Rams’ Knox Talking Like Sure Winner

“We’re gonna win the game. I’ll guarantee you.”

--Joe Namath, before Super Bowl III

“We’re going to Montreal.”

--Barry Melrose, before Game 7 of the 1993 Stanley Cup semifinals

“Making the playoffs, that’s our goal . . . I think it’s a realistic goal.”

--Chuck Knox, training camp, 1993

Men of action are often measured by, and remembered for, their words. MacArthur did return. Ali was the greatest. Namath defeated the Colts. Melrose saw Montreal.

As for Knox’s latest entry into the Book of Prophets, well, you know Chuck. Always shooting off his mouth.

What was Knox thinking, or drinking, when he crawled out onto that quivering limb the other day? The Rams in the playoffs? In this season, we must presume?

Had misty-eyed sentiment overwhelmed Knox on the 20th anniversary of his first division championship with the Rams? Or, maybe, he just got the numbers mixed up--’73, ’93 . . . it could happen to anyone.

No, Knox insists he was serious and wasn’t joking, which sounds more like the Knox we know. If so, what are we to make of this proclamation, as bold in its own way as some of the greatest predictions in sporting history?

Notice, please, that Babe Ruth called his shot while Charlie Root was pitching, not Walter Johnson. Paul Westphal said his Phoenix Suns would take three straight games from the Lakers, not the Chicago Bulls. In each case, arrogance was tempered by clear-headed analysis of the situation at hand. Namath knew he only had to beat Earl Morrall, a backup quarterback. Melrose only had to beat Toronto once, with Wayne Gretzky on his side.

These men were not nearly as brave as they were smart. Every word they spoke was firmly grounded in common sense.

Knox and the Rams are a different story. This is the coach of a team that has gone 14-34 since last qualifying for the playoffs. In their last 16 games within their division, the Rams are 1-15. Still residing within the division is the NFC’s glamour squad, the San Francisco 49ers, and the most valuable player in the sport, Steve Young.

Last season, the Rams led the league in rushing touchdowns allowed, placed 27th (or next to last) in total defense, were 27th in points allowed and did not have a wide receiver with more than 47 catches.

Their chief offensive asset was a fumble-prone 1,100-yard tailback who is about to have his role usurped by not one, but two rookies. And their quarterback has thrown more interceptions in the 1990s--55--than any man in professional football.

So, has Knox completely fallen off his rocker?

No, Rocker’s still in camp, fighting for a job as a backup defensive tackle. And since Knox takes care to wear a blue-and-gold baseball cap to every practice, sunstroke isn’t the answer, either.

Actually, Knox has a case, even if it has more to do with the rest of the NFC West than it does with the Rams. If you concede first place to the 49ers--and you should, if your bookie knows what’s good for you--then the NFC West is reduced to a race for a wild card, and, yes, it’s a race the Rams are capable of winning.

New Orleans went 12-4 during the 1992 regular season, then the place went to hell. The Saints blew a 10-point lead in their first-round playoff game, got blown out by the Eagles and have been wandering around like a punch-drunk fighter ever since.

They got rid of their best linebacker and personal Jim Everett badger, Pat Swilling. They defined Wade Wilson-for-Bobby Hebert as “upgrading the quarterback position.” Brad Muster is their idea of a go-to back. Desperate for a big-play wide receiver, they drafted an offensive tackle in the first round and no receiver in any round.

Atlanta went 6-10 in 1992, same as the Rams, and made one major off-season free-agent signing, ex-San Francisco defensive end Pierce Holt, and another decent one, ex-Washington defensive tackle Jumpy Geathers. This should be helpful in that the Falcons were the only team in the league to surrender more than 400 points last season and were owners of the only defense to rank below the Rams.

Elsewhere, Atlanta continues to be down one Brian Jordan in the secondary, Deion Sanders still thinks he’s a baseball player, and Eric Dickerson becomes the great hope at running back, five years after he was last a great running back.

The Rams can play in this field.

Much hinges on the hinges of the new middle linebacker, Shane Conlan--and that little “pop” Conlan felt in his knee during workouts must have sounded like a shotgun blast to Knox. Jerome Bettis had better be the Eveready bulldozer he comes touted as. Rookie tight end Troy Drayton--a fast Pete Holohan, we’re told--needs to learn the playbook more quickly than, say, Todd Kinchen. Henry Rolling has to replace Kevin Greene’s game, minus the second-half Kevin Greene fade. And defensive coordinator George Dyer has to keep Robert Young at first-team end, where he belongs, and let someone else back up Sean Gilbert and Marc Boutte.

Ultimately, though, it will come down to Everett. Again. This year, the Supporting Cast Theory receives the litmus test. If Everett was lousy when surrounded by lousy components in ’90 and ‘91, and decent when provided decent assistance in ‘92, it has to figure that he should step it up in ’93 with Bettis replacing Cleveland Gary, Drayton replacing tight end-by-committee and both Henry Ellard and Flipper Anderson entering salary-drive seasons.

If not, Knox will have misplaced his bet, and it will be time to give T.J. Rubley his shot.

The Rams in the playoffs? “Realistic” was Knox’s word for it. “Realistic” is not outrageous. In a division that has backslid since last December, the Rams don’t have that far to paddle.