Rams Must Pick a Path to Follow

One outlandish victory by the Rams over the New York Giants, two theories as to what it might mean:

It-Doesn’t-Mean-a-Ram-Thing-at-All Theory

Remember . . .

1. The Rams beat the defending Super Bowl champions on the road last year, too.

2. The Rams beat a team playing without its best quarterback on Sunday. If Ray Handley didn’t believe it, he was the only one.

3. The Rams were 1-1 this time last year, too.

4. The Rams play no more games at the Meadowlands this year. (The Rams are 6-2 there since Giants Stadium opened.)

5. The Rams play seven more games at Anaheim Stadium. (The Rams are 2-7 there since the end of the 1989 season.)

6. Now that Robert Delpino has stabilized the tailback position--he runs, he blocks, he catches, he doesn’t fumble--John Robinson has decided Cleveland Gary needs more playing time.

Reason-to-Believe Theory

1. The Ram defense is outplaying the Ram offense.

Remember the last time anyone could make that claim?

You have to go back to 1985--and that has been Robinson’s intended destination ever since the opening wind sprint at UC Irvine this summer. The Rams went 11-5 and reached the conference championship game in 1985 behind a defense that yielded an average of 17 points. That year, the Rams started 7-0, with four of the victories coming by scores of 17-6, 17-6, 13-10 and 16-0.

It remains Robinson’s favorite Ram season, as close to the ideal as the Robinson Method has come since graduating from USC. Stop the run, stop the pass, control the line of scrimmage, score just enough to win.

A typical day at the park:

The Ram tailback carries the football 27 times and gains 116 yards.

The Ram quarterback passes 16 times for seven completions and 83 yards.

The Ram defense forces three turnovers, sacks the opposing quarterback twice and keeps the other team out of the end zone until the game is well in hand.

1985?

No, last Sunday in New Jersey.

“Outstanding” and “phenomenal” were Robinson’s go-to adjectives in the aftermath. From post-Phoenix to post-Giants, his demeanor swung from ashen to passion.

“We played good defense two weeks in a row,” he enthused.

“We did to the Giants what the Giants do to everybody else.”

“We played with spirit and will. That is sure nice to see.”

Statistically, it was Jim Everett’s worst game since his first Ram start in 1986. Robinson thought Everett was brilliant. “The stats mean absolutely nothing,” Robinson said. “He played what I call ‘winning quarterback.’ ”

Dieter Brock played winning quarterback 12 times in 18 games in 1985. This he did by completing all his handoffs to Eric Dickerson, completing a minimum of passes to the other side and sustaining drives long enough for the defense to catch its breath.

This is all the Robinson Method demands of its quarterback. Everett, at his best, offers much more--31 touchdowns in 1988, 4,310 yards in 1989--but at just a notch below, with no defensive safety net, Everett could offer nothing better in 1990 than 5-11.

So if Robinson can settle for less from Everett, Everett may have to as well. If the defense holds up, the Giant game plan becomes the blueprint for the rest of 1991. Phil Simms has always been the prototype of Robinson’s eye, and if the Giants won’t play Simms, or trade him, Robinson will create one of his own.

Jim Everett, Ball-Control Quarterback.

Thus, the question of the day, the hour, the season: Can the defense hold up?

The Rams are ecstatic about their two-game results--just 31 first downs and 37 points allowed. Those games were against a pair of run-first, run-second, pass-on-third-down offenses, the type the Rams will see this week in New Orleans and again in October against San Diego and the Raiders. In November, it’s Round II with the Saints and Kansas City. In December, it’s Minnesota and Seattle.

So the schedule is willing. Apparently, the Rams are, too, which supposedly was going to be the sticking point during the off-season conversion from Fritz Shurmur’s soft zone to Jeff Fisher’s hardcore.

“I love this defense,” cornerback Darryl Henley says. “I’ve always loved this defense. People said we didn’t have the talent (Fisher had in Philadelphia). I don’t know Philly’s personnel well enough to compare, but we can play this defense.”

Kevin Greene, the displaced outside linebacker, was also going to be the hardest sell. He was moving to a position he didn’t want, defensive end. Certainly, he was going to balk at the new 4-3.

Well, after the Giants’ game, Greene was so excited he could scarcely keep his metaphors in line while lauding the Fisher system.

“I’m just tickled to death about the way the defense has come around,” Greene said, eyes bulging in their sockets. “This defense is playing with a lot of hype, total hysteria, dogs sleeping with cats, a Cinderella story out of nowhere.”

Never have the Rams faced a crossroads so soon in a season. Two games down, 14 to go--but already, a directional choice must be made. Two paths await, both previously traveled, and for better or worse, the Rams must opt for one or the other.

For better? 1985.

For worse? 1990.