Playoffs Bring Out the Real Rams

Do you get the feeling that the Ram season, all 10 wins of it, may have been a waste of time? That it wasn’t enough to simply advance to the playoffs? That this team could have, should have done better than drop out of sight midway through the third period of a wild-card game against the equally schizo Minnesota Vikings?

This was a team with talent. Lots. It was also a team that could never figure itself out.

Just when it seemed the Rams were ready to join the league’s power brokers, they’d trip over their own egos. They’d win four in a row and then lose to the Phoenix Cardinals--at Anaheim Stadium. Go figure.

They’d win three of their next four, including one against the New Orleans Saints, the hottest team going at the time, and you found yourself thinking, “Here they go.”

Then they’d lose four in a row. To the likes of the San Diego Chargers, who fired their coach a few weeks ago. To the likes of the Denver Broncos, who recently fired their entire defensive coaching staff. These were not good teams. To call them mediocre would be a compliment.

Yet, the Rams, aspiring masters of the universe, found new and interesting ways to lose to them. In hindsight, it was the undoing of this team.

December was nice. And deceiving. The Rams beat the Chicago Bears, who played without quarterbacks Jim McMahon and the evil Mike Tomczak (Great pass against the Vikings, Mike). They beat the Atlanta Falcons. Need any more be said? They beat the San Francisco 49ers, who had absolutely nothing to gain with a victory--and they played like it, too.

Three wonderful, momentum-building victories. Mirages, that’s what they were. Figments of the Ram imagination. A security blanket that the Vikings ripped from the Ram hands with surprising ease Monday at the Metrodome.

So, who to blame? Well, mostly the Vikings, who exposed the Rams for what they really are: A team still trying to find its identity. A team in the latter, but obvious stages of transition. A team in need of a soul.

Jim Everett may be the next great quarterback in this league, but not until he or Coach John Robinson finds a way to turn the peaks and valleys Everett occasionally experiences into, say, mild undulations. Inconsistency was Everett’s greatest enemy this season, a common malady among quarterbacks his age. Expect a wiser, more precise Everett next season.

Greg Bell may be the tailback of the present, but the future of the Ram running game rests on Gaston Green’s shoulder pads. At season’s beginning, Robinson said that if all went as planned, everyone would want to know why Green wasn’t involved more in the Ram offense. I’m guessing that he thought Green would play--and play well--on a limited basis.

Instead, Green played hardly at all, leaving Robinson with approximately the same questions about his first-round choice as he had during training camp. Is Green durable? Can he adapt to the pro game? Was he worth the high selection?

We’ll find out next season. Charles White, the league’s leading rusher in 1987, has been phased out of the Ram offense. Bell, who performed admirably when no one expected him to, is likely to see his playing time diminished. For whatever reasons, he never appeared to be appreciated by this team and its coaching staff. Fullback Buford McGee? A role player and nothing more.

Which leaves the Rams with the human question mark--Green--and Robert Delpino, a rookie who performed as if he were a vested veteran. Who would have guessed that Delpino, not Green, would end the 1988 season as one of the Ram coaching staff’s favorite players?

Guard Tom Newberry may be the next Ram offensive lineman to earn perennial Pro Bowl status, but that doesn’t mean this group couldn’t use some help. Tackle Jackie Slater is going on his 14th season. Irv Pankey is going on his 10th. Center Doug Smith begins his 12th year when the Rams convene at Cal State Fullerton next summer. Depth becomes a serious consideration.

Sooner or later, the Rams are going to have to do something with Canadian import Mike Schad, the former first-round pick who has spent much of 3 years with the team on injured reserve, the bench or the inactive list. Isn’t there a statute of limitations on projects? I mean, if offensive line whiz Hudson Houck can’t turn Schad into a contributing member, can anyone?

Kevin Greene may be the greatest sacker since the bag boy down at your local market, but he’s not a defensive lineman. Neither is Fred Strickland. Or Mark Jerue. Or Bret Faryniarz. Or the cast of thousands that took turns toiling in a 3-point stance at various times of the season.

The Rams desperately need a true defensive lineman, someone who has spent a career, college or otherwise, confounding guards and tackles and centers. That 5-linebacker scheme that Ram coaches unleashed at season’s end was an impressive bit of improvisation, but it isn’t the answer to their long-term problems. Not with Gary Jeter dropping obvious hints of retirement. And not with the Vikings exposing its many weak spots.

Cornerbacks Jerry Gray and LeRoy Irvin may be the last of the gunslingers, but they took way too many slugs this year as the Rams continually tinkered with their assorted defensive schemes. Man-on-man coverage is a fine idea . . . as long as you have a pair of safeties who can help in an emergency. The Rams, hurt by the absence of strong safety Vince Newsome (neck injury), never had that luxury.

There is an element missing from this team. Perhaps it’s something as simple as a player or two, or as complex as an attitude, a way of thinking.

The Rams can’t afford Oh-for-Novembers. They can’t hope for Super Bowls or division championships and then lose to the San Diego Chargers of the league. They can’t waste the many sacks of Greene, the touchdown passes of Everett, the catches of Ellard, the runs of Bell, the play of Irvin and Gray. They’re not that good.

But they’re close. Closer than they may have realized. Ten wins? It should have been so much more.