Rubley Makes Most of a Second Chance : Rams: Quarterback wasn’t sure he would play again after 49er debacle.

So what caught Chuck Knox’s eye first?

The 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 in 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 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?

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 began throwing warm-up passes while getting a standing ovation with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter.

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

And in 98 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 Rams 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 cornerbacks drawn in, a safety-valve pass 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 touchdown since Halloween.

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

Knox was six at the time.

With Rubley, the Rams achieved a triple crown 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 next up.

“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.”