Robinson Puts It on Line, Not Quarterback : Rams: Coach says everyone has to play better, not just Everett. Offense will get simpler.

If there was any more evidence necessary to prove that the pass-happy, Jim Everett-driven, Air Robinson days of 1989 are grounded for good, the last two days should about do it.

On Sunday, Everett completed only six passes and was mauled by a New Orleans defense primed to crash the pass. The Rams surrendered five sacks and their sense of offensive dignity on their way to a 24-7 beating.

On Monday, Coach John Robinson explained that to get better, the 1-2 Rams and their tattered offensive line must get simpler.

In the past two weeks--a victory and a defeat, neither of which will make offensive highlight shows--an off-kilter Everett has completed only 13 passes for 154 yards. And he hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass all season, the Rams being the only NFL team without one.

The Rams, usually a top-10 passing team, are ranked 27th in the league in passing yardage, and have completed one pass to a starting receiver in the past two weeks.

Instead of foisting more pressure on Everett’s sagging shoulders, Robinson wants to send his offense in directions that do not depend on the quarterback.

“I think we’ve allowed ourselves to be inconsistent . . . with a little too much anticipation of getting a wheeling, dealing-type of offense going,” Robinson said.

“The solution is part (Everett) being in better rhythm maybe, maybe us doing a better job of having our expectations offensively fit what we can do. The overall scope of what we do has to be looked at, and we may be attempting to do too many things.”

Robinson points out that, because of a wave of injuries and the changes the team made in training camp, the entire starting offensive line is new, as are Robert Delpino at tailback and Jim Price as the pass-catching tight end.

He added that the inexperience, coupled with the Superdome noise--”It was like standing in front of a freight train,” left tackle Gerald Perry said--and the Saint rushers, caused the disaster.

The offensive line crumbled under the Saints’ rush Sunday night, allowing Everett only a rare opportunity to get a good look downfield. By abandoning the running game, Robinson implies, the Rams played right into the Saints’ hands and tried to do something they were not capable of doing.

“I think we’ve got to set our sights into saying, ‘OK, these are the things we can do,’ ” Robinson said. “We’re hurting at a couple of places, these are the things we can do and we need to limit ourselves to the point where our expectations and our ability to achieve those expectations coincide.”

Translation: Run it behind a developing line much more comfortable run-blocking than pass-blocking.

Even Everett suggested that perhaps the Rams could have adjusted their game plan better to the Saints’ rush, that maybe the offense was too predictable for this night.

“If he’s in a temporary slump, then that’s common for most players,” Robinson said of his quarterback. “If the slump isn’t temporary, that’s of real concern. Our analysis of it is we will start making strides forward in that area.”

Robinson said Everett’s fundamentals were fine.

“I don’t sense him panicking,” Robinson said. “We all looked at the film and everybody who watched that film came out with the same conclusion: ‘This guy is screwing up this play, that guy is screwing up.’ You haven’t seen, for example, (fullback) Buford McGee drop two passes over the middle like that.

“You haven’t seen Jim throw behind the receiver a couple times. . . . Those are all things we can solve. I don’t look there and see anything we can’t solve.”

Two seasons from his 90.6 quarterback rating, Everett has a bottom-of-the-barrel rating of 57.5. Under his leadership, the Ram offense has scored three touchdowns in three games. Is he gone from the list of elite quarterbacks?

“If we win six out of the last eight games and he takes us back into the playoffs, then he’ll be back on track,” Robinson said. “If we get into the third week of the playoffs, and he has a bad game, he’ll be off the track. And then next year he’ll be back on the track.”