Critics Are Outraged Over Ram Strategy
The bar-stool critics rise again, questioning the Rams for playing prevent defense in Buffalo’s last-minute, game-winning drive at Rich Stadium Monday night.
Prevent what? The Bills, under the direction of quarterback Frank Reich, drove 64 yards on seven consecutive completions against the Rams’ safety zone, scoring the winning touchdown with 16 seconds left on an eight-yard scoring pass from Reich to Andre Reed.
In the process, the Rams never let a Bill receiver behind them, yet lost, 23-20.
The prevent debate rages every time the situation arises, as it did Monday night just moments after the Rams seemed to pull off their own miracle finish on Flipper Anderson’s 78-yard scoring reception from Jim Everett with 1:22 left.
Why didn’t the Rams come after the quarterback, especially Reich, a first-time starter with only minimal National Football League experience? Why let him sit in the pocket, with no pass rush, and dump the ball off to Thurman Thomas time after time?
“It’s an interesting question,” Ram Coach John Robinson said Tuesday.
On a wet and slippery night, Robinson opted to stay back and prevent the big play, rushing only four defenders, then three, on the drive.
What scared him?
“It’s the one on one,” he said. “It’s you and me, and if I slip on the wet turf and you catch it, it’s over.”
Instead, the Rams allowed the Bills the short reception but slipped while trying to cover those plays, too.
“It’s a dilemma,” Robinson said. “I’m not saying one’s right and one’s wrong. The guy that’s frustrated says, ‘Why did they play prevent?’ has to turn around and say, ‘Why did Buffalo let Willie Anderson run all the way for a touchdown.’ You’ve got to answer that if you want to debate it.”
Robinson’s strategy was to make Reich throw seven or eight passes on the drive in the hope that he would either mess up or the Rams would make a few plays. Neither happened.
“We didn’t play it well,” he said. “I’m not defending the playing of it, because they moved the ball down there and scored. But if we’d have tackled him twice, then the game would have been over. Just two tackles.”
Robinson reminds all that it’s the same bend-don’t-break defense his team used to beat the Super Bowl champions a few weeks back.
“San Francisco tried it on us and couldn’t score (a touchdown),” Robinson said. “And San Francisco is the big-play team of all time. And we took those away from them.”
If Joe Montana can’t score on it, who can? Frank Reich, as it turned out.
The morning after: Robinson’s challenge this week is keeping his team’s emotions in check after losing a game the Rams seemingly stole after Anderson’s improbable scoring reception.
“I tried to tell them, ‘So what, you lost,’ ” Robinson said. “ ‘Now you’ve got 10 more; how many of those can you win?’ The question never was: Can you go 16-0? Are you some sort of a Cinderella? We never believed it was. That’s the way it is. It’ll either be toughening for us and make us more aggressive, and mean, or it could have an effect. I doubt it will have a negative effect. I think it will make us stronger.”
So you thought the Rams were going to win every game?
“I think you have to keep the whole thing in perspective,” Robinson said. “The Super Bowl champions last year lost six games. Atlanta kicked the . . . out of them. We beat the . . . out of them. That’s what the season is.”
How many chances did the Rams have to win before Reich’s miracle last-minute touchdown drive? Let us count the ways.
Here are three crucial second-half plays that could have kept the Rams undefeated:
--With the Rams leading, 10-6, the Bills faced second and 10 at their own 49. Reich’s pass intended for Andre Reed on the right sideline passed right through cornerback Jerry Gray’s arms and deflected to Reed for a nine-yard gain. Had Gray made the catch, he might have scored, putting the Rams up, 17-6. Instead, the drive was kept alive and ended in a Buffalo field goal, cutting the Ram lead to 10-9.
--With 8:50 left and the Rams leading, 13-9, Reich lofted a long pass toward Reed down the right sideline. The pass was well short of its target, but Gray mistimed his leap, and the ball sailed over his head to Reed for a 47-yard reception, leading to Buffalo’s go-ahead touchdown.
--In the same drive, the Bills faced third and eight at the Ram 37 when Reich was sacked by Brett Faryniarz and Bill Hawkins, taking Buffalo out of field-goal range. But safety Anthony Newman was called for holding on the play, giving the Bills a first down at the 32. A few minutes later, Reich hit Thomas on a one-yard scoring pass to put Buffalo up, 16-13.
Ram Notes
Greg Bell gained all 44 of his yards Monday night in the first half, in 14 carries. In the second half, he carried seven times for no yards. In fact, the Bills held the Rams to zero net yards rushing in the second half and only 59 for the game. Why? Coach John Robinson said the Bills threw eight-man fronts at the Rams in the second half and dared them to pass in the sloppy weather. . . . Flipper Anderson’s league-leading yards-per-catch average of 30.9 improved to 32.8 after two catches for 87 yards against Buffalo.
The Rams must activate linebacker Mark Jerue today by 1 p.m. or waive him. With Fred Strickland hobbling on a badly sprained left ankle, it appears that the team could use Jerue, who had a 109-tackle season in 1986. Jerue started 12 games last season at inside linebacker before his knees gave out, requiring more off-season arthroscopic surgery. Because of injuries, the Rams have yet to field their starting inside linebacker team of Strickland and Larry Kelm. . . . Of Strickland, Robinson said: “I can’t imagine him playing this week.”
As the trading deadline passed Tuesday, rumors of a Gaston Green deal were greatly exaggerated. Ram sources confirmed that Green was never close to being shipped to Phoenix, which was one rumor circulating. Of course, there is always going to be speculation concerning Green, the team’s first draft choice in 1988, because he has yet to produce. . . . Neither Green nor this year’s first-round pick, Cleveland Gary, played a down Monday.
The Rams’ game against the 49ers at Anaheim Stadium Dec. 11 is officially a sellout. . . . Kicker Mike Lansford has made 12 of 14 field-goal attempts this season, his misses coming from 43 and 50 yards. . . . Bell had gone 13 games without fumbling before Monday night.
THE RAMS BY THE NUMBERS
HIGHLIGHT
WILLIE (FLIPPER) ANDERSON
The second-year receiver out of UCLA went into the Bills’ game Monday night with the largest amount of yardage per reception in the league-30.9. He came out of the disappointing loss with but two catches, but increased his yardage per catch to 32.8. He accomplished that in less than nine seconds late in the fourth period when he ran a middle post route, caught Jim Everett’s perfectly thrown pass among three defenders, and ran away from everyone in completing the 78-yard touchdown play. He now has 13 receptions, two of them for touchdowns.
SEASON TO DATE
Six-game totals
FIRST DOWNS
RAMS: 114 OPP: 123
RUSHING YARDS
RAMS: 744 OPP: 606
PASSING YARDS
RAMS: 1,400 OPP: 1,607
RUSHING
ATT AVG TDs RAMS 180 4.1 6 OPP 139 4.4 5
PASSING
RAMS:
ATT AVG TDs RAMS 180 108 10 OPP 224 142 7
PUNTS/AVERAGE
RAMS: 24/38.3 OPP: 23/40.1
PENALTIES/YARDS
RAMS: 35/277 OPP: 28/210
FUMBLES / LOST
RAMS: 10/2 OPP: 14/7
INTERCEPTIONS
RAMS: 6/134 OPP: 5/69
SCORING BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 TOTAL RAMS 43 66 23 30 162 OPP 23 37 28 37 125
POSSESSION TIME
RAMS: 31:01 OPP: 28:59
