RAMS : Running Assault Unearthed
Philadelphia Coach Buddy Ryan, who pays close attention to these things, said last month the Rams were one of the league’s most physical teams. It’s a reputation they built primarily with a punishing running game and an offensive line that routinely manhandled opponents.
But the combination of a potent passing attack and a propensity for falling behind early had reduced the vaunted Ram running game to afterthought status this season. Then came Sunday’s game against Atlanta and a 102-yard performance by Cleveland Gary, and the Ram offensive line suddenly became a dominant force again.
“Sometimes the game just dictates what you have to do,” guard Duval Love said. “When you get down 21 points, obviously, you have to throw the ball. You can’t do a lot of physical run blocking. But when we get a chance to mix it up, we can get back to the physical style we used to be known for.
“We still need to polish up a lot of aspects of our game, but maybe we got all the bad stuff out of us, and now we can get our rhythm going and keep rolling toward the end of the year. Maybe we can climb up the mountain now.”
Tackle Jackie Slater said a renewed emphasis on fundamentals and some good, old-fashioned head-slamming in practice might have revived the line.
“We work hard all the time at trying to win the physical battle up front,” he said, “but one of the keys for us has been going back to the basics on the practice field. We have really been coming off on one another on the practice field, and we expect now to get it done in the games.”
Gary, who ran through a number of tackles Sunday, was an important factor, of course. He had the Rams’ first 100-yard effort this season despite playing just 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. The Rams--who had averaged just 79 rushing yards in their previous three games--finished with 129.
“It’s important for all of us to remember we can do that,” Coach John Robinson said. “We all see the benefits of the mixture between pass and run. To see the back run the ball like that was good for all of us, too. That was as good a running performance as any of us have seen.”
Slater, speaking for the entire offensive front, would like to put an exclamation point on that.
“I think it’s safe to say we’re all very excited to have Cleveland Gary,” he said.
It’s also safe to say that no one is more elated about Sunday’s turn of events than Gary, who has suffered from a lower-back injury that kept him out of action all summer and through the first regular-season game. He’s finally back to full speed, and he vented his frustration on a host of would-be tacklers.
“We were up against a team that’s very tight against the run, so I think this does a lot for the self-esteem of everyone,” Gary said Sunday. “We can run the ball, and we proved it today.
“During the week, there were a whole lot of questions running through the guys’ minds. We’re such a talented club, picked to do this and that. The only answer was to go out and keep working hard, keeping kicking at the door. Today, we finally kicked it in.”
Few, if any, NFL coaches maintain a better relationship with the media than Robinson. So even this rather tame reprimand issued Monday at his weekly press luncheon might have surprised some:
“We all have a tendency to read or hear something and say, ‘that’s true, and therefore everybody must be thinking that way.’ But that isn’t always the case. . . . You don’t get players’ real feelings. You get their responses to your specific questions.
“One of the problems that happens when things are going poorly is you stop thinking. You’re put in a position of having to defend yourself. You wind up turning around to fight off the battles, and you stop doing the things that you normally do.
“In the course of the last month, a couple of coaches have been attacked in terms of being in jeopardy of losing their jobs, and those are difficult things to deal with. When you begin to slide, you have to fight off a lot of ghosts that are hard to fight off.”
The defense is beginning to come together, thanks in large part to the healing process. Mike Piel, a second-year defensive tackle whose progress has been slowed by a sore elbow that was dislocated twice last season, is an example. Piel had five tackles and a sack against the Falcons.
“He played very well,” Robinson said. “I think he’s played quite well the last two weeks. He’s finally back to being himself. Before that, he was playing like he was a one-armed guy.”
Piel was making steady progress last season before dislocating his left elbow Dec. 3 in a game against the Cowboys. He returned to the starting lineup for the wild-card playoff game at Philadelphia, batted down two of Phil Simms’ passes in the NFC divisional playoff game against the Giants and then reinjured the elbow early in the NFC championship game at San Francisco.
“As far as my arm and my confidence level goes, I feel great,” Piel said. “It’s only my second year, and nobody’s perfect in this game. It’s a hard game to be perfect in, but I have to just keep plugging away and trying to get better each week.”
Ram Notes
After falling behind, 21-0 and 31-0, in consecutive weeks, how did Coach John Robinson feel when the Falcons jumped out to a 10-0 lead Sunday? “At Chicago, we were saying, ‘What the hell is going on?’ But this time, it was too scary a thing to contemplate. It was ‘Nah, nah, nah, we’re OK, we’re OK.’ We talked all week about how it would be that kind (of high-scoring) game, and a short swing would not affect it. But that’s all bull, because I was scared to death.” . . . Just in case you were wondering what Robinson said to safety Michael Stewart, who tackled Atlanta’s Andre Rison about 10 yards after he had crossed into the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown: “Where we’ve been in the past, you say, ‘Well, you ran into a guy. Good. Just try to do it on the field next time.’ ”
Nickel and Dime Dept.: How important is having the right situational defense on the field? Said Robinson: “The league has gotten into an area of specialization where if you put (New York Giants linebacker) Lawrence Taylor, the best defensive player in America, man-to-man on Andre Rison, Andre Rison will catch, oh, 30 passes in a game for 20 touchdowns. Taylor would have no chance. Getting matched up is an element of strategy that didn’t use to be part of the game. (Now), you have to create matchups that fit.”