ANALYSIS : Rams Got Defensive About It

The poor guy was just trying to do his job, revving up a grounds-crew truck outside the Ram locker room, and there was John Robinson’s red face, screaming at him.

“Either move it in or move it out,” Robinson yelled at the driver. “We can’t get anything done with that going.”

Upon command, the rumbling truck shifted into reverse and retreated around the corner, out of earshot, giving Robinson the space he needed to conduct his postgame rap session.

The coach looked pleased.

“Yeah,” he said, puffing out his chest. “We’re tough guys.”

If you thought the Rams were defensive during Sunday’s 21-7 wild-card victory over Philadelphia, you should have heard them in the aftermath. Under Ram horns sits some extremely thin skin, along with ears that burned all week, on both coasts.

This is what the Rams heard, or what they thought they heard:

(a) They’re too soft.

(b) They can’t play in the cold.

(c) They can’t play in the playoffs.

(d) They can’t play a lick of defense.

Robinson swears he heard it.

“People are always on us--we don’t play enough man-to-man, we don’t rush the passer, we’re stupid, we don’t know how to coach,” he said.

Quarterback Jim Everett swears he heard it.

“How many shows did I watch in Philadelphia talking about the Eagles going to San Francisco?” he said.

Linebacker Kevin Greene swears he heard it.

“We read stuff about the warm weather, the beach boys from L.A.,” he said. “And I don’t like it.”

Basically, it took three Philadelphia quotes to set the Rams off. The first had Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan calling the Ram defense the worst in the playoffs. True, but unkind. The second also came from Ryan, claiming the Eagles were good enough to beat the 49ers, which presumed the Eagles already had the Rams beaten.

The third came from Mike Schad, the Ram washout who now starts for Philadelphia. Schad forecast an Eagle victory because the Rams weren’t physical enough up front and, basically, were about to get head-butted all over Veterans Stadium.

“We heard all of it,” Everett said. “We took a lot of pregame abuse. That comes with the territory, I guess, when you play Philly and Buddy Ryan.

“They gave us a lot of motivation. We had the locker-room material. They gave it to us. That’s the way they play, that’s fine.

“They deserved everything they got today.”

So Sunday was a day for the Rams to break a few myths, although, as with most stereotypes, some of them were grounded in fact.

Fact: Before Sunday, the Rams were 2-5 in playoff games this decade. Robinson’s only postseason victories had come against the Dallas Cowboys--in 1983 and 1985.

Fact: Before Sunday, the Rams were winless in cold-weather playoff sites this decade, losing twice at Washington and again at Chicago in the 1985 NFC championship game.

Fact: The Rams’ defense did rank 21st in the NFL this season--a dead-last 28th against the pass.

Consider Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin a fact-checker.

“Look at the standings, look at the ratings,” Irvin said. “We do have the worst defense in the playoffs. No doubt about it.”

And the worst defense in the playoffs holds Randall Cunningham to seven points.

“Not bad for a bunch of hacks,” Irvin noted.

Irvin wasn’t, however, as ready to support the cold-war theory.

“They said we couldn’t win in the cold? Why?” Irvin said. “Because we lost to Chicago when they were the most dominant team in the entire league?

“I don’t know how they can say that. I’m from Kansas, Mel Owens is from Michigan, Vince Newsome is from Washington. We’ve got guys who’ve played in cold weather their entire college careers.”

Including running back Greg Bell, late of Notre Dame and the Buffalo Bills, who gets downright indignant over the topic.

“People are always writing we have trouble with the cold weather,” Bell said. “That’s nothing new. I’ve been written off for the last six years. I’ve been out of the league for six years. I’m still reading that I’m a malingerer, although I don’t see it and John Robinson doesn’t see it.

“I didn’t see us blinking in the cold weather today. But that won’t change what people write about us.”

It’s amazing the Rams moved as well as they did in the Pennsylvania rain, considering the persecution complex they carried with them.

But, whatever gets you through the wild-card round. If Rams had to believe that the world was out to get them in order to band together against the Eagles, then fine, there may be a future in paranoid power after all.

If Everett found the going a little too slippery when wet--he was intercepted twice--the Ram defense and offensive line performed at peak capacity. When Philadelphia had the football, the Rams yielded but three first downs in the first half, sacked Cunningham twice and held the Eagles scoreless through three quarters. When the Rams had the ball, the hard-rushing Philadelphia front was neutralized, resulting in 409 net Ram yards, sleet or no sleet.

“We physically controlled the football game,” said Robinson, delighting in each syllable. “Their defensive line is to be congratulated; they’re famous. I don’t want to call it a standoff, but we controlled the line of scrimmage. Their defensive line clearly had their hands full.”

Or, as Everett gleefully pointed out, “We might live close to Hollywood, but we still know how to play football.”

Ram football.

Ram tough.