Even This Scenario Has an Unhappy Ending
OK, the story line for the Rams Sunday afternoon had Fred Stokes flying back to Baltimore for the birth of his first daughter but T.J. Rubley failed to deliver.
Or something like that.
It was hard to stay focused on a day when the Rams were either moving to Baltimore or not moving at all against San Francisco--a day when one Ram was flying home to be with his expectant wife, another was flying by the seat of his pants in his first start as a professional quarterback and the rest of them were crash-landing on the Candlestick Park turf, watching Ricky Watters and Steve Young and Jerry Rice take off.
A brief timeout to sort out the rumors from the plain facts:
Rumor: The Rams are contemplating a franchise move to Baltimore if Baltimore is shut out of the November expansion sweepstakes. This one was launched on CBS’ Rams-49ers pregame show and denied postgame by Ram executive vice president John Shaw, although it is interesting to note that Shaw admitted the team is disappointed in ticket sales in Orange County and could find a way out of its Anaheim lease if need be.
Rumor: Regina Stokes, wife of the Rams’ starting right defensive end, went into labor with the couple’s second child Sunday morning, prompting husband Fred to fly back home before the game, with team permission.
Fact: A baby wasn’t born. By the end of the game, Stokes was back on the sidelines, in street clothes, with no new addition to the family to report.
Fact: A star wasn’t born, either. Rubley got his start at quarterback, ending Jim Everett’s streak at 87, and the best thing that can be said about his performance is that T.J. survived it.
The Rams lost, 40-17, and were never in the game, not even when they had the lead, which, as historians will note, was 3-0 with 8:43 left in the first quarter.
Rubley had thrown but two passes to that point, both as safe as long pitchouts, and his third was batted high into the air at the line of scrimmage. Before it returned to earth, the football was intercepted by 49er linebacker John Johnson, on the Ram 42-yard line, and before Rubley could blink again, the Rams were down, 13-3.
Rubley completed one more pass before halftime, was sacked four times before halftime and left the Rams with this net passing yardage differential at halftime:
49ers: 156.
Rams: minus-6.
By then, the 49ers led by 20, and Rubley was free to loosen his collar, let his hair down, go wild, even attempt a pass longer than 20 yards.
The first one he tried found Todd Kinchen over the shoulder in the San Francisco end zone, good for a 35-yard touchdown.
Then it was back to swing pass here, quick slant there, run for your life all over the place and try to make the final numbers halfway palatable.
Rubley’s opening line as a starting NFL quarterback showed 26 pass attempts, 15 completions, 158 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, one interception returned for a touchdown, four rushing attempts, 26 yards and seven sacks.
OK, so T.J. wasn’t Y.A.
Chuck Knox wasn’t expecting the second coming of Norm Van Brocklin.
“You can’t expect a guy to go in there and light it up--a guy who hasn’t played that much, a guy who’s playing a heck of a football team and playing them on the road,” said Knox, pretty much taking care of all the extenuating circumstances in one breath.
Knox thought Rubley looked “shaky at the beginning” and was “overall so-so. In the second half, he found a rhythm and except for one ball during our two-minute drill (a pass Michael McGruder intercepted and returned for a touchdown), I thought he was respectable in the second half.”
Rubley couldn’t argue with that analysis.
“Right now, after a 40-17 loss, at best, I’d say I was so-so,” Rubley said. “I wish I had a couple balls back. That (interception) I threw at the end was my fault. Basically, that was the inexperience aspect again.
“This is going to be a building experience for me. Hopefully, I can take what I learned today and grow from it.”
That is, if Knox allows room for growth. As is his Sunday ritual, Knox refused to name his starting quarterback for the Rams’ next game--”I’m not here to talk about (Rubley’s) status, I’m here to talk about the game”--but he did allow that the upcoming bye week would “give our young people, Kinchen, (Troy) Drayton, Rubley, Jerome Bettis, some time to help them continue to contribute.”
Ted Tollner, the Rams’ quarterback coach, was asked if he felt Rubley deserved another start.
Tollner deferred, as is his Sunday ritual, to Knox. But Tollner will certainly contribute his two cents’ worth. And that assessment is?
“Good and bad,” Tollner said. “Inconsistent. Whatever word you want to use.
“There were some plays in the first half that he could have made to keep us in it, and he didn’t. There were some throws he just missed.
“But up until the end, he was having a real solid second half. It was encouraging to see how well he handled himself after that tough first half.
“Overall, I have a mixed feeling. But if I’m realistic, I’d have to say I hoped to see a bit more.”
Rubley described his status, No. 1 or back to No. 2, as “a question beyond my control. All I know is I gave it all I had and got beat, 40-17.”
Not a rousing self-endorsement, but the Rams have two weeks to let the dust settle and the videotape fly. Then, clearer heads will decide if Rubley has what it takes to start in Anaheim, or Baltimore, or whichever town will have the Rams.
Is there one?