Looks Can Be Deceiving: Rams Undefeated, but Their Secondary Isn’t

There are five undefeated teams in the National Football League and one of them, according to its concerned coach, can’t seem to do the following:

Tackle. Stop the long pass. Rush the quarterback. Block. Protect leads. Locate a second-team tailback. Manage games.

Now then, that team is . . .

The Chicago Bears? No, the Bears have walloped the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions in successive weeks. The cry in Chicago these days is, “Jim McWho?”

The New York Giants? Are you kidding? They silenced the Phoenix Cardinals by 28 points Sunday.

The Denver Broncos? No, but close--they almost blew another lead against the Raiders on Sunday.

The San Francisco 49ers? Not after Sunday’s fourth-quarter, four-touchdown performance by quarterback Joe Montana. Montana was able to beat the Philadelphia Eagles and pound some humility into Buddy Ryan all in one day.

The Rams? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

If ever a team had a deceiving record, it is the 3-0 Rams, who take turns pleasing and then infuriating Coach John Robinson each week. One moment, the greatest team ever assembled, the next, Cal State Fullerton.

Go figure these guys, Robinson can’t.

Against the Atlanta Falcons in the season opener, the Rams allowed two long passes and a punt return for scores during a 31-21 victory. Robinson later grumbled about giving up the three big plays, though, his heart didn’t seem to be in it.

The following Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, Robinson couldn’t have been happier. “I thought we played a great game on both sides,” he beamed. Then he saw the films and decided that while he still was crazy about the victory, he could have done without the Colts’ 82-yard scoring pass. And come to think of it, Robinson said, the Ram running game--his pride and joy--wasn’t much to write Georgia about.

And now this latest effort, a 41-38 victory over the Green Bay Packers, a game the Rams could have, should have lost. Only by the grace of a Packer fumble on the Ram one-yard-line does Robinson’s team retain its perfect record.

“It was one of the worst tackling performances I ever remember on a Ram football team,” Robinson said.

“Jim (Everett) threw two careless interceptions in the third quarter,” he added.

”. . . we violated a lot of principles playing this game,” he surmised.

“To be a really outstanding football team, we have to play a total game, Robinson warned.

The Rams are a little short on total games these days. Sure, they look nice with a 3-0 mark, but most of that is creative makeup. Consider their opponents, which have featured Chris Miller, Chris Chandler and Don Majkowski, three quarterbacks with a total of 45 NFL starts. Miller passed for 299 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams. Chandler threw for 266 yards and a touchdown, and Majkowski added 335 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

What happens this week when Montana, the quarterback Robinson fears most, starts aiming passes to Jerry Rice, the wide receiver that secondaries stop the least?

Say you’re the 49ers. You’ve seen the Rams victimized by the passing game three consecutive times. You’ve seen them allow four receptions between 20-29 yards, one between 30-49 yards, two between 50-59 yards and one that surpassed the 80-yard mark. You make the call: run or pass?

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

“We absolutely must do something about (stopping the long passes) or pack it in from a defensive standpoint,” Robinson said.

Part of the problem comes when Ram opponents place three receivers on one side and one receiver on the other side. The Packers did it, leaving Sterling Sharpe by himself, and look what happened: Sharpe had eight receptions for 164 yards and a touchdown. So stretched was the Ram secondary that no one could cover Sharpe man-on-man.

The 49ers have a four-wide receiver formation in their playbook. They used it in their comeback against the Eagles last Sunday, and it worked to near perfection. The only question is: Will they do as the Packers did, that is, bunch three receivers and isolate Rice?

“No, said Robinson, “but after watching us play, they might.”

Robinson laughed when he said this, but he might not be chuckling so hard come Sunday. Game management, he can fix. So, too, with tackling, blocking and the rest of his complaints.

But the secondary’s woes persist. And unlike the Falcons or Colts or Packers (a combined 3-6), the 49ers won’t let a Ram weakness go ignored. Unless Robinson and his staff find a solution--fast--there’s no need to worry about packing it in. The 49ers will do it for them.