RAMS : Montana Continues to Frustrate Robinson
Oh well, it certainly wasn’t the first time Joe Montana had messed up John Robinson’s plans. And at least this time the Ram coach didn’t have to watch from the sidelines. He could grimace in the privacy of his living room. Even cry into a sofa pillow if he wanted.
The San Francisco quarterback threw three touchdown passes in the first half Monday night against New York and then squelched a late Giant rally in typical, “I-own-the-last-few-minutes-of-the-game” form. Montana passed. Montana ran. And the 49ers scored twice in the last four minutes 12 seconds, winning, 34-24.
How many times has this guy ruined Robinson’s plans in recent years? Too many to contemplate.
Robinson was hoping for some help from the Giants. Now, his hopes are resting on the Atlanta Falcons, who play host to the 49ers Sunday.
“What I’m praying for is for the 49ers to go into one of those periods where the balls just tick off their fingers and they’re not quite running on all cylinders,” Robinson said. “If they’re into a flat period, that’s what we need.
“We need them to lose and us to keep winning, and then if we beat them, we can win the division championship.”
The Rams trail the 49ers by two games in the NFC West. If they can close the gap to one by Dec. 11, when the 49ers come to Anaheim Stadium for a Monday night game, a victory would give the Rams a 2-0 record against San Francisco and the edge toward the division title.
“It would really add to that game,” Robinson said. “It could turn that game into one of the big games of the year.”
Atlanta, of course, is 3-9 and with a new coach--Jim Hanifan was named Tuesday as interim coach to replace Marion Campbell--but the Rams can still dream about a division championship. Heck, Robinson has even allowed himself to mention the words “world championship.”
“This is the time of year when there are lots of reasons to step aside and let someone else fight for the world championship,” he said. “We’re in that hunt now.”
This is also the time of year when everyone has a different scenario about who will make the playoffs and why. Mathematically, the possibilities abound, but here’s some of the things to consider when assessing the NFC wild-card race:
--At this point, the Rams and Philadelphia (both 8-4) seem favorites for wild-card spots, but Green Bay (7-5) finishes the season against four teams--Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Chicago and Dallas--that are a combined 12-30.
--The Rams would rather see Minnesota (7-5) win the Central Division than Green Bay. If the Rams end the season with the same record as the Packers, they would get the wild-card spot because they beat the Packers, 41-38, Sept. 24. If Minnesota finishes second in the division and tied with the Rams, the Vikings get the spot based on their 23-21 overtime victory Nov. 5.
--The Vikings (7-5) play three of their last four games at home under the dome, where they are 5-0 this season.
--New Orleans, Chicago and Washington (all 6-6) will need some help, but their playoff hopes are still alive. The Redskins play three of their four remaining games on the road, but still seem to have the best chance at winning four in a row, which is a must for these three.
Washington finishes with Phoenix (5-7), San Diego (4-8), Atlanta (3-9) and Seattle (4-8).
New Orleans plays at Detroit (3-9) and Buffalo (8-4), then gets the Eagles and Indianapolis (6-6) at home.
Chicago has the toughest schedule. The Bears play at Minnesota, will host Detroit and Green Bay, then end the year at San Francisco (10-2).
--The Rams play at Dallas (1-11) Sunday, the New York Jets (3-9) come to Anaheim after the 49ers, and the Rams end the season Christmas Eve in Foxboro, Mass., against the Patriots (4-8).
The Rams could win three of their last four and still fall short of the playoffs, however. If they finish in a three-way tie at 11-5 with Philadelphia and Green Bay, the Packers would get the first wild-card spot based on best conference record and the Eagles would get the second because of a better record against common opponents.
Jim Everett passed for 454 yards Sunday against New Orleans. He dropped back to pass 57 times. The Rams even called a pass play on third down from the one-yard line.
Wasn’t Robinson always criticized for his conservatism? Didn’t the Rams used to run the ball, and run the ball, and run the ball some more until they finally ran opponents down? Does this recent dependence on the pass worry Robinson?
Well, maybe a little.
“We’re concerned about it,” he admitted. “We’re not concerned about numbers, as much as we are concerned about our will to run the football. When you’re behind most of the game, like we were Sunday, clearly, throwing is the right thing to do.
“But you go along for awhile, if you don’t run the football, and pretty soon you look up in a month when you have to run the ball and say, ‘What happened to this team?’ We’re fighting the tendency to let that happen to us.”
Flipper Anderson was all over the field Sunday during his 336-yard, record-setting performance against New Orleans. Robinson thinks Anderson did more than just open some eyes. He says he opened a can of worms for Ram opponents.
“We can become less predictable,” Robinson said Monday at his weekly media luncheon. “You guys see us all the time, and you can say, ‘They’re going to throw underneath to (Pete) Holohan. They’re going to throw into the flat to (Bobby) Delpino. They’re going to run crossing routes to Henry (Ellard), who will work the middle of the field, and deep (patterns) to Flipper.’
“And you want to get to a point where there’s some things you do really well. But now this opens things up. Opponents can’t say we’ll take away this and that. It’s the next level for us.”
Ram Notes
Flipper Anderson had 25 yards in the first quarter, 60 in the second, 56 in the third, 155 in the fourth and 40 in 8 1/2 minutes of overtime Sunday. . . . Jim Everett’s 454 passing yards was the third-best performance by a Ram quarterback. Norm Van Brocklin set the National Football League record with 554 in 1951 and Vince Ferragamo threw for 509 yards in 1982. . . . Everett, in his fourth year with the Rams, is already fourth on the team’s all-time passing yardage list with 10,321 yards. Roman Gabriel racked up 22,223 yards in 11 seasons. Van Brocklin is second with 16,114 in nine years. Bob Waterfield passed for 11,893 in eight years.