Rams Refuse to Leave Their Sinking Ship : Football: After the biggest comeback victory in franchise history, the players proved they are not quitters.
They may have severe shortages of talent at key positions, they often do strange and dangerous things at crucial times, and they sure aren’t going to the playoffs in the near future.
But, Monday, after the biggest comeback victory in franchise history, the Rams could lay claim to a description that has escaped them for at least two seasons:
They are not quitters.
For a Ram team that hasn’t walked among the elite lately, that is a description they can live with.
Last year, with John Robinson’s tenure sliding out of control, the Rams collapsed and quit down the stretch, losing their last 10 games with increasing levels of diffidence and lack of desire.
Two years ago, the Rams went 0-for-December, crashing and burning when the playoffs became an impossibility.
And Sunday night, starting off another meaningless December, the Rams looked as if they were ready for another swan dive, down 24 points at halftime on the road against a bad Tampa Bay Buccaneer team.
All it took was the third-largest come-from-behind victory in the history of the National Football League--and a blitz of 28 consecutive second-half points to win, 31-27--to turn the dive into what rookie Sean Gilbert called “a natural high.”
“I think it shows really that we have some real character on our football team,” Knox said Monday. “When you’re down 27-3 at the half, no one quit. They battled back.
“It shows that it can be done.”
Ram offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese, the only holdover coach from the Robinson era, knows that it shows a lot more than that.
Zampese, who called the plays that sent the Rams’ offense into supernova in the third quarter, made no direct comparison to last year’s death march, but Monday he sounded ecstatic about Sunday night’s performance.
“I think it’s pretty easy when you get to the end,” Zampese said, “You have four games left, to say, ‘Hey, we’re down 24 points, what the hell’s the use, you know? Why go out and get hurt when there’s no way to win the game?’
“But they sure didn’t approach it that way. They went out and played, and it was their job and they played hard.
“This game was real, real important for a couple of reasons. First of all, it showed the guys that if they keep playing, they’ve got a chance to win. And whether you’re going to win or not from 24 points down, I mean, the percentages are so far against you . . .
“But that didn’t bother them, whether they thought they could or couldn’t (win) didn’t make any difference, they went out and played like they could.
“And then they proved to everybody, I think, that they’re going to go out and play every football game. Whether it’s getting to the playoffs or not getting into the playoffs, it doesn’t make any difference. They went out and they played it.
“Those two factors are certainly going to help, there’s no question.”
The Rams used to be a team that either hit on all cylinders--such as in their run to the NFC title game in 1989--or couldn’t muster up the toughness to gut it out when things weren’t so smooth--such as the past two seasons.
Why has this team suddenly become a team that actually plays hard in December, that doesn’t give up when the score is 27-3?
“I think Chuck’s done a great job in that regard,” Zampese said. “He’s a real even-keel guy, and he’s maintained that from the very beginning. So there’s no real highs when you win . . . you don’t see him real high or real low when he’s losing.
“It’s a steady, even thing. You’re paid to do a job, go out and do your job.”
The Ram players, who spoke last week about making December a mini-season of its own, called the victory the first big step as they focus on entering 1993 with a bullet. Even if the victory only brought their record to 5-8.
“We’re looking at it as a four-game season,” cornerback Todd Lyght said. “We’re 1-0, we’re just trying to have carryover.”
Said wide receiver Flipper Anderson: “We had a few comebacks like this in ‘89, but this is probably one of the biggest wins I’ve been associated with, even though it was the Buccaneers. We knew we had to make the plays, and we never gave up.”
Some of the veteran Ram players were thinking mainly of the rookie- and second-year players on the team, players who never experienced the heights of 1989 and weren’t big parts of the past two tumbles.
This season, says quarterback Jim Everett, with all of the tough fights and close losses and spirited comebacks, is the perfect stepping stone for players new to the NFL.
“We’ve got a bunch of young guys who need a lot of experience,” he said. “I guarantee you, they got a lot of experience in this game.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of jobs at stake, a lot of things at stake for these last four games. I’m just glad we had a chance to get this one.”
RAM NUMBERS
HIGHLIGHT: JIM EVERETT
The Ram quarterback has had at least one game with better statistics than he had Sunday against the Buccaneers. On Sept. 17, 1989, he was 28-for-35, good for 368 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Indianapolis. But years from now, when the ex-Purdue quarterback looks back on his career with the Rams, no victory will be remembered with any more satisfaction than the 31-27 comeback against Tampa Bay. Everett threw three touchdown passes to rally the Rams from a 27-3 halftime deficit. In all, he used 10 receivers to complete 25 of 38 passes for 342 yards. SEASON TO DATE 13-game totals (Record: 5-8) First Downs RAMS: 227 OPP: 256 Rushing Yards RAMS: 1,268 OPP: 1,886 Passing Yards RAMS: 2,668 OPP: 2,534 Punts/Average RAMS: 62/41.7 OPP: 52/43.0 Rushing RAMS: ATT: 316 AVG: 4.0 TDs: 9 OPP: ATT: 385 AVG: 4.9 TDs: 18 Passing RAMS: ATT: 391 CP: 227 TDs: 20 OPP: ATT: 410 CP: 244 TDs: 11 Penalties/Yards RAMS: 65/452 OPP: 91/698 Fumbles/Lost RAMS: 23/14 OPP: 21/11 Interceptions/Yds RAMS: 15/258 OPP: 13/224 Scoring by Quarters
1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL RAMS 21 70 80 77 0 248 OPP 88 86 50 67 0 291
Possession Time RAMS: 28:03 OPP: 31:57