NOTEBOOK : Rams Mix Up Defenses and Give 49ers Fits
The Rams have spent a good part of the season searching for a successful style of defense, and they might have stumbled upon a new approach Sunday during their 28-17 victory over the 49ers.
Maybe they could call it the Zombie Defense: It’s got a little of this and a little of that and eventually leaves you dazed and confused.
Coach John Robinson said the Rams used every defensive formation they could and tried to mix and match them in no particular order. Pass defenses on first down, run defenses in passing situations, a hodgepodge that had the desired effect.
“Their defensive fronts gave us a bunch of different looks,” quarterback Joe Montana said. “We were expecting them to be in their normal 3-4, but they were changing up a lot and moving at the last moment.
“They were trying to take away our short passing game, so we ended up running the ball a lot.”
The 49ers gained only 66 yards rushing, however.
“They mixed up their defenses wonderfully,” 49er Coach George Seifert said. “Their game plan caught us off guard.”
The Rams had a 21-7 halftime lead, but some of the fans might have missed the action on the field while keeping their eyes on the skies.
The Fuji blimp was overhead, fighting the swirling wind currents and rain. First, its nose would point nearly straight up, then almost straight down. Sometimes, it seemed to spin nearly 360 degrees while being buffeted by the gusts.
Finally, the inclement weather forced the blimp to the ground, and the 49er fans could concentrate on a Black Sunday of another kind.
Buford McGee may spend most of his time barreling into linebackers for the better health and running conditions of Cleveland Gary, but McGee said the 22-yard touchdown pass he unleashed to Gary Sunday should come as no surprise.
“In San Diego, that was like every play we did,” said McGee, the former Charger. “I was doing that all the time to Gary Anderson.”
On the play, which resulted in the Rams’ first score, McGee took an inside handoff running right, approached the line, then flipped it out to Gary, who was looping wide down the sideline. It was designed to be a lateral, but Gary was ahead of McGee and it was ruled a pass. McGee didn’t care, as long as it was ruled six points.
“Cleveland turned it upfield a little fast,” McGee said. “But it doesn’t matter, as long as I’m behind the line of scrimmage.”
The Rams tried this play--named “The Veer”--earlier this season, although Gary and McGee couldn’t remember exactly when it occurred, but they remembered the results.
“I think it was against Pittsburgh, and you got one yard,” McGee told Gary.
“Almost got my head knocked off,” Gary said, “that’s all I remember. Don’t remember who it was against.”
McGee, who had rushed only 19 times all season before Sunday, carried the ball six times for 36 yards and a touchdown, and was awarded the game ball.
“It’s my first as a Ram, so that’s kind of special,” McGee said.
Said quarterback Jim Everett: “If I had a vote, he’d (McGee) be my most valuable player of the game. He’s just so consistent.”
San Francisco linebacker Matt Millen couldn’t believe the way the ball bounced back into the hands of Gary on the Rams’ winning touchdown.
“The football gods were on their side a couple of times today,” he said. “When the ball bounces out and comes right back. . . . I thought he was going to put it around his back and slam dunk it.”
Sheep to Slaughter? Before Sunday’s game, two dogs wearing red 49er vests herded four sheep in Rams’ clothing around the Candlestick Park field.
The lambs, er Rams, were dyed blue with yellow rams’ horns, and they marched up and down the field just like the Rams did a few hours later.
Robinson went to great pains to say this was a team victory, not any kind of personal vindication in the midst of speculation he might be replaced at the end of the season.
“It’s the team,” Robinson said. “That’s what all this is about. It’s the team. I’m part of that team, that’s all.”
Times staff writer Tim Kawakami contributed to this story.