Rams of Future Help Erase the Past, 38-27 : Pro football: Kinchen ties an NFL record with two punt returns for touchdowns and Lang scores three times against the Falcons in season finale.
The future and past collided in Anaheim Stadium on Sunday, sending the Rams to a runaway victory and burying a dark part of their recent history.
It was the Rams’ season finale--but the victory meant more for 1993.
The Rams, fueled by new faces and seemingly ready to weed out many of the old, beat the defenseless Atlanta Falcons, 38-27, before 37,706.
The victory ended a 15-game NFC West losing string, made the Rams’ final record 6-10, and provided a vivid contrast to last season--when they finished 3-13 after 10 consecutive losses.
“Last year, at the end of the season everyone just couldn’t wait to get away,” Ram quarterback Jim Everett said. “This season, with a win, hopefully we can build it into next year.
“I feel good about the play of everyone, how we stuck together even through the tough times--no one was throwing in the towel. A lot of young guys showed a lot of good effort today. They laid it on the line, and it shows a lot for the future of this team.”
Todd Kinchen, a rookie who has barely gotten his uniform dirty all season long, tied an NFL record by returning two punts for touchdowns, one in each half.
And David Lang, a second-year running back who has labored most of the season as a blocker, emerged from the pack with three touchdowns.
Those two performances, plus the recent play of rookies Sean Gilbert and Steve Israel and second-year players Robert Young, Robert Bailey and Todd Lyght, give the Rams something to look forward to.
“Well, it’s a good way to finish up a season--with a win, especially a divisional win,” Coach Chuck Knox said. “ . . . Our younger players (made) some big plays: Todd Kinchen’s punt returns, and David Lang just did another outstanding job.
“It’s nice to go out this way, gives us something to build on.”
But with the expected advent of free agency and Knox’s determination to upgrade the team’s talent, some Rams undoubtedly were making their final appearance.
Free-agent linebacker Kevin Greene took a solitary trip around the rim of the field after the game, and did not deny that he could have been saying goodby.
Tackle Jackie Slater, who has considered retirement, seemed to be leaning toward returning for his 18th season with Knox’s blessing, but other veterans such as Mike Piel, Fred Strickland and Robert Delpino probably will not be back.
“We’ve got a good foundation, but I still think we need an upgrade,” Knox said. “We need to add to this. And we’re going to be afforded the chance, both through the draft and through free agency.”
The Rams took a quick 14-0 lead Sunday, the first touchdown coming on a one-yard Lang run after the Falcons (6-10) fumbled on their third play from scrimmage. The second touchdown came on Kinchen’s slashing punt return of 61 yards.
It was the Rams’ first punt return for a touchdown since Henry Ellard’s 80-yard return against Philadelphia in 1985 and the Rams’ first touchdown return of any kind of kick since Gaston Green’s 99-yard kickoff return against the Steelers in 1990.
But during the second quarter, Atlanta went on a 20-point run, consisting of two Wade Wilson touchdown passes and two Norm Johnson field goals.
The Rams opened the third with a field-goal drive to pull to 20-17, then let the Lang-Kinchen team go to work again.
After Darryl Henley’s fourth interception of the season, Lang scored again from one yard out early in the fourth quarter to put the Rams ahead, 24-20. On the Rams’ next possession, Lang went 37 yards to score, bursting down the left sideline and over Deion Sanders’ last-ditch attempt to tackle him.
Four plays later, Kinchen caught Scott Fulhage’s punt at the Atlanta 35, then went down the right sideline for his second touchdown.
“Well, gee whiz,” said Kinchen, a third-round pick out of Louisiana State who had never before Sunday returned an NFL punt and still hasn’t caught an NFL pass.
“I was very happy to be playing today. I mean, two days ago they told me I was going to return punts, and I was ecstatic.
“But to get an NFL record is just crazy. It’s crazy if you look at my season.”
For the Ram veterans who have been through 34 losses and only 14 victories the past three down seasons, seeing young talent emerge was the best thing about the season.
“I hated last off-season,” Everett said. “We still have to keep improving, but it’s a step in the right direction.
“It’s good to see the young guys--Todd Kinchen today, Steve Israel coming in and playing, Sean Gilbert, David Lang, those guys stepping up and playing.
“Those are the types of people this team is going to lean on, and they played very well.”
And for at least one of those players, their emergence means next season might be a teamwide breakthrough.
“Everybody feels good about themselves,” Lang said. “This team right here’s going to be the shock of (next) year.”
Ram Notes
Rookie Todd Kinchen tied five other players by returning two punts for touchdowns. The last to do it was the St. Louis Cardinals’ Vai Sikahema, in 1986. The last Ram was LeRoy Irvin, who did it on Oct. 11, 1981, against the Falcons. . . . Quarterback Jim Everett completed 11 of 18 passes for 140 yards, giving him a team-record 1,712 yards for the season. Roman Gabriel previously held the record with 1,705.