Knox Says He’ll Stand By His Man Everett in Atlanta

As a rule, a good defense is given the edge when matched against a good offense.

But who has the advantage in a confrontation between the league’s No. 28-ranked defense and quarterback Jim Everett?

Ram Coach Chuck Knox has decided to stay with Everett, who ranks No. 13 among NFC quarterbacks, for Thursday night’s nationally televised game against winless Atlanta in the Georgia Dome.

It’s an obvious opportunity for Everett to silence the calls for T.J. Rubley. The Falcons are surrendering an average of 30 points, they have intercepted a total of two passes and have a league-low five sacks.

Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O’Donnell, who has been severely handicapped with elbow tendinitis, completed 19 of 25 passes for 259 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Falcon defense.

“When you can’t stop the other team on defense,” Falcon Coach Jerry Glanville said, “the game can get away from you in a hurry.”

Although Knox calls the Falcons, “the best 0-5 team he has ever seen,” Atlanta appears in shambles.

“It is the lowest of the low, isn’t it?” said center Jamie Dukes after the Falcons fell to Chicago, 6-0. “We can’t ever seem to make a play when we have to, and it’s slipping away from us.”

Two weeks ago when the Falcons were being pounded by the Steelers, 45-17, on Monday night, fans carried a banner around the Georgia Dome that read: “Elvis and Jerry Glanville have left the building.”

More than 15,000 tickets remain for Thursday’s game, and if the Braves take the Phillies to a seventh game, they likely will take away much of the Falcons’ crowd, too.

“It’s very frustrating,” said defensive lineman Pierce Holt, who left the San Francisco 49ers in the off-season to sign with Atlanta. “I don’t know how else to talk about it or describe it. I think having been on the other end of it (San Francisco) makes it that much more frustrating for me.”

How bad is it? The Falcons report to work today two days before their assignment with the Rams not knowing who their starting quarterback is going to be. Chris Miller, who opened the season, has been lost for the year because of a knee injury.

Bobby Hebert, who was signed as a free agent from New Orleans, has been plagued by elbow tendinitis. Hebert was ineffective against Chicago and was lifted from the game in the third quarter.

Hebert had been ordered to rest his elbow and not throw a football after that game. He received a cortisone shot Oct. 5 and attempted to throw on Monday for the first time since Oct. 3.

Glanville has closed the Falcons’ practices to the media this week for the first time in his four-year tenure, but players told reporters later that Hebert labored to lob the ball.

That would leave Billy Joe Tolliver standing as the Falcons’ great hope for success, with Bob Gagliano as his backup.

“I still think we’re going to run into a wild team,” said Ernie Zampese, Ram offensive coordinator. “I’m talking high intensity; that’s Jerry Glanville’s style.

“I just can’t believe they’re 0-5. I mean I just can’t believe it.”

Glanville also finds it mystifying.

“You’re like three plays away from being 3-2,” Glanville said, “but we didn’t make the plays.”

As a result, there was speculation before this last week’s bye that Glanville might lose his job, but he remains in control.

“I don’t think that (speculation) will change any,” Glanville said. “I think the people that are screaming for your head will keep screaming, and the people that are on your side stay on your side.

“My owner says every week we’re not going to make a coaching change, but that’s not what some people want to hear . . . the bottom line is if you want them to quit hollering for you you go out and win a game. And we haven’t done that, and I haven’t done anything to put people off of our back.

“At the beginning it was a manufactured story, people making up lies, but if you tell them long enough, and then you don’t go win, sometimes they become reality.”

The Rams expect Glanville to have his players charged up, and based on past experiences, they also expect an all-out blitz on Everett.

“We’re not blitzing as much as we used to,” Glanville said. “We don’t get after people as much as we used to; that’s one reason why we’re not playing as good as we used to. But you have to be sure you can cover and shut people out with your corners when you do that, and right now our good cover guy (Deion Sanders) is sitting on the bench with the Braves.”

But what about Everett?

“Everett’s probably a lot like me,” Glanville said. “Wondering why he can’t do it a couple of weeks in a row.”

Everett and Glanville are probably alike, too, in that this is their best chance to start anew, and at the same time, keep their jobs.