekern said. “Hopefully, it won’t take too long.”
Not so lucky was Mark Jerue, who followed Ekern to the sideline minutes later with torn ligaments in his left knee. He will undergo surgery today at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood and is expected to miss at least two months.
The third Ram to go down was rookie cornerback Clifford Hicks, who had played so well in the team’s London exhibition game.
Hicks had his problems against the Seahawks, fumbling a kickoff in the first quarter and a punt in the second.
Worse yet, Hicks separated his right shoulder when he tried to recover his fumbled punt after being hit by Seattle’s Tony Burse. He is expected to be out four to six weeks.
“Other than that, we were pleased to get through the game,” Ram Coach John Robinson said. “I was concerned with how we would play and I’m satisfied we got the win.”
It was a tough break for Jerue, who was fighting to keep his starting spot at inside linebacker this season. Jerue filled in admirably last season for the injured Jim Collins, who missed the entire season with nerve damage in his left shoulder.
Jerue had 109 tackles in 1986, second only on the team to safety Vince Newsome.
And though Jerue started Thursday night’s game, most figured it was only a matter of time before he lost his spot to Collins, a fixture at right inside linebacker until he was injured in the 1986 Pro Bowl while tackling the Raiders’ Marcus Allen.
As for the game, the Rams won it with a 20-point second quarter on touchdowns by Mike Guman and Ron Brown and two Mike Lansford field goals.
The Rams took a 20-7 lead into halftime, and it was threatened only briefly in the second half when Seattle reserve quarterback Jeff Kemp, a former Ram, threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ray Butler to cut the Rams’ lead to 20-14 with 1:30 left in the third quarter.
But the Rams clinched it with 3:41 remaining on an 18-yard field goal by Tim Lashar, capping a 74-yard drive led by reserve quarterback Hugh Millen.
As expected, key Ram starters played only the first half. Quarterback Jim Everett left, having completed 8 of 11 passes for 102 yards. Running back Eric Dickerson seemed in midseason form, carrying 8 times for 77 yards.
For Seattle, starting quarterback Dave Krieg played the first half and completed 10 of 20 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown. He did, however, throw four interceptions.
The Rams have survived perhaps their toughest physical test of the season, having played two games on two continents in five days.
They don’t play again until Aug. 23, when they meet the Chargers in San Diego.
“We have 10 days now,” Robinson said. “They will be the key to our season. We’re ready to go back to training camp. We’ve been halfway around the world, but now we’ve got to take care of business. If we do that, we can be a good football team. If we don’t, we’ll just be average.”
The Seahawks took a 7-0 lead with 7:29 left in the first quarter, the touchdown coming on a 37-yard pass from Krieg to an old favorite, Steve Largent, who slipped behind Ram cornerback Mickey Sutton at the five-yard line and went in untouched.
The Rams couldn’t manage a first down until 1:10 left in the quarter, when Everett passed 11 yards to Brown. After that, they couldn’t be stopped.
Two plays later, Dickerson took off on a vintage Dickerson run. He took a pitch and ran left but found that side full of Seahawks. He quickly reversed field and headed right and waited for the pursuit to follow before cutting back against the grain for 40 yards. He was finally dragged down at the Seattle five-yard line by Eugene Robinson.
The drive stalled there, and the Rams settled for Lansford’s 24-yard field goal to cut the Seahawks’ lead to 7-3 early in the second quarter.
The Rams got the ball right back after an interception at the Seattle 46 by rookie linebacker Larry Kelm, playing because of injuries to starters Jerue and Ekern.
Nine plays and 46 yards later, Guman scored on a one-yard dive into the end zone to make it 10-7 with 9:23 left in the first half. Guman got the chance after wide receiver Henry Ellard turned a short pass from Everett into a 15-yard gain and a first down at the Seahawk one-yard line.
Sutton, atoning for an earlier pass-coverage blunder on the Largent touchdown, intercepted a Krieg pass midway through the second quarter and returned it 29 yards to the Seattle 31. It set up a 41-yard field goal by Lansford, giving the Rams a 13-7 lead with 4:51 left before halftime.
They weren’t through yet, turning their next possession into a show starring Everett and Brown.
With 3:37 left and the ball at the Ram 40, Everett threw 11 yards to Brown for a first down at the Seattle 49.
On third down at the Seahawk 46, Everett threw quickly over the middle to Brown, who sped past defender Kerry Justin and then froze All-Pro safety Kenny Easley with a great running fake at the 25. Brown stumbled on his sharp cut to the left but regained his balance and went in easily for the touchdown with 2:11 left, giving the Rams a 20-7 lead.
