Rams Still Stuck in Last-Ditch Rut, 14-10

Everyone loves a comeback. History is full of them. Cardiac Kids, Miracle Mets, Kirk Gibsons.

But what do you make of come-from-behind-to-lose teams such as the Rams, for instance, who laid low for 3 quarters again Sunday and then rallied to an exciting defeat for the second straight week?

This time it was the New Orleans Saints who held off the charge, winning, 14-10, at Anaheim Stadium when safety Gene Atkins intercepted a Jim Everett pass in the Saints’ end zone with 50 seconds left.

Exciting stuff if you’re a fan, a Saint or a Nielsen family. If you’re a Ram, it’s becoming the same old thing-- Deja-boo. Last week it was the Rams rallying from 17 points down against Philadelphia and losing when an Everett pass was intercepted in the waning seconds, a few precious feet from victory.

It’s all making for a great highlight film and a lousy season. The loss dropped the Rams out of first place in the NFC West. But, hey, it was close.

“That’s the one thing,” end Gary Jeter said. “We’re coming out like we’re waiting to get knocked out, then we say ‘Hell, they’re coming in for the kill, let me get my act together.’ ”

The latest march to near-glory began with 2:12 left at the Ram 30-yard line. Suddenly, with no explanation, the offense kicked in. You could almost see the Rams pounding the hood of their machine and screaming “Hey, look it works!”

This, after three-plus quarters of general malaise on offense and defense. This, after a first half of clinging on for dear life as the Saints dragged the Rams from one end of the field to the other; as Bobby Hebert picked away at the Ram secondary; as the Ram backfield produced 27 yards rushing and 69 passing. As the Saints piled up 15 first downs to the Rams’ 4.

The Rams could only look skyward and give thanks as they trotted away trailing just 7-3, thanks in part to a few huge plays on defense and a 52-yard Morten Andersen field goal that was nullified by a penalty on the half’s last kick.

Why and how the Rams’ offense decided it was time to move after falling behind, 14-3, in the third quarter is best left to sports psychologists.

“It’s not as though we’re not trying hard,” Coach John Robinson offered.

First, there was Greg Bell’s dramatic 1-yard scoring run on fourth down early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 4. Part of the drama was Bell himself, the National Football League’s fourth-leading rusher, who didn’t take his first handoff until midway through the third quarter. Coach’s decision.

“You know more than I do,” Bell quipped afterward about his reduction in playing time (5 carries, minus 1 yards). “Today, it was funny. I didn’t get in as much as I thought, or hoped.”

Bell was in on the big play, though, and might have been the only Ram with the right moves to score on the fourth-down option pitch right from fullback Buford McGee.

As Bell stretched his run down the line, Saint safety Van Jakes waited. Bell put a nifty juke on Jakes and just sneaked into the right corner.

“I knew if I could get him to freeze, I could get to the corner,” Bell said. “I set him up for the freeze and he took it.”

But dramatic and momentum-building as the score was, the Rams quickly hit the 20-minute snooze button and weren’t heard from again until the final 2 minutes, when they absolutely had to move the ball to win.

Everett, the NFL’s top-ranked passer, who would suffer through his worst performance in recent memory (18 of 35, 198 yards, no touchdowns, 2 interceptions), finally got the kinks out. He went 6 yards to Ellard on first down, and 20 yards to Bell to get the Rams to the Saints’ 44. Then it was 15 more yards to Ellard to the New Orleans’ 28 with more than a minute left.

On second down at the 33 after a 5-yard loss, the Rams got a big break when a pass-interference penalty, Antonio Gibson on Pete Holohan, gave the Rams a first down at the Saints’ 16 with 55 seconds left. It was the Philadelphia Story all over again. Unfortunately, with same results.

On first down, a pass interference penalty by Holohan pushed the Rams back to the 26. But still, it was the moment every quarterback lives for--the game on the line and the ball in your hands.

You don’t think Everett wanted to make up for last week?

The pass to the right corner, intended for Flipper Anderson, was open for a slit second. Everett wishes there were more time to make such decision.

Holohan, the tight end, was wide open over the middle. According to the script, Atkins was supposed to freeze on the pump fake to Holohan, leaving Anderson with single coverage.

Atkins didn’t freeze. Instead, he floated from his safety position and leaped in front of Anderson in the end zone.

“He was in perfect position,” Coach Jim Mora said of the play. “We were in 2-deep zone. He was supposed to do exactly what he did. Intercept a deep pass in the end zone.”

As the ball left Everett’s hand, he had second thoughts about not going to Holohan. Too late.

“I’ll definitely have some dreams about that.”

So that’s two chances in two weeks for Everett. And two losses.

“You know it’s been one play each of the times, and each has been unsuccessful,” Everett said. “And that really hurts. But the key thing is: it shouldn’t have come down to that. We didn’t play good football all day.”

For example: The Saints took the opening drive down to the Rams’ 2-yard line and looked ready to march on in until an ill-advised Hebert pass was intercepted by linebacker Mark Jerue in the end zone. Bullet escaped.

For example: In the third quarter, a badly overthrown Everett pass intended for McGee was intercepted by Saints’ linebacker Vaughn Johnson, who returned it 34-yards to the Ram 7, straight-arming Everett along the way. That led to a 3-yard scoring run by Rueben Mayes and 14-3 Saints’ lead.

For example: The Rams’ pass rush didn’t get a hold of Hebert all day. Zero sacks for the team that leads the league with 42 but has just 6 sacks in the last 5 games. Time to panic?

“No panic,” Jeter said. “We’ve got five games left to go. If we were one game out with two left, then we’d panic. We’re not worried about statistics. We put pressure on him. We just didn’t get sacks.”

For example: For the fourth time in five weeks, the Rams were held under 100 yards rushing as a team (60 yards in 22 carries). Tackle Jackie Slater can’t remember that happening in the John Robinson era.

“We still want to run the football,” Slater said. “It’s still the bread and butter of our offense. It just hasn’t been the last couple of weeks.”

Rush’em and weep: Charles White--36 yards in 12 carries. Everett was the second-leading carrier with 22 yards.

The Rams ran just eight times in the first half.

“We only had nine plays on offense in the first quarter,” center Doug Smith said. “We didn’t even have a chance to get started.”

Yeah, but what a finish. The kind you look back on in late December while others are still playing.

“In three of our four losses, we had the opportunity to win late in the game,” Slater said. “We didn’t. That’s been discouraging.”

Ram Notes

Plenty of Rams went down with injuries Sunday, though none appeared too serious. Shawn Miller (pinched nerve, shoulder), Kevin Greene (leg), and Anthony Newman (neck) are listed as probable for next week.