NFL NOTES : Rams Gained Varied Offensive Attack After Dickerson Departed
When you think about it, maybe Eric Dickerson just would have been in the way of Ernie Zampese’s plans for the Los Angeles Rams. If you’ve got Dickerson, you’ve got to give him the ball all the time, right? Since the Dickerson trade two years ago this Halloween, people such as quarterback Jim Everett, wide receiver Henry Ellard and running back Greg Bell, whose career in Buffalo was at a dead end until he was thrown into the deal, have blossomed in the Rams’ offense.
The Rams still can run the ball, as Bell’s 1,212 rushing yards last season attest. The difference since Zampese joined Coach John Robinson’s staff in 1987 is that the Rams also have a varied passing attack.
“They still beat you with the run first, but they’ve got an effective passing game,” said Atlanta cornerback Bobby Butler, who has been playing the Rams twice a year for nine seasons. “They’ve got the best running game in the league; their quarterback is having a ball; they have good wide receivers, and they have a great offensive line.”
It shows. The Rams are the lone undefeated team in the NFL after five games, and they got a break when Bills quarterback Jim Kelly suffered an injury that will put him out of their Monday night encounter in Buffalo.
The maturation of Everett, who threw 31 touchdown passes last season, and the emergence of Ellard, who topped the 1,000-yard mark in receiving for the first time in his sixth season last year when he caught a career-high 86 passes for 1,414 yards, can be traced directly to Zampese’s influence. “That offensive coordinator likes to throw the ball,” Falcons Pro Bowl cornerback Scott Case said after a 26-14 loss to the Rams Sunday in Anaheim. “Of course, I might run that team pretty well with Everett and Ellard.”
Ellard joined the Rams in 1983, the same season as Dickerson, but he was just a bit player until Zampese arrived. “Eric carried us,” Ellard said of the Rams’ old offense. “I didn’t mind running downfield to block for him because he’s a great guy. But now, we’re more balanced. We’re more effective now.
“A lot of the stuff we do is timing routes. Ernie Zampese is the mastermind. He tries to figure out how to get me somewhere (defenses) can’t lock in on me and double-cover me. I owe Ernie Zampese a lot for the way my success has gone.”
The Falcons’ Case said the Rams are especially effective at “hiding” Ellard from the defense by the way they move him around. “That’s where Ernie Zampese comes in,” Everett said. “We don’t play Henry in one place all the time. We put him in motion. If you want to double him, we try to adjust. Maybe we send Flipper Anderson deep. If you want to double both wide receivers, we get the ball to (tight end) Pete Holohan. Teams can’t clue in on one particular thing.
“We’re not one-dimensional. We’re not a passing team that sets up the run. We’re whatever it takes to beat you.”
When new Los Angeles Raiders Coach Art Shell was a player, his friend Gene Upshaw remembers he was very quiet before games. The Raiders had a loose locker room, but Shell sat in front of his locker, concentrating on his assignments. That changed when Shell became the Raiders’ offensive line coach.
“I’d tell funny stories to the offensive linemen before games to relax them,” Shell said last week. “One was about the first year we had (300-pound tackle) Bob Brown. We were playing the Eagles, and Brown was going against a defensive end named Ernie Callaway. ‘Boomer’ was a striking force, and he was knocking Callaway all over the place.
“He told the guy, ‘You better stop coming like that. You’ll get killed.’ The guy said, ‘I’m going to keep coming.’ Brown said, ‘You keep coming like that, and you’ll be like a head of cabbage -- all head and no (rear) -- because I’m going to kill you.”’
The San Francisco 49ers, who turned down a No. 1 draft pick from the Phoenix Cardinals for cornerback Tim McKyer during the off-season, are trying to trade McKyer, who was suspended last week for insubordination. Three doctors said McKyer had recovered from a groin injury and could play against the New Orleans Saints, but McKyer refused and told Coach George Seifert he didn’t think he would play very well if he was used in the nickel defense. The Cardinals and Raiders have shown some interest in McKyer, who makes $500,000 a year, but his trade value definitely has declined.
When Shell was named coach of the Raiders last week, he received a telegram from former Steelers defensive lineman Dwight White, a bitter enemy on the playing field. It read: “Congratulations. I might even become a Raiders fan.”
The 49ers have scored more points in the fourth quarter this season (66) than the Cowboys have scored all year (54).
Commissioner candidate Paul Tagliabue attended Georgetown on a basketball scholarship and wore the same No. 33 jersey later worn by Patrick Ewing. Tagliabue averaged 9.0 rebounds, compared to 9.2 for Ewing.
Shell commenting on whether Bo Jackson, who was to report to the Raiders Wednesday, does or does not know diddly: “I don’t want to tell Bo he don’t know diddly. Bo knows. He’s doing all right for himself. He’s a very smart individual.”