Lyght Goes On, but Others Sit While Young Rams Play Bears : Pro football: Defensive back says team is better than ‘terrible’ 1991 club as it tries to snap five-game losing streak in Chicago.
Ram cornerback Todd Lyght was only a rookie in 1991, when the Rams lost their final 10 games in John Robinson’s last season as the team’s coach.
Three years older and wiser, does Lyght see any similarities between the 1991 Rams and the Rams who can stretch their losing streak to six with a loss at Chicago today?
“No way,” he said. “The ’91 team was terrible. This year’s team just isn’t winning. We’ve got the players who can win, we’re just not getting the job done. We’ve lost some close games and had some total breakdowns.
“But we do have the talent to win here. We do. But that ’91 team, there wasn’t enough talent to win anything.”
Lyght is one of only four defensive starters from the 1991 team still with the Rams, along with defensive ends Robert Young and Gerald Robinson (now a backup) and cornerback Darryl Henley. Left guard Tom Newberry, wide receiver Flipper Anderson and right tackle Jackie Slater (now a backup) are the only offensive starters left from that team.
Jim Everett, Henry Ellard, Kevin Greene and Duval Love are gone. So is Robinson, who was replaced by Chuck Knox.
Monday, Knox was answering questions about his future as Ram coach, just as Robinson did three seasons earlier. Ram President John Shaw has said Knox’s future--he has one year remaining on his four-year deal--will be discussed after the season.
Knox has maintained all season that the team’s possible move to St. Louis has no impact on the players and the coaching staff.
But his theory has been frayed at the edges lately, with free safety Anthony Newman wondering if talk of the move has been a distraction in a 4-10 season.
“It’s tough,” Newman said. “We’re emotionally drained because of our record, and who knows what is going to happen with the team and coaching staff?
“People on the team keep saying it’s not a distraction. But deep down, it is. It helps when you have a team with stability on where they’re going to be and the coaching staff is going to be there for a while.
“You can’t use this as an excuse, though. It’s not an excuse for us losing those games.”
A victory in Chicago Sunday would be the Rams’ first there since 1986 and would be a major blow to the Bears’ playoff hopes. Chicago (8-6) trails NFC Central leader Minnesota by one game and can clinch a playoff berth with a victory, combined with either a Green Bay loss to Atlanta or a Philadelphia-New York Giants tie.
The Rams will contend with a Bear defense that has allowed only 10.3 points a game in the eight victories but 34.8 points a game in the six losses.
With wind and temperatures in the 30s expected for game time, don’t expect quarterback Chris Chandler to be testa Bear pass defense that allows only 187 yards a game, fourth-best in the NFL.
But tailback Jerome Bettis, who has averaged only 31 yards in 12 carries the last five games, goes against a Bear rush defense that has allowed 128 yards a game (27th in the league). Bettis rushed for 146 yards in 39 carries in a 20-6 victory over the Bears in last year’s finale.
The Rams were eliminated from the playoff race with last week’s loss at Tampa Bay and are using the final two games to give some of their younger players playing time for evaluation purposes.
The Rams pulled Newman from the starting lineup in favor of rookie strong safety Toby Wright, a second-round pick from Nebraska. Marquez Pope, the starting strong safety, will move to Newman’s position.
The Rams also plan to give rookie free safety Keith Lyle, who has been used in nickel packages, more work on first and second downs.
“These next two games are not just important, they’re critical,” said Joe Vitt, assistant head coach. “An important part of football is that you can’t let yourself make any mistakes on personnel. If you go into the off-season not knowing what certain players can do, then you’re behind the eight-ball. You can’t compete.
“The young kids have worked hard all year and played well on special teams and deserve an opportunity to play on defense.”
Vitt was asked what impact a losing season has on the Rams’ younger players, especially those who came from winning college programs.
“Any time you have a 4-12 season, it has an impact on everyone,” he said. “I don’t know of anyone who can stay at this level if you have many seasons like that.”