Everett’s 5 TD Passes Key Rams’ 45-31 Win
Some of the experts, including one head coach who takes the Orange Freeway to work, thought a field goal might win Sunday’s game between the Rams and the New York Giants.
They were right. One field goal and six touchdowns.
“That’s why you should never listen to me,” Rams Coach John Robinson said.
Now, the disclaimers. OK, Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, Mr. Mean, was gone, serving out his drug sentence on some back nine in Hoboken on Sunday, if you believe the rumors. Linebacker Carl Banks, Mr. Mean II, pulled up lame with a hamstring injury.
But these were still the Giants and those were still the Rams and that’s why the Rams’ 45-31 win at Giants Stadium had everyone scratching their heads and scrambling for the record books.
When for example, was the last time Jim Everett passed for 5 touchdowns?
“Never,” he said.
For Everett to pull this off against the Giants, was thought improbable. The Giants, everyone’s comeback team of the year, had not given up 45 points in a game since 1980. The quarterback then was Dan Fouts.
Everett completed 14 of 24 passes for 236 yards. The Rams even let him pass in the second half with a lead and a healthy tailback behind him.
“They told us at halftime that we weren’t shutting the engines off,” Everett said. “They said we’re keeping the ball in the air. I was happy to hear that.”
Still, Greg Bell got his 112 yards in 31 carries. The Giants were most obliging.
It was the most points the Rams had scored since 1985, when they collected 46 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The whole game was crazy. Just when you thought the Rams would run, they’d pass. Every time you expected the Giants to pass, they’d run. These offenses aren’t supposed to gain 712 yards in total offense. These defenses aren’t supposed to allow it.
A good defense caused it all. The Rams swarmed quarterback Phil Simms and the Giants so hard and fast early that there was nothing left to do but pass when they fell behind, 28-3, late in the first half.
“They played our game,” Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin said. “The Giants had to change philosophies. They’re a run team, but they fell behind and had to pass.”
The Rams came up with 4 more sacks Sunday, 3 in the first half, when linebacker Kevin Greene did assorted aerobic dances around rookie right tackle John Elliot, filling in for the injured Karl Nelson. Greene finished with 2 crushing sacks on Simms.
“He did pretty good against me the rest of the game,” Greene said of Elliot.
One of Greene’s sacks led directly to a touchdown. The Giants seemed generally flustered by the ambush. Three turnovers and one blocked punt led directly to 4 Ram touchdowns.
Trailing in the third quarter, the Giants, trying to beat the Ram heat, broke out their 2-minute offense, complete with no huddle. It admittedly threw the Ram defense for a loop.
“The shotgun made them so volatile,” Robinson said. “They made things happen so fast, some good, some bad. But we had so much respect for Simms that we felt we had to match him.”
So the Rams didn’t sit on a lead, which was cut to 28-17 when Giant linebacker Pepper Johnson returned an Everett pass 33 yards for a score early in the third quarter.
Robinson said he had to match the tempo.
Instead, the Rams charged right back with what Robinson said might have been “one of the biggest drives we’ve ever had.”
It totaled 51 yards and began with a 44-yard kickoff return by rookie Gaston Green, who finished with 2 carries but--Robinson insists--is close to becoming a big part of this offense.
The drive ended with a 2-yard scoring pass from Everett to Bell with 10:53 left in the quarter and was highlighted by two big plays:
On second and 13 at the Ram 44, Everett scrambled and passed 17 yards to tight end Pete Holohan, who made the catch while toe-dancing the sideline.
Then, on third and 11, Everett read a Giant blitz perfectly and hit Henry Ellard for an 18-yard completion.
“When Pete caught that ball, and we made some key runs, it really gave us a lift,” Everett said of the drive.
It was Everett’s finest hour. He had scoring passes of 14, 5, 69, 2, and 41 yards.
But it was the defense, he said, that made it possible.
“They have us the ball at the 20 so many times,” he said.
New York Coach Bill Parcells offered no excuses.
“They beat us in every way possible,” he said. “This was the worst showing in a long time.”
It started early, when linebacker Gary Reasons, the only man standing between the Rams and punter Maury Buford, released downfield before blocking nose tackle Alvin Wright.
“I guess in the films they’ve never seen me come through,” Wright said.
That’s because he never has. It was Wright’s first blocked kick--ever.
Shawn Miller recovered at the Giant 28 and the Rams turned it into 7 points when Everett found a wide-open Holohan for a 14-yard scoring pass.
After a Giant field goal, it was Mean Kevin Greene time. On 2nd down at the Giant 21, he blew by tackle Elliot on the left side and crushed Simms, the ball squirting free on the 16. where Doug Reed recovered it.
Soon, it was Everett to Robert Delpino for a 5-yard scoring pass and a 14-3 lead.
On the next series, safety Jerry Gray intercepted a Simms pass and returned it 22 yards to the Giant 24.
Bell’s 2-yard run with 3:19 left in the half made it 21-3.
The Rams got the ball back with 2:48 left and most figured they’d ride out the clock until the half. Wrong. On first down from the 36, Everett threw a perfect strike to Aaron Cox, who went 69 yards down the left sideline for the score.
The Giants made a few runs, but never got within 11 points after that.
In the third quarter, the Giants cut the lead to 35-24 on a 3-yard run by Joe Morris, but the Rams scored the next 10 points, 3 on a 41 yard Mike Lansford field goal and the game-clinching 41-yard scoring pass from Everett to Ellard with 5:29 left.
The Rams (4-0) are one of only three remaining unbeaten teams, but don’t seem to want to make a big deal of it.
“No, no,” Robinson said. “We’re the same guys who came in Friday. We’re young and just learning. We’re playing well, but a long way from where we want to be.”
Well, maybe not too long.
“Last week, we took L.A.”’ Irvin said of his team’s victory over the Raiders. “This week, we took the Big Apple. Now, it’s time to go defend Orange County.”
Ram Notes
Jim Everett became the fifth player in Ram history to throw 5 touchdown passes in a game, joining Bob Waterfield, Norm Van Brocklin, Roman Gabriel and Vince Ferragamo. . . . Tailback Greg Bell finished with more than 100 yards rushing for the third straight week, becoming the third runner to break the 100-yard mark against the Giant defense this year. Coming into the season, only 1 runner in 28 games had accomplished that feat. . . . For Bell, though, they were 112 tough yards. “Bell had his best game he’s played here in terms of clutch runs,” Ram Coach John Robinson said. “Bell took some big shots, but he never blinked. . . . Injury report: Gary Jeter bruised his left knee, Duval Love aggravated his sore left foot and Robert Cox bruised his right leg. . . . The Rams’ 4 sacks Sunday give them 25 in 4 games. . . . The Rams held Joe Morris to only 39 yards in 11 carries. Quarterback Phil Simms completed 29 of 49 passes for 309 yards.
