COMMENTARY : Rams Can Wipe Slate Clean If They Can Get Past Bears

That blackboard the Rams return to this week is so full of chalk marks that there is hardly room to write, “Help!”

With surprising ease, the Rams have misplaced their ability to tackle, cover opposing receivers, rush the passer, hold on to gimme interceptions, run the football, punt, protect the quarterback and keep players free of injuries.

Other than that, Coach John Robinson says things are going hunky-dory.

The Rams are 5-2 and losers of two in a row as they enter a wicked little stretch that includes the Chicago Bears at usually frigid Soldier Field, the Minnesota Vikings at the always loud Metrodome and the New York Giants at perennially quiet Anaheim Stadium. In short, the National Football League’s Dead Man’s Curve of scheduling.

If the Rams don’t watch it, they could be 5-5 by mid-November--and wouldn’t that take some explaining. From undefeated to unwanted, all in five weeks.

What the Rams need now is a clean eraser and--surprise--the Bears.

You read it right. The Bears. Monsters of the Midway. The team that George Halas built. The team that Mike Ditka stokes with shovels full of anger.

In a quirk of fates, both the Rams and the Bears are headed in similar directions, mainly down in the standings. You know about the Rams’ problems. Multiply them by two and you have the Bears’ current situation.

One more loss and Ditka might need to guzzle some of that antifreeze he hawks on the tube, the better to coat his stomach with. His offense is as dull as Shakespeare in the park. His defense, or what’s left of it, was most recently roasted by that offensive powerhouse, the Cleveland Browns, who had scored a whopping 17 points in their previous two games. And at last glance at the medical charts, the Bears were missing defensive linemen Dan Hampton, Richard Dent and first-round draft choice Trace Armstrong.

Rams vs. Bears? Clash of the Titans, it isn’t.

For the Rams, such Bear difficulties couldn’t come at a better time. If ever they needed the kindness of strangers, this is it. Nor does it hurt the Rams’ confidence to know that they have beaten the Bears four out of their past five meetings, including a 23-3 victory in 1988.

Robinson can’t wait to play the Bears. He can’t wait to see how his team reacts to the pressure of two consecutive defeats, to the whispers that maybe the Rams aren’t quite as good as everyone believed them to be. He counts the days until the Rams, embarrassed by Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, receive a chance to quiet the doubts.

“I like this team,” he says. “I like it a lot. But we have to find out what type of resiliency we’ve got.”

They had better hurry. There are only so many games you can fall behind the San Francisco 49ers before you simply wave goodby to the NFC West title. And there are only so many times you can play as the Rams are playing right now--listlessly, carelessly and non-aggressively.

Some midweek predictions:

--The Rams will run the ball until they drop Sunday. Or more correctly, until the Bears drop. The days of finesse football, a word Robinson uses with disdain, are officially finished. Robinson wants his team to make a statement and he knows of no louder way than by stampede, not air travel.

--The Ram defense will be different in both style and substance. Maybe not better, just changed. Robinson isn’t divulging any state secrets these days, but his hints of a shakeup are not to be ignored. Something needs to be done and something will.

--The Rams will not suffer from the same pregame blahs that contributed to Sunday’s loss. Strangely enough, Robinson, known throughout the league for his motivational expertise, was unsure as to how to cure what ailed his team that day.

“I couldn’t think of anything to do,” he says. “Pull out a gun and shoot myself? Pull out a gun and shoot somebody else?”

No such worries this week. At the first sign of team lethargy, Robinson likely will deliver a little oratorical goody before the Rams take the field against the Bears.

“We’ll play our butts off, you can bet on that,” Robinson says. “We’ll play good, too.”

Nine games remain on the Rams’ regular-season schedule. Of those games, Robinson says his team will play well in eight of the nine. If that’s the case, then the Rams had better start immediately with a vulnerable Bear team. Beat the Bears and all is forgiven, or at least, overlooked. Lose to the Bears and an opportunity is lost with it.

An opportunity to erase, “Help!”