All Signs Point Knox to Rubley

So what caught Chuck Knox’s eye first?

The big fat glowing yellow 0 next to RAMS on the Anaheim Stadium scoreboard, after 42 more minutes of beetle-on-its-back offensive football?

Or the homemade banner that telegraphed a desperate SOS from the upper deck above the north end zone?

HEY CHUCK

TWO LETTERS:

T J!

It was almost as impressive as it was excruciating, Knox’s stubborn blind faith in a quarterback who hadn’t produced a point in seven quarters, hadn’t produced a victory since September and had taken recently to sniping at Knox’s offense (“obsolete”) and game preparation (“could have been better”) in the papers.

What more did Jim Everett have to do before Knox could be riled into a response, any response?

Sneak up behind Knox and give him a wedgie?

Spray paint “2-7! HA HA!” on Knox’s green Cadillac?

Lean over and whisper to Sean LaChapelle, “Chuck’s mother wears army boots, pass it on?”

The scope of Knox’s patience with Everett seemed to know no limit. But with the crowd booing Everett every time he stepped onto the field and Everett one-hopping passes to Henry Ellard and the 2-7 Washington Redskins leading the Rams, 6-0, with three minutes left in the third quarter Sunday, Knox finally motioned to quarterback coach Ted Tollner, who finally motioned to backup quarterback T.J. Rubley.

Rubley, the people’s choice, began throwing warm-up passes to a standing ovation with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter.

With nine seconds left in the quarter, Rubley jogged into the Ram huddle, which warranted another standing ovation.

And in 1 minute 38 seconds, Rubley accomplished something Everett hadn’t been able to manage in his last 10 quarters of playing time.

He led the Rams to a touchdown.

Three passes, three completions, 64 yards, 7-6 Ram lead, as easy as that.

The key play came on third and 17, on a scrambling roll to the brink of the line of scrimmage and then, with the Redskin cornerbacks drawn in, a safety-valve dump to tight end Pat Carter, good for a 38-yard gain.

The scoring play came seconds later, on a cross-field tight end screen to Troy Drayton, who clutched the ball and followed his blockers down the left sideline for 25 yards and the Rams’ first points since Halloween.

Jackie Slater, the Rams’ injured offensive tackle, did a little jig on the sideline and wrapped a bear hug around Drayton. Behind him, thousands of fans danced in the aisles.

The scene was reminiscent of Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning home run in 1951.

The Rams had scored!

The Rams had scored!

The Rams had scored!

It was cause for great jubilation because the Rams were 13 1/2 minutes away from a club record-tying second consecutive shutout--in consecutive home games, no less. The last time the Rams were blanked two games in a row was 1938, the franchise’s second season of existence.

Knox was 6 years old at the time.

With Rubley, the Rams achieved that most rarefied of triple crowns Sunday:

They scored a touchdown.

They scored a field goal.

They scored a victory, 10-6, their first in six games.

Where did this leave the Rams’ quarterbacking predicament? Same place it was a month ago, with Rubley coming off an energizing performance in relief and San Francisco on the schedule next.

“Kind of ironic,” Rubley said. “You always like a second chance. Last time at San Francisco, I got baptized. I’d like to thank them for that.”

For Rubley, it was closer to a drowning than a baptism. The 49ers sacked Rubley seven times during his first NFL start, a 40-17 Ram defeat that was all Knox had to see before slamming the door on Operation T.J.

“I didn’t know if I’d ever play again,” Rubley said. “I’m a ninth-round pick. With a first-round pick, it’s different. There’s a different mentality, because there’s more of a monetary investment.

“But with me, that could have been my one opportunity. You never know. All you can do is tell yourself that if you get another chance, you better learn from your mistakes.”

Rubley described the last two weeks, post-San Francisco, as 14 days of personal misery.

“I was chomping at the bit to get back in,” he said. “I left a lot of unfinished business in San Francisco. It left me with a very ugly feeling throughout my entire body. I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep.”

Unlike the rest of the Ram offense, which had been coma-like, before Rubley picked up his helmet and picked up his teammates, like a strong jolt of black coffee.

“He’s a very energetic guy,” fullback Tim Lester said, “and he gets us pumped up. He’s an athletic guy who can make some plays with his running. He gives us a lift.”

“He gives us a little more mobility back there,” added tailback Jerome Bettis. “Because he’s a little quicker than Jim, he can create more plays than Jim.”

He creates more breaks, that’s for sure. En route to the game-icing field goal, Rubley underthrew a sideline pass for Flipper Anderson that was tipped in the air by Redskin cornerback Tom Carter. It could have been intercepted. It should have been intercepted.

Instead, the ball floats into Flipper’s waiting arms and the play goes for 29 yards.

And all Rubley can do is shrug and credit divine intervention.

“I believe so,” Rubley said with a smile, “because it sure wasn’t No. 12.”

Where does Knox go from here with his quarterbacks? As usual, Knox wasn’t saying Sunday. As we all know, (repeat after me) Knox doesn’t make personnel decisions until Wednesday.

But Sunday, he saw a sign.

It was hanging from the railing in the upper deck.

Two letters, Chuck, two letters.