RAMS : Steeler Defeat Brings Problems Into Focus: There’s Nothing Going Right

Until Monday night’s debacle in Pittsburgh, the Rams figured their problems were pretty much confined to their very soft defense. But the Steelers’ punishing 41-10 victory spread doubt about every facet of the team.

These days, even the offense, which is ranked No. 3 in the NFL heading into Sunday’s game against Houston at Anaheim Stadium, is feeling the heat.

“The most shocking thing about Monday night was that even the things I thought, ‘This is good, we’ll do this good,’ we did bad,” Coach John Robinson said. “We fumbled the ball, the number of penalties, just a whole number of things.

“We do two things good and then something bad. We make two 10-yard gains and have two holding penalties. It was a very disjointed offensive effort. There was a total lack of continuity.”

Robinson was so upset with the offensive performance that he even questioned the game plan, suggesting the offensive scheme may be overly complicated.

“Maybe we’re trying to do too many things with an offense that right now isn’t prepared to handle it,” he said. “We have to get down to the simple aspects of the game and express ourselves that way.”

Quarterback Jim Everett isn’t ready to throw out the playbook and start diagraming pass routes in the dirt, but he admits a degree of simplification might be in order.

“You have to consider how things have flowed,” Everett said. “A lot of us (on offense) have felt the pressure when we’ve been behind in games. You think, ‘Oh, we’ve got to do it now,’ and you start pressing and pressing and all of a sudden you find yourself in a deeper hole than you started in.

“Then it starts carrying over into the next game and, finally, the whole engine stops.

“What we’re trying to do now is regroup and do the things that can make us successful. Get first downs and they will lead to touchdowns. I don’t want to give the game plan away, but we’re doing some simplifying.”

When you talk run-and-shoot, you’re usually talking about quarterbacks and receivers. But, according to Houston’s Warren Moon, it was the Oilers’ offensive line that had to make the biggest adjustments when Coach Jack Pardee installed his new offense.

“All their techniques changed and their mental approach, their temperament, had to change,” he said. “They were used to coming off the ball and driving people off the line of scrimmage. Now, it’s mostly pass blocking, where you’re just catching guys at the line of scrimmage.”

After three years of playing former Coach Jerry Glanville’s version of hard-hitting football, Oiler linemen weren’t sure this new finesse approach would work.

“They did resist it a little bit in the beginning,” Moon said. “They had their doubts. But they’ve seen what this offense is capable of doing and they’ve really rallied behind it.”

Add Moon: The Oiler quarterback says he has just one doubt about the run-and-shoot: “The only question I have with the offense is how we’ll do in bad weather. We haven’t faced any yet, so we’ll just have to see.”

OK, so at least the Rams can pray for rain.

Houston’s defense has been somewhat overlooked in comparison to the Oilers’ passing attack, but it has been very effective lately and is ranked fifth in the league.

“The defense has been stacking up pretty well, both against the pass and the run,” Pardee said. “We’d be second in the league in points allowed if you took out the six touchdowns scored when the defense wasn’t even in the game.”

Robinson says the Oilers are probably the best all-round team the Rams have faced this year.

“Considering the combination of offense and defense, they’re the best we’ve played,” he said. “They’re very good on defense and obviously dynamic on offense.

“I look at them and they’re 4-4, and I don’t think they’re a 4-4 team. They’re better than that.”