PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Defense Never Had Much of a Chance

Considering that the football was on the ground so often Sunday, the Rams’ aggressive new defense never had a fair opportunity to prove its worth in a 24-14 loss at Anaheim Stadium. Also, evaluation was made more difficult because the Phoenix Cardinals--hardly an offensive juggernaut in the best of times--were playing without No. 1 quarterback Timm Rosenbach and their top rusher, Johnny Johnson.

“I think we’re going to be OK,” Ram cornerback Jerry Gray said. “We did some things right, we did a lot of things wrong. We have a lot of work to do, and everyone knows we’ve got a lot of work to do.

“But it wasn’t like they ever went 80 yards on us. They never went the length of the field on us.”

They didn’t have to, mainly as a result of seven Ram turnovers. The Cardinal offense put together touchdown drives of 65 and 45 yards after Phoenix recovered Ram fumbles.

The defensive scheme is different, but Sunday’s sack total (zero) was familiar. Even with different blitzes sprinkled through the game plan, the Rams failed to muster much of a pass rush.

“We tackled the quarterback three times and were penalized on all three of them,” Coach John Robinson said. “If we would have had three sacks, we would feel OK. But we are concerned.”