Robinson Expects Intensity in Opener : Rams: Coach says team is scared because it goes against Green Bay at less than full strength.

Return with us to a time when holdouts, sore hamstrings and other injuries had not dampened the early-season hopes of two offensive powerhouses. . . .

Back to less than a year ago, when Green Bay had quarterback Don Majkowski revved up and ready to pass the ball, and the Rams had sound people to defend against him when he did.

It was the third week of the 1989 season at Anaheim Stadium, where they played a game that surely will never be repeated--especially now with both teams wracked by preseason woes.

Back then, the Rams and the Packers staged a 41-38 heart-stopper that provided a clear look into the growing expectations of both teams.

The Rams won--the third victory in their season-opening, five-game streak--with their defense holding on desperately in the waning moments after their offense built a 38-7 halftime lead. Los Angeles went on to earn a berth in the NFC Championship game and become a Super Bowl contender going into this season.

Green Bay lost but showed the instant firepower that propelled them to a 10-6 record and playoff hopes in 1990.

Back to the present, a starkly different present as the Rams and Packers open the season today. This time, it’s a matter of survival, not Super Bowl prospects.

“I think we’ll play the game with intensity,” Coach John Robinson said, “because I think we’re scared. We’re aware that we’re not at full strength.

“I think as this team goes on, this team will be stronger and stronger. Whereas in the past couple of years, we’ve had a couple of fast starts, one would worry a bit about the start at this point.”

If the Rams hope to play hare to the NFC’s tortoises this year, they’re a rabbit with tender hamstrings.

There is concern over how the defense will cover for the loss of cornerbacks Jerry Gray and Daryl Henley and the holdout-rustiness of linebacker Kevin Greene and defensive lineman Doug Reed; and how an offense dependent on timing can function when its top receivers have missed substantial portions of practice and the exhibition season because of sore hamstrings.

“There’s a great sense of urgency,” Ram quarterback Jim Everett said. “There’s a lot of people like myself who haven’t played four quarters right now (in exhibition games). And then there’s some people that were down, some people that haven’t even played that are going to have to play.

“It might be a valley physically, but I think emotionally we’re at a point that there’s an urgency to be good, to be precise, and we’re going to try to be all of that.”

The good news for the Rams is that Green Bay isn’t exactly at full speed either, with Majkowski coming off a 45-day holdout and limited at best to a relief role at quarterback. Second-year player Anthony Dilweg, who threw just one regular-season pass as a rookie, gets the start.

Although Dilweg has Packer Coach Lindy Infante’s quick-release, “pass-to-daylight” scheme to work with and All-Pro receiver Sterling Sharpe to throw to, it’s hard to imagine him causing as much defensive disruption as the free-wheeling, inventive Majkowski, who was the only quarterback besides Everett to throw for 4,000 yards in 1989.

Dilweg is a dropback passer, less apt to sprint from the pocket and make defenders chase him--and also more likely to put the ball up for grabs when he is pressured.

“There’s a balancing effect there,” Ram defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur said. “Neither of us is at full strength, and we both have to live with that.”

Majkowski was activated Saturday and will be ready to come in at a moment’s notice for Dilweg, but the Rams say they cannot become obsessed with his presence on the sideline.

“I don’t know how you prepare differently,” Robinson said. “You get ready for what the other guy does. They’re going to do about the same things. Majkowski might take off and run a little more, but I think they do about the same things.”

For the Ram offense, coming off an exhibition season in which the running game was muddled and the passing game frequently grounded by injuries to Flipper Anderson, Henry Ellard and Aaron Cox, everything is a question mark. Anderson and Ellard should be back at nearly full strength today, but Robinson said Cox may not be quite ready to play.

And with right tackle Jackie Slater listed as doubtful because of a dislocated toe and backups Robert Cox and Joe Millinichik suffering from rib and thumb injuries, respectively, there are worries that even should Everett be in tune with his receivers, his blocking might be suspect.

The Packers’ main pass-rush weapon is blitzing linebacker Tim Harris, who registered 19 1/2 sacks last season, mainly from the weakside.

“They try to use him like we try to use Kevin Greene, so he’s going to be in the crux of their defense,” Robinson said of Harris. “So we will have to look out for him. And if we don’t, I know Jim will.”

Ram Notes

Ram quarterback Jim Everett, for one, doesn’t think that Packer quarterback Don Majkowski can be ready for today’s game after a 45-day holdout. “They have a serious problem,” Everett said. “I know he wants to play. He has the desire to play, and he would think that he’s ready to play, because he’s such a great competitor. But I think that (Anthony) Dilweg would be best suited to play, and let (Majkowski) have a chance to at least get in sync a little bit, because he’s going to be way off. He’ll think he’s ready, but he’s going to be way off.”

The Rams are 5-2 in regular-season openers under Coach John Robinson. . . . The last time the Rams played in Green Bay was two years ago, when they won, 34-7, in the season opener.