Rams Find Positives in Hard-Fought Loss

Striving to find momentum in the wake of defeat is what 3-4 teams do, and this is one thing the Rams consistently do better than most.

In Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Raiders, the Rams played well enough to claim substantial progress, but made enough critical errors to raise more subtle questions.

Are they a rapidly-improving team done wrong by fourth-quarter freak circumstance?

Or are they a mediocre team that raised its level of play for three-plus quarters against the Raiders, only to stumble back into the same pattern of key blunders at crunch time?

“I think there is a growing confidence about the quality of our play right now,” Coach John Robinson said Monday.

“When I talked to the team today, we talked about saying, ‘Hey, when you play good,then you get in these kinds of games, and you just have to continue to try to make plays to win games, and to keep from putting the game in jeopardy.’ ”

Robinson pointed out the impressive play of quarterback Jim Everett, the return of a handful of key players from injury, and the pass blocking of the offensive line as indicators of how far the Rams can go.

In the last three games, Everett has completed 66.4% of his passes, been sacked only five times, thrown four touchdown passes and has a 93.7 quarterback rating. In the first four, Everett had no scoring throws, was sacked 10 times, completed only 53.4% of his attempts and had a rating of 57.2.

“Jim Everett, I thought, played maybe the best game he’s ever played for the Rams in terms of how we look at a performance and rate it and evaluate it as coaches,” Robinson said.

“Our offensive line did a really good job of protecting the pass. Seldom will you see an NFL quarterback stand in an almost stoic position like Jim Everett did in this game. Seldom will you see a quarterback use his protection, step up, step around, get the ball off, any better than that man did in this game.”

Is it simply going back to a unit featuring Doug Smith at center and Duval Love at right guard--both better pass blockers than power run blockers--that has allowed Everett regain his touch?

“It’s him working on it, us working on . . . the protection, just flat out saying we’re going to stop you on the inside rush. And him simply improving. Guys fall off the mark and they get back on the mark,” Robinson said.

But the coach did concede that he is not pleased with a running game that is averaging only 3.3 yards per carry, a pass rush that has only 10 sacks and a team that hasn’t been able to finish off games it should win.

Reminiscent of 1989, the offense has been off-balance, dependent on its pass attack. In the end, that resulted in Everett’s two interceptions to close out the game against the Raiders.

Uncertain of their ability to run, the Rams kept throwing even after building a 17-10 lead.

One way the Rams might try to get the power back in their power-running attack is to get Bern Brostek time at Love’s right guard spot. After hurting his right ankle, Brostek was replaced at left guard by Tom Newberry. But Brostek is a smash-ahead blocker who experienced some problems pass blocking early in the season.

In addition, after a quick start, the Rams’ defense has been showing the signs of wear expected with an undermanned squad that lacks the ability to put pressure on the quarterback without blitzing and exposing the secondary to big play possibilities.

The Rams had two chances at the end to stuff the Raiders’ offense, but failed both times.

Heading into Sunday’s divisional matchup against the 3-4 Atlanta Falcons and their wide-open offense, this is not encouraging.

But these things, Robinson insists, are not fatal flaws. They can be corrected with work, just as Everett’s slump was, just as the erratic pass blocking was.

“(It was) a difficult loss, but I think we have to look in terms of the remaining nine games,” Robinson said. “Figure if we can win five or six of those games, then we certainly are competitive.”

Ram Numbers Highlight RONNIE LOTT

One would think after 10 seasons--seven in which he made all-pro--the 49ers would have known Ronnie Lott pretty well. Yet last February, the 49ers announced they were not going to re-sign him--the implication being that at almost 32, he could no longer be productive. Signed as a Plan B free agent by the Raiders in March, the USC product has proven his ex-employer wrong. In eight games, Lott has made three interceptions, been credited with 24 1/2 tackles, assisted on 17 others and is still one of the hardest hitters in the NFL. Sunday, he ruined the Rams with two interceptions--the first in the end zone preventing the Rams from scoring a game-clinching touchdown and the second which set up Jeff Jaeger’s game-winning 33-yard field goal.

SEASON TO DATE Seven-Game Totals (Record: 3-4) First Downs RAMS: 116 OPP: 121 Rushing Yards RAMS: 593 OPP: 748 Passing Yards RAMS: 1,332 OPP: 1,480 Punts/Average RAMS: 34/36.8 OPP: 27/43.7 Rushing RAMS ATT.: 179 AVG.: 3.3 TDs: 7 OPP: ATT.: 191 AVG.: 3.9 TDs: 8 Passing RAMS ATT.: 194 CP: 114 TDs: 4 OPP: ATT: 191 AVG: 112 TDs: 9 Penalties/Yards RAMS: 41/301 OPP: 37/328 Fumbles/Lost RAMS: 14/8 OPP: 13/6 Interceptions RAMS: 5/107 OPP: 7/22 Possession Time RAMS: 29:39 OPP: 30:21 Scoring by Quarters

1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL RAMS 10 63 34 13 0 120 OPP 38 34 20 61 0 153