Miller Becoming Run-and-Shooting Star : Falcons: Forget the sore knee. Atlanta’s quarterback wants to stay with exciting new offense.

Chris Miller didn’t know it at the time, but he was on the verge of something no Atlanta quarterback had accomplished. As luck would have it--bad luck, that is--he came up short . . . not to mention limping.

With a little more than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s game against San Francisco, Miller was nine yards shy of becoming the first Falcon to pass for 300 or more yards in three consecutive games. He took the snap, fired a completion to wide receiver Shawn Collins and then collapsed as 49er linebacker Charles Haley hit him from behind.

Miller left the game with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee and was soon to find out that he also had suffered from a twist of fate. The pass to Collins had been good for exactly nine yards, but 49er nose tackle Michael Carter had been ruled offsides on the play. And the Falcons decided to accept the penalty, giving them a first and five instead of a second and one.

Miller, 25, a fifth-year pro quarterback who had thrown for 337 and 366 yards in the previous two games, left Sunday’s with 291. His total of 994 yards in three consecutive games was eight yards shy of bettering Steve Bartkowski’s club-best of 1,001.

But don’t get the notion that Miller, who expects to be able to play Sunday against the Rams in Anaheim Stadium, is holding a gun to his head over all this. He’s having too much fun pulling the trigger of Atlanta Coach Jerry Glanville’s Red Gun offense.

He figures to run-and-shoot Bartkowski right out of the Falcon record book soon enough. This scheme is a passer’s dream. Miller’s 103 completions are second in the NFL to only Joe Montana. And he has thrown for 1,415 yards, fifth in the league. And the NFC West has already had its bye week, so some of the quarterbacks ahead of him have played one more game.

“It’s a great offense,” Miller said. “It’s definitely exciting, and it’s a quarterback’s offense. I’m in control of the whole thing. Jerry sends in plays, but he says they’re just suggestions. It’s up to me to get us into the right play at the line of scrimmage and it’s nice to have that option.”

Miller has done plenty of that already. Against the 49ers, he hooked up on touchdown throws of 75 yards to Andre Rison and 72 to George Thomas.

So Miller no doubt had visions of this fantasy season turning into a nightmare when Haley slammed into his knee.

“We were in the (shot)gun and I threw it to Shawn and was just sort of watching him catch it when I got hit from the backside,” Miller said. “My foot stayed on the ground, and my knee just sort of caved in. It was pretty painful.

“I went to the hospital and had one of those MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) tests, where they put you on that table and slide you inside that tube. You have no idea what’s going on, because they don’t tell you anything during the test. So I was just laying there and thinking for about a half-hour, wondering if my season was over.”

His initial relief at learning he hadn’t suffered permanent damage was somewhat tempered when the knee “didn’t want to bend much” Monday morning. But it continued to improve and by Wednesday, he told Glanville he would be ready for the Rams.

“He says, ‘I’m playing,’ ” Glanville said. “The guy is what you’re looking for. He’s mentally and physically tough. He doesn’t want to watch. I love that in him. He’s a throwback to the 1950s. He’s gonna try to crank it up no matter what.”

Glanville, in his first year as Falcon coach, says he knew nothing about Miller when he took the Atlanta job, has been pleasantly surprised by Miller’s aptitude as well as his fortitude.

The run-and-shoot requires the quarterback and receivers to read the defense and react instantly. One wrong move in Glanville’s Red Gun, and an offense can shoot itself in the foot. Quick feet and a quick release are essential for the quarterback, but a quick mind might be even more important.

“Of all the quarterbacks we’ve been around, I don’t think any of them has caught on faster or sees more than he does,” Glanville said. “I mean, he’s been unbelievable.”

Miller is quick to point out that he didn’t just take a quick look at some Xs and Os and then run out and start throwing touchdown passes. He has studied the offense with Oiler Warren Moon’s statistics (3,631 yards, 23 touchdowns, a 60% completion rate and a second consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl in 1989 under Glanville’s scheme) as incentive.

“They say it’s difficult and confusing, but I was mainly excited (when Glanville got the Atlanta job),” Miller said. “We had a six-week minicamp in April and May and another one for two weeks in July, so we spent a lot of time with it, getting the terminology down and everything.”

Glanville’s reputation--let’s just say he wouldn’t get many votes in the Most Popular competition at an NFL coaches convention--preceded him to Atlanta. Miller, who had his share of battles with the old regime as the Falcons staggered to a 3-13 record, didn’t know exactly what to expect, but he was ready for a change.

“The biggest difference I see in Chris Miller this year is that he’s genuinely excited,” said 13-year veteran offensive tackle Mike Kenn. “He really believes in this scheme and is very excited about the potential of the offense.”

And Miller has discovered that Glanville’s sometimes overpowering personality hasn’t been a problem. In fact, he thinks his new coach’s approach is refreshing.

“Working with Jerry has been enjoyable,” Miller said. “I think he’s gotten a lot of bad press. He’s got a great mind for the game, he’s involved in all aspects of the game, and he’s fun to be around.

“Sure, he’s off the wall and might have a screw loose, but he’s spontaneous, and he’s enthusiastic.”

Glanville says he didn’t want to bring in any preconceptions about the players he was inheriting in Atlanta, so he judged only practice performances. He obviously liked what he saw in Miller.

“I didn’t know him, I’d never studied film on him, I never watched him play,” Glanville said. “To turn one of these things around, you’ve got to have a good quarterback, and we were very fortunate to get one.”

Miller might have been in the right place at the right time, but he isn’t merely a product of Glanville’s wide-open offense. Last year, Miller threw for more yards than John Elway, Jim Kelly and Randall Cunningham and led the league with the lowest interception percentage (1.9).

Had Glanville glanced at Miller’s bio in the Falcon media guide, he would have known he had the all-round athlete he needed for his run-and-shoot:

--As an 8-year-old, Miller competed in the national finals of the Punt, Pass and Kick competition, the first of four times he made it to the national finals.

--He established 13 records at Oregon, breaking those of Dan Fouts and Norm Van Brocklin.

--An avid golfer, he got a chance to play a round at Augusta National last year and shot a 75. (“I three-putted four times, but I hit three of the four par 5s in two,” he said. “I was pretty pumped up.”)

--Basketball and baseball were his primary sports during high school in Eugene, Ore.--he didn’t play football until his junior year--and he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1983 and the Seattle Mariners in 1985.

--A shortstop, he signed with the Mariners after his junior year in college and hit .556 with Bellingham of the Northwest League. He was jumped up two levels to Salinas of the California League and faced a rehabilitating John Candelaria in his first at-bat. (“I struck out,” he says. “His curve looked about two feet outside before biting over the outside part of the plate. I think that’s when I decided to stick with football.”)

Last year, there might have been times when Miller wished he was fielding grounders instead of being ground into the field (he was sacked 41 times). But now he’s got his hands on the Red Gun, and he’s shooting for stardom.