Everett Has Rams on the Right Route, 31-10 : 3 Touchdown Passes Help Stop Seattle

When it comes to book sales, the Rams are no match for the Seattle Seahawks, the team of letters and poets.

The Seahawks employ two aspiring authors these days--Coach Chuck Knox and linebacker Brian Bosworth.

In fact, it was hard not to notice the chartered prop plane that buzzed Anaheim Stadium late in the third quarter trailing a promotional banner for Bosworth’s book, complete with a wall-sized Boz photo.

Too bad the Seahawks were down 28 points at the time.

Down on the field, the Rams had long since slammed the book on Seattle, ultimately coasting to a 31-10 rout over Boz and the boys.

Bosworth had his moment, blocking a fourth-quarter field goal that was returned 62 yards by Vernon Dean for a touchdown, a play that hardly mattered late in a 31-3 game.

But what about the plane, Boz, the plane?

“I could write a book on my one little sack this year,” defensive end Doug Reed said. “You know, let me tell you how I got it.”

Tailback Charles White, who had a chance to get in some second-half work Sunday, doesn’t remember running into Bosworth much.

“No, but I ran by him a couple of times,” White said. “He was always on the ground.”

Is that any way for guys on a second-place team to talk about one on a first-place team? In the end, it was the Seahawks’ only solace. Their 4-4 record is still good enough for a first-place tie in the AFC West. The Rams, at 6-2, still trail New Orleans by a game with a Bayou showdown next Sunday.

What the Rams proved Sunday was that the Seahawks really don’t belong in their league, or division.

It all started with only 17 seconds gone in first quarter, when Curt Warner fumbled the ball to the Rams at his own 14-yard line, leading quickly to Greg Bell’s 11th touchdown on a 1-yard run. The Rams were grateful for this gift of momentum, and used it to take a 24-3 halftime lead.

Based on what Bosworth had done to them (3 tackles), the Rams figured the performance must have been worth 4 or 5 book ideas alone.

Jim Everett: You’ve Come a Long Way Baby. The Rams’ quarterback threw 3 more touchdowns passes Sunday, giving him 19 for the season, tying him for the city lead with Troy Aikman. Everett completed 20 of 27 passes for 311 yards and no interceptions. Also, he was not sacked, pressed or remotely disturbed by Bosworth or Wordsworth or any Seahawk worth anything.

It’s clear Everett and offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese have found inner peace with the offense, a karma that was not instant, but developed over time.

“We get prepared together all week long,” Everett said. “Of course you’re going to start thinking the same. I’m not saying it’s a brainwash. But we’re just doing the same thing. When you’re around a person a lot, it does help you to know what play’s coming in.”

In the second quarter, the Rams gambled on 4th and goal with a scoring pass to tight end Damone Johnson.

“We’re doing things a little differently,” Everett said. “How many times have you seen the Rams on 4th-and-inches throw the ball?”

Everett anticipated the answer “Never.” The scoring pass to Johnson put the Rams up, 24-3. Jim Everett likes Ernie Zampese.

“I’m sure Dan Fouts said the same thing,” he said. “I’m glad I have a chance to work with him. I don’t know if it’s the other way around.”

It is.

Everett also added a 37-yard scoring pass to fullback Robert Delpino and a 32-yarder to Aaron Cox.

Everett really didn’t know the Rams were picking on Seattle cornerback Melvin Jenkins, who was burned 7 times in the game for 164 yards.

“I don’t look at them,” Everett says of opposing cornerbacks. “But I guarantee you Ernie knows.”

Now that’s teamwork.

Henry Ellard: No One Has You Covered. This is becoming a weekly sequel. Ellard had another huge game, catching 7 passes for 101 yards. That gives him 39 receptions for the season. Yet, teams still don’t seem to think he deserves double coverage. Ellard, though, doesn’t mind being the league’s best-kept secret.

“If that’s the way they want to play it, I’m more than happy,” Ellard said.

Michael Stewart: The Life of a Stuntman. The Dodgers have their stuntmen, the Rams theirs. Stewart, the 2nd-year safety from Fresno State, became the starting safety this week when Vince Newsome was lost for the season with a neck injury.

Stewart didn’t take long to respond. Seventeen seconds into the game, he stripped the ball from Seattle’s Warner on a sweep left and recovered the ball himself, setting up the Rams’ first score.

Midway through the second quarter, the Seahawks were driving fast toward the Rams’ goal line, trailing 17-3 but threatening to make a game of it.

Stewart, though, stepped in again.

On 3rd down at the Ram 8, Seattle quarterback Kelly Stouffer threw toward the left flat for fullback John L. Williams. Defensive end Shawn Miller stuck out a hand and tipped the pass, sending it off course slightly to Stewart, who intercepted it at the 3 and returned it 43 yards. It could have amounted to a 2-touchdown turnaround, because the Rams took it in from there and scored on the 4th-down pass to Johnson.

If Stewart was nervous, he didn’t look it.

“Any time you get a big play under your belt, it helps you relax a little bit more,” Stewart said. “After that, we were off and running.”

Flipper Anderson: I Was Attacked By a UFO--Coming into Sunday’s game, the rookie receiver had 1 reception for 21 yards through 7 games. To him, loneliness was a pass route. Then, the improbable: In the third quarter, Anderson ran a fly pattern down the left sideline. He had beaten Jenkins--who else?--on the play and was stunned when he turned his head and noticed something strange, an orb, spinning toward him.

“I didn’t know what it was,” Anderson said, laughing.

It was, after further inspection, a football. The catch went for 51 yards to the Seattle 32. On the next play, Everett dropped back, threw a pump fake to freeze the secondary, and then fired 32 yards to Cox in the end zone. Cox had slipped in behind a certain cornerback named Jenkins.

Anderson added yet another catch for 13 yards later in the game, giving him 3 for the season.

“It gets frustrating,” Anderson said of his lack of production. “But you have to be patient.”

Seattle Coach Chuck Knox has run out of patience.

“We’re 2-2 with a rookie quarterback and we’re not playing very good football right now,” Knox said. “We’re not playing good defense either. And it doesn’t get easier from here.”

Ram Notes

The Rams had just 1 sack Sunday, by Gary Jeter, but it was the team’s 39th of the season, breaking their total for the entire 1987 season. . . . With Greg Bell’s shoulder still hurting some, Charles White played much of the second half and gained 79 yards in 15 carries. Bell finished with 44 yards in 13 carries. . . . The Rams reported only minor injuries afterward, though Bell said he reinjured his shoulder on the game’s second play. “I don’t know how serious it is but I’m not near 100%,” Bell said.