For Rams, Only Race Left Is One for Wild Card Spot

First came the bye, then came the goodby. Refreshed, relaxed, rejuvenated and replenished by a week off from their bone-crushing business, the Rams returned from retreat Sunday afternoon and immediately retired from the NFC West race.

Four games down and three games out. Earlier in the week, Coach John Robinson had called the scenario “unthinkable.”

But then Cincinnati field goal man Jim Breech split the uprights in overtime, culminating an excruciating 34-31 Ram defeat, and Robinson was left to think long and hard.

“This loss was very heartbreaking, obviously,” said Robinson, looking down, apparently scouting out a soft place to land. “One and three is difficult. Obviously, many of you are going to predict our doom, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We’ve had bad situations before and have come back and we will again.”

Robinson spoke with all the conviction of a Victor Kiam apology. His Rams are 1-3, with a trip to Chicago next on the ledger. The 49ers are 4-0. If the Rams were getting sick and tired of wild-card duty, they’d better start cozying up to the idea again, because one month into a new season that’s all there is.

“It (stinks). It really (stinks),” fullback Robert Delpino said. “That’s the best (way) I can put it. I haven’t seen us in this tough (of a situation) in three years. And the most depressing part is what the 49ers are doing.”

What the 49ers are doing is not losing, which is what they usually do. The Rams don’t normally do much losing either, at least not until the playoffs, so they were wearing their January game faces a lot earlier Sunday.

“Today was devastating,” quarterback Jim Everett said. “Definitely. I think the expectations for the L.A. Rams was never to be 1-3. We have to look at it. Hopefully, we can learn from it.”

And learn what?

The Rams already know how to finish second.

Maybe they can learn from the Bengals, who had absolutely nothing going for them at time of kickoff. They were coming off a Monday night loss to Seattle. The Rams had them outrested, 13 days to six. Eddie Brown, their best receiver, was out with a knee injury. And Sam Wyche, their coach, was out $30,000 after barring a woman reporter from his locker room, incurring the wrath of Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and turning the Bengals’ postgame interview routine into an NFL test case.

Sunday, Wyche opened his locker room to all reporters--men, women, even a man dressed as a woman (the joke was a drag)--but erected a curtain to keep all of them away from the heinous sight of his players removing their pads.

They said the Bengals couldn’t win under such a big tent, but sometimes, distractions speak louder than words. “As a team, we were thrown into a situation that brought us together,” Breech said.

And as an opponent, the Rams brought the best out of the Bengals.

Cincinnati managed all of 230 yards Monday night against Seattle. Twenty minutes into Sunday’s game at Anaheim Stadium--after 24 plays from scrimmage--the Bengals had 232 yards and a 21-0 lead.

Eventually, the Rams began to do some things right. First, they handed the ball to Cleveland Gary, who illustrated what Robinson should have known all along: He’s no Curt Warner or Gaston Green. Gary rushed for 92 yards, scored two touchdowns and actually ran over and around defenders--a first for a Ram tailback this season.

Secondly, and consequently, the Rams came back. The slightest threat of a Gary gain gave Everett an extra second to scan from the pocket. With a little time, Everett was able to pass for 372 yards and a pair of scores.

But when it came down to winning time, long into the afternoon, the Rams turned conservative, a strategy that works better for Orange County politicians than Orange County football teams.

Trailing, 31-28, with less than two minutes left in regulation, the Rams were faced with third and nine on the Cincinnati 26. Everett was shredding the Bengal defense, but Robinson and offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese chose ground transportation instead and ran Delpino up the middle on a draw play.

Delpino was stopped after a three-yard gain. Mike Lansford was called on to kick a field goal, he delivered and the game was headed for overtime.

Robinson insisted he wasn’t playing for the tie.

“No, not at all,” he claimed. “We anticipated a big play. We thought they’d spread out their defense and we’d spring him for a first down.

“It just didn’t work.”

Neither did Robinson’s plan in overtime to punt on fourth and one from midfield, hoping to pin the Bengals far from the winning points. Robinson pinned the Bengals back all right--Cincinnati took over at its own 11--but two passes from Boomer Esiason to Harold Green put the ball on the Ram 40 and from there, it was only a matter of time before Esiason moved it further into the reach of Breech.

“We thought about going for it on fourth down,” Robinson said, “but we felt the best decision was to punt deep. If you don’t make it and give up the ball at the 50, two plays and they’re in field goal range.

“I didn’t want to give our defense a 20-yard field. A 20-yard field puts you out of the game in a hurry.”

Everett was less than enthralled with either decision. “I get the plays called for me and try to run them the best I can,” he said tersely. Gary literally walked away from the question, shaking his head and saying, “I ain’t going to comment on that.”

It was the kind of talk typical of a team having fallen hard on its aspirations. Super Bowl or bust, the Rams busted a day before Columbus Day. At 1-3, they look at their chase of the 49ers and see the same thing the Bengals saw in their locker room Sunday.

Curtains.