They Seem to Be Primed for a Letdown : Rams: Recent history indicates they may have trouble bouncing back from loss. They face Jets today.
And on the sixth day after, the Rams will get reacquainted with empty stadium seats, a regional television blackout, well-worn emotions and a playoff struggle that didn’t end with John Taylor’s one-man track meet at Anaheim Stadium.
The ABC trucks rolled out of town Tuesday morning, a network’s ratings cup having runneth over. The prime-time Rams, win or lose, have become football’s version of “Roseanne,” a madcap burst of entertainment and Arbitron ratings.
“We’re the most interesting team in the league,” Ram Coach John Robinson said last week. “We’re out of control.”
In Monday night’s 30-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams were certainly that, blowing two 17-point leads.
While living on the edge might be a kick, how many times can you get off the mat?
After their first Monday night appearance, a dramatic loss to Buffalo in October, the Rams maneuvered like zombies against New Orleans the next Sunday, losing, 40-21.
After a stunning overtime win over New Orleans on Nov. 26, the Rams barely survived the spurless Dallas Cowboys a week later.
Yet, the Rams were resilient enough to thrash the New York Giants, 31-10, seven days after an overtime loss to Minnesota. And with Saturday’s win over Dallas, the Giants are 11-4.
Strange team, the Rams. They keep doing what you least expect, just when you least expect it.
Today’s game against the New York Jets in Anaheim offers a convergence of emotions. The Rams are primed for a letdown, yet can’t afford one. Their most direct route to the playoffs is winning today and next week against New England, which would clinch a wild-card spot.
Yet, how can a team coming off its most inspired game in a year, against an archrival, prepare for the 4-10 Jets, a battered team at the moment and one that has only faced the Rams five times since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970?
Robinson could point to the Dallas win, a 35-31 squeaker, for motivation.
“But the thing that that implies, and I don’t like it, is that we just walked out there,” he said. “We were trying. I think we’re more leery of what the down side can be, it’s clear what that can be. But I don’t like to give in to negative emotions.”
The Jets don’t figure to be much of a match in their condition. Quarterbacks Ken O’Brien, who has an elbow injury, and Pat Ryan, who suffered a concussion, were both knocked out of last week’s 13-0 loss to Pittsburgh, and it appears that newcomer Tony Eason, late of New England, may get the start.
Tailback Freeman McNeil is out with a severe ankle sprain. Other starters not playing because of injuries include tight end Mickey Shuler (knee), wide receiver Wesley Walker (knee), safety Rich Miano (knee) and defensive tackle Marty Lyons (knee).
The Jets may lead the league in knee surgeries with five, but it’s little consolation.
Meanwhile, the chants of “Joe Must Go!” from Jet fans, a chorus that began seven years ago when Joe Walton took over as coach, have never been louder. This year, Jet fans may get their wish.
The Jets last week received permission to talk with New England General Manager Dick Steinberg, who if he accepted the front-office job, would almost certainly hand-pick his own coach.
Walton, with a 54-57-1 record in New York, said he tries to ignore the rumors and the chants. Of course, he works in a town where one tabloid bannered the back-page headline, “GREEN SLIME!” after a loss this season.
“I just concentrate on the game,” Walton said. “Just concentrate on what you’re doing. That’s all you can do.”
Walton, a real trouper, has blamed himself for this year’s collapse, despite all the injuries.
“There’s been a lot of different reasons,” Walton said. “A lot of the veterans didn’t have good years, and that put a lot of pressure on the young people. We had some games we could have won and didn’t win. And I didn’t do a very good job, so we’re 4-10.”
When you say you didn’t do a good job, in what ways?
“We’re 4-10,” Walton responded. “We certainly can only be judged on what the record is. And the record is 4-10, which means you didn’t do a good job.”
Ram Notes
Former USC lineman David Cadigan, a first-round draft pick in 1988, has started only two games at guard for the Jets this season and has been used mostly as a backup. “Young linemen in the NFL have a tendency to take awhile,” Coach Joe Walton explained. “He’s getting better, he works hard, and certainly the future should be different for him.” . . . By contrast, former UCLA receiver JoJo Townsell is having his best season as a pro. With 42 receptions for 869 yards in 1989, he has doubled his catch total of four previous seasons with the Jets. . . . Ram quarterback Jim Everett needs 109 yards passing today to break the team’s single-season yardage record, which Everett set last season with 3,964 yards.
