Robinson Likes His Calls, Not Results : Rams: Coach refuses to back down on fake field goal and won’t bench kick returner Ron Brown.
Pinned in a corner, first by the San Francisco 49ers, then by some inquiring media minds, Ram Coach John Robinson lashed back Tuesday, again defending a fake field goal call and denying a fourth-quarter collapse that cost the Rams a 17-point lead and Monday night’s game, 30-27.
With his team teetering on an emotional ledge, Robinson rushed to the forefront to take on all challengers. The Rams didn’t choke in Monday’s game, he insisted, even if two fumbles in the last 6 minutes 27 seconds led directly to two 49er touchdowns and the devastating loss.
The Rams, instead, lost with poise and dignity, he said.
Robinson stood by his call for the fake field goal and defended kick returner Ron Brown’s second deadly fumble in two weeks. He also talked about rebounds and comebacks, and a possible rematch with the 49ers in the NFC title game.
“There’s no time or reason to allow yourself to get discouraged,” Robinson said. “If you are discouraged, and go in the tank, you’ve got to let someone else go to the playoffs. . . . We’ve got a great chance. We’ve got a chance to go to the Super Bowl.”
If it seems only human nature to commiserate after an emotional outpouring, Robinson isn’t accepting it. Look forward, not back. The glass is half full.
“It’s also human nature to get (ticked) off, play hard and come back and win,” Robinson countered. “We get to choose what human nature we want. We’re not compelled to feel sorry for ourselves. We played the best we could. It was a hell of a football game. It was one of the most exciting three hours I’ve ever spent in my life. And anyone who was there and didn’t get caught up in it is just a fool.”
Speaking of fools, that’s what Robinson considers anyone who still second-guesses his decision to fake a 21-yard field goal try on fourth and goal at the 49ers’ four with a 17-3 lead and 3:22 left in the first half.
Holder Pete Holohan, of course, was stopped short of the end zone. The 49ers took over and scored two plays later on a 92-yard pass play, Joe Montana to John Taylor, which cut the Rams’ lead to 17-10.
The Rams ended up losing by three points, the mathematical difference of the field goal not attempted.
“I know several of you were critical of the call,” Robinson said, echoing his sentiments of Monday night. “But I think you’re wrong. . . . It was an excellent call, based on the information we had, and we came within six inches of it working. I had thought about it right before the start of the game. I talked to both players (Holohan and kicker Mike Lansford) on the sidelines before the play. I had anticipated it two plays before, had it ready to go and ran it.”
Robinson also insisted again that the game was never in hand, even as his quarterback, Jim Everett, stood over center at the 49ers’ four-yard line with a 10-point lead and seven minutes left.
There, Doug Smith’s center snap stuck in the mud and San Francisco recovered the fumble.
“No, we didn’t have them beat!” Robinson said. “No we didn’t! When you have them beat is when you have more points and there’s no time left. To assume that a lead at a certain point was safe, I can’t accept that, and never did during the game.
“The worst thing we did was get them inside their own five. How can I not say it was bad to fumble the ball on their three? We go down to the three (four, actually) and some strange thing happened. Doug Smith’s concentration didn’t slip. It was a freak thing that happened.”
The other crucial blow was Brown’s fumbled kickoff, which gave the 49ers the ball at the Rams’ 27 with 6:15 left.
That’s two blunders in two weeks for Brown at the most inopportune time, but Robinson said he’s not going to pull Brown off the return team.
“I think the thing you have to do when something goes wrong with a player is to get him back playing good,” Robinson said. “Unless there’s something that he can’t come back from. Individuals don’t lose games. I cannot ever accept that. I never will.”
So where do the Rams go from here? To the playoffs as a wild card, most likely. Despite Monday’s loss, the Rams are in a strong position, although playing host to a wild-card game now seems less likely.
If the playoffs began today, the Rams, 9-5, would play the New York Giants, 10-4, in the Meadowlands.
The Rams can clinch a wild-card spot with wins over the New York Jets here Sunday and at New England on Christmas Eve. They can also qualify at 10-6, if either Washington, 8-6, or Green Bay, 8-6, loses again, or if either Philadelphia or the Giants lose twice.
At 10-6, the Rams win head-to-head tiebreakers with Green Bay or Washington but lose a three-way tie with the Packers and Redskins, Green Bay getting the nod because of a better conference record.
Ram Notes
The left knee injury Bill Hawkins suffered will not require immediate surgery, the Rams reported, but the rookie from Miami will be lost for at least three weeks, effectively ending his season unless the Rams progress through the playoffs. Hawkins has a partially torn ligament and his knee will be re-examined after “two to three weeks of rehabilitation.”
The injury leaves the defensive line ragged. Rookie Brian Smith, a linebacker who spent the first 13 weeks on injured reserve, will move into the right defensive end spot. The Rams have already lost starters Doug Reed (ankle sprain) and Mike Piel (dislocated elbow), although the club says Piel could be back for the New England game in two weeks. To replace Hawkins, the Rams will either activate rookie linebacker Mark Messner this week or go outside for help. . . . Ron Brown now has half as many fumbles, two, as receptions, four, this season.
Henry Ellard’s return to the lineup after missing two weeks with a hamstring strain was not awe-inspiring. He caught two passes for 38 yards against the 49ers. “The leg was bothering him the whole game,” Coach John Robinson said. “He was very limited in his role.” . . . Quarterback Jim Everett might have clinched the second Pro Bowl spot behind Joe Montana with his 239-yard, two-touchdown effort Monday night. Everett put some distance between himself and his closest competitor, Green Bay’s Don Majkowski. Everett, who ranks second behind Montana in the NFC with a 91.5 rating, leads the NFL with 3,856 yards and 26 touchdown passes.
