RAMS ’94 / SEASON PREVIEW : Bettis Planning to Extend Himself to the Outer Limits : Ground game: Tailback wants to reach the rarefied air of rushing for 2,000 yards.
Ram tailback Jerome Bettis had just learned to walk when O.J. Simpson became the NFL’s first 2,000-yard rusher in 1973.
By the time the Rams’ Eric Dickerson rushed for 2,105 yards in 1984, surpassing Simpson’s mark of 2,003 yards, Bettis was still tearing up the playgrounds back in Detroit.
Bettis didn’t see Simpson’s or Dickerson’s record-breaking seasons. But the statistics sit there in the record book, a constant reminder that has teased Bettis into wanting to join them.
But as Bettis has come of age, so have NFL offenses.
During training camp, Bettis, wearing a T-shirt reading “Limits are made to be broken,” announced his goal this season of becoming the third back in NFL history to gain 2,000 yards.
But can he do it in this day and age of high-tech passing offenses?
“It’s not impossible” Bettis said, “I think it’s going to be done. When O.J. did it, they never thought it would be done again, but Dickerson did. I think it’s just a matter of time before someone does it again.”
Bettis appears to be in the right offensive scheme to have a shot. As the centerpiece of Coach Chuck Knox’s conservative rushing game in last year’s 5-11 season, Bettis rushed for 1,429 yards.
Bettis argues that running wins football games, but a 2,000-yard rusher has yet to lead a team to a playoff victory, let alone a Super Bowl.
The Rams were 10-6 in Dickerson’s record season, but were eliminated in the NFC wild-card game. Buffalo was 9-5 with Simpson in 1973 but didn’t make the playoffs.
“You have to throw,” said former San Francisco Coach Bill Walsh. “The low-scoring games emphasizing the run aren’t going to take you all the way.”
Walsh should know, having coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl titles in the 1980s with a passing offense built around quarterback Joe Montana.
Sure, the 49ers had running backs Roger Craig and Tom Rathman, but when the 49ers were in the two-minute drill, it was Montana to Jerry Rice.
“The key to the running game is short-yardage, on the goal line and the fourth quarter when you have the lead,” Walsh said. “That’s what we did so well with the 49ers. We controlled the ball with the short pass and run, and set up the big play to Rice or John Taylor.
“From there, you have to make a big play on the running game, something like Bettis breaking for 20 yards. The three- and four-yard running game isn’t going to make you a winner, it takes too long to score that way. And too many things can go wrong with too many plays in a drive.”
Former Washington Coach Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls with a running game that featured Joe Washington, John Riggins and Ernest Byner.
The Redskins’ rushing game opened up passing for quarterbacks Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien.
“If you can’t run the ball,” Gibbs said, “you’re not going anywhere. All the good ones run, and Chuck has always put together a good rushing game.”
Bettis’ rushing total last year is the second-highest total ever in a Knox offense. He didn’t become the team’s full-time starter until the sixth game of the season, and he averaged 131 yards in the final six games of 1993.
“We’re coming off a year where we had difficulties at the quarterback spot (with Jim Everett),” Bettis said. “But it’s feasible for us to do it this year because we’re a little hesitant to throw it 30 or 40 times a game.
“They’ll want to ease into it. It’s going to give me a chance to go out there early and get some things done.”
But the jury is still out on whether Knox’s offense is effective or antiquated. In other words, have the high-tech offenses of today passed by Ground Chuck?
To wit:
--Knox-coached teams have qualified for the playoffs only six times in the last 16 years, the last time in 1988, when his Seattle Seahawks were 9-7 and won the AFC West. He hasn’t had a winning season since 1990, when the Seahawks were 9-7.
--One of Knox’s best teams was his 1984 Seattle Seahawks, who went 12-4 and won the AFC West despite losing Curt Warner to injury. Fullback David Hughes led the team in rushing with only 327 yards in 94 carries that year.
--The most yards any back has gained in a Knox offense was 1,481 in 319 carries by Warner in 1986, when the Seahawks went 10-6.
--Tailback Lawrence McCutcheon, the workhorse in Knox’s Ram offenses, rushed for 1,000 yards or more four times between 1973 and ‘77, and the Rams won the NFC West division title each year. McCutcheon’s best season was 1,238 yards in 1977.
“The game has tried to pass the running game by,” Bettis said, “but every time it has tried to, it has been reminded that the running game is what takes you to the next level.
“When you look at it, what teams have been winning the Super Bowl? The NFC East, right? And what do NFC East teams do? Run the football. You have to realize that, and go out and use what the winners are using. And the running game is going to give you a better chance at winning the Super Bowl than just passing it.”
True, the Rams’ offense has been redesigned this year under new offensive coordinator Chick Harris. Using a system somewhat similar to what Dallas and San Francisco run, the offense is designed to pound Bettis inside and spring him free on sweeps, then use him as a decoy to open up quarterback Chris Miller’s passing game.
But if the Rams are trailing in the second half, where will Bettis be? Running play-action or standing on the sidelines watching as Miller throws to try to catch up.
Even Miller thinks Bettis’ goal might be out of reach.
“That will be awfully tough,” he said. “I know Jerome has set a high goal, that’s awfully difficult. If a guy can get it, I guess that means you’re ahead in most games and we would be pounding the ball and running the clock.”
The Rams went 0-4 in the exhibition season and are still waiting for Miller to throw a touchdown pass.
One of Bettis’ key blockers, tight end Pat Carter, signed with the Houston Oilers in the off-season. The Rams had to scramble this week to find a run-blocking tight end in free agent Ron Middleton to back up starter Troy Drayton, who is nowhere near the blocker Carter was.
The loss of Carter, coupled with a shaky offensive line, appears to have Bettis’ goal on slippery footing.
“It’s a goal” he said, “but I won’t live and die by it.”
A Clean Sweep
Ram tailback Jerome Bettis finished his rookie season in 1993 with 1,429 yards, many of them on this sweep play. During the last seven weeks of the season, the Rams ran 36 sweeps for 318 yards, an average of 8.8 yards per carry.
1. Rams line up with tight end on right side (strong right).
2. Guards pull; left guard blocks middle linebacker, right guard helps tight end with strong side linebacker.
3. Fullback is lead blocker, takes out strong safety.
4. Tailback takes ball from quarterback, cuts upfield between safety and cornerback.
Source: Chuck Harris, Rams