Everett Can’t Play Much Better, Says His Former College Coach

Leon Burtnett can remember witnessing just one other passing performance equal to the air show Jim Everett choreographed Sunday at Anaheim Stadium. Burtnett was the head coach at Purdue in 1984 when his junior quarterback picked apart Michigan’s defense with such ease that Coach Bo Schembechler said no passer had ever been so dominant against one of his Wolverine teams.

So Sunday, during the Rams’ 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Ram Jim Everett joined Boilermaker Jim Everett on Burtnett’s personal “best-I’ve-ever-seen” list.

Burtnett is now the running back coach of the Colts and Everett accused his former college coach of devising the Colts’ rattle-the-passer tactics. Burtnett, however, insisted he had nothing to do with Indianapolis’ defensive game plan. Of course, it’s not likely he would admit it, if he had.

Everett completed 28 of 35 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns.

“Hey, I’m an offensive coach,” Burtnett said. “They asked me if he had any weaknesses and I told them I couldn’t think of any. Bbut I’d never give Jim a steady diet of any one thing. He’ll tear you apart if you do.”

And if you doubt that, you weren’t in the Big A Sunday. The Colts blitzed their way into oblivion on this afternoon.

Obviously, the Colts failed to heed Burtnett’s warning. They stuck with their plan to pressure the passer and receiver Henry Ellard found himself facing man-to-man coverage on almost every play. As a result, Everett found his favorite target open and delivered the ball with precision, time and time again.

“We played pitch and catch all day,” said Ellard, who had 12 catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns.

It was almost that easy. The Colts got to Everett for three sacks, but considering they had linebackers or defensive backs blitzing on almost every down, it was hardly a successful strategy.

“I felt really comfortable out there today,” Everett said. “For the most part, I wasn’t getting touched. I had plenty of time and things just seemed to pop.”

Maybe what Everett heard was the air escaping from the Colts’ defensive game plan. The Rams’ offensive line held off the charge. The receivers made some nice catches. And Everett was so accurate, he looked like a guy throwing knives in a carnival.

“We expected them to try and pressure me, but the guys up front saved me from getting banged around early and maybe getting rattled,” Everett said. “I had time to look all the way down to the third receiver and back to the first. And we called some plays that were perfect against their defense.”

Everett, ever humble, proved he was less than perfect in the fourth quarter, throwing a lob that was intercepted by Colt safety Michael Ball. Linebacker Duane Bickett hit Everett just as he released the ball on a second-and-four situation on the Indianapolis four-yard line.

That one setback did little to stem the wave of superlatives his coach and teammates used to describe Everett’s play, though.

“The guy throwing the ball had one helluva day,” said H-back Pete Holohan. “He had his rhythm and he put the ball right where it had to be all day. Incredible is not an overstatement.”

Coach John Robinson, who said his quarterback was “simply great,” even went so far as to admit Everett’s play changed the Rams’ plan of attack.

“We want to be balanced,” Robinson said. “We even try to force ourselves to be balanced. But as things went on and we saw what was happening . . .”

Everett not only dealt with the pressure, he laughed in the face of it. Every pass he threw, it seemed, had a chance of being caught. And, bridging the second and third quarters, 14 in a row landed in the hands of Ram receivers, eclipsing the team record of 13 consecutive completions set by Pat Haden in 1979 against Seattle.

“I don’t get caught up in numbers, but I don’t think I’ve ever completed that many in a row at any level,” Everett said. “I didn’t even realize it was 14 straight until they announced it. But I don’t think I’ve ever had a much better day.”

Burtnett, of course, might remind him of a close second. But even Burtnett thinks Sunday ranks as numero uno .

“I don’t think you can play any better than Jim did today,” Burtnett said.