RAM NOTEBOOK / MIKE REILLEY : Anderson Recalls Past, Bemoans Present

With the Rams preparing to meet New Orleans in the Superdome Sunday, wide receiver Flipper Anderson fondly recalled catching 15 passes against the Saints in a 1989 game, memories that make a struggling 1993 season that much more difficult.

The Rams’ passing offense was at its best that night in 1989, with quarterback Jim Everett completing 29 of 51 passes for 454 yards and a touchdown as the Rams rallied for a 20-17 victory.

Four years later, Everett is on the bench, the Rams are 3-9 and Anderson is complaining that he’s a forgotten man in the offense. He has caught only 26 passes this season, barely half of his 1990 season total.

“I haven’t fulfilled what the coaches (thought) I could do,” Anderson said. “But it’s just getting an opportunity, and I don’t feel like I’ve had the greatest of opportunities throughout the year, either.

“The last three or four weeks I haven’t been part of the offense until the third or fourth quarter. I’m like a forgotten guy out there. Even the defense probably doesn’t worry about me. I’m serious. Sometimes they don’t even look my way.”

Anderson is the team’s top deep threat and big-play receiver, yet he has been taken out regularly on first downs and scoring opportunities. He hasn’t caught more than three passes in a game, or scored, since Oct. 14 against Atlanta.

“You practice all week and you feel like you’re doing good,” he said. “Then on Sunday, you don’t have an opportunity until the game is almost over. You feel like the ninth guy coming off the bench, that it’s garbage time. The balls I catch aren’t significant, you know?

“I feel like I’m not part of the game early on. That’s the only thing I can say about it. Then, when I’m in there, it’s the two-minute drill and the game is out of hand.”

But Anderson returns Sunday to the Superdome, where he and Everett had one of their finest moments. The Rams’ comeback against the Saints started a 6-1 run that led them to the NFC championship game. Anderson, in his first season as a starter, finished with 44 receptions for 1,097 yards and five touchdowns.

“I remember reading some stuff back then that we were supposed to be the team of the ‘90s,” Anderson said. “It hasn’t worked out that way.”

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Downward spiral: Everything seemed fine when the Saints left Anaheim Stadium on Oct. 3. Or was it?

The Saints had just beaten the Rams, 37-6. They had just improved to 5-0, built a two-game lead over San Francisco and had high hopes of winning the NFC West.

Quarterback Wade Wilson was having one of his best seasons, rookie tailback Derek Brown was raising eyebrows around the league and the Saints had only four turnovers in five games.

But entering Sunday’s rematch, the Saints (7-5) are struggling with a streak of awful performances that have cost them the division lead and left them fighting for a playoff spot. Can they get untracked against the Rams?

“I guarantee you that our players won’t overlook the Rams,” Saint Coach Jim Mora said. “We can’t afford to overlook anybody. We’ve been 2-5 the past seven games.”

So what has gone wrong with the Saints?

Wilson was sacked nine times in a 17-13 loss to Cleveland last week, Brown is injured and the Saints have turned the ball over 21 times during the 2-5 stretch.

“Last week we didn’t turn it over any,” Mora said. “That was nice to see, but we didn’t protect our quarterback.”

Wilson, who threw seven touchdown passes with only one interception in the first five games, has thrown only five touchdown passes with 13 interceptions in the last seven games.

He was sacked only seven times in the first five games, including none against the Rams. But in the last seven games? Twenty-eight sacks for losses totaling 177 yards.

“It has been a combination of things,” Mora said of Wilson’s interceptions. “Teams have been playing good defense, and against Green Bay, he threw two passes that popped out of the receivers’ hands and right into the defenders’ hands. And he has made some poor decisions at times, as all quarterbacks will, and sometimes his receiver should be right where he should be.”

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Add Saints: Season-ending injuries to Vaughn Dunbar, Lorenzo Neal and nagging injuries to Fred McAfee opened the door to a starting halfback position for Brown, a former Servite High standout. But Brown, 10th in the NFC in rushing with 596 yards, has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle, and the Saints struggled with only 79 yards rushing against Cleveland.

Bad news for the Rams: Brown practiced Wednesday and is listed as probable for the game.

“He’s still not 100%,” Mora said. “We’ll have to wait and see how it goes.”

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Attention-getter: There was tight end Jim Price’s contract holdout. Cornerback Darryl Henley’s drug indictment. The decline of starting quarterback Jim Everett and rumors that the Rams might cut him. Cornerback Robert Bailey swinging a chair in frustration after a loss to Atlanta. A staggering list of injuries. Rumors of moving the team to Baltimore.

In his 31 years in the NFL, has Ram Coach Chuck Knox been around a team with more distractions?

“No,” he said.

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New year: If the regular-season ended today, the Rams’ 1994 schedule would include a home game against Dallas and a road games at Kansas City and either the Raiders or Denver. The NFL schedule is based on a “common opponent” format designed to create competitive equity in the league.

Based on the current standings, the Rams would have home games against San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, Denver, and San Diego. Their road games would be San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the Raiders or Detroit, and either Detroit, Chicago or Green Bay.

Notes

With big games this week, the Rams’ Jerome Bettis and Washington’s Reggie Brooks could become the first set of tailbacks from the same college (Notre Dame) to rush for more than 1,000 yards in their rookie seasons. Bettis is fifth in the NFC in rushing with 891 yards and Brooks is sixth with 873. . . . The Rams hold a 26-22 series lead over the Saints, although New Orleans has won the past seven games dating back to a 20-17 Ram victory in 1989.