Rams Are All but Run Out of Town by Redskins, 24-21 : Pro football: Smallest crowd ever to see team at Anaheim Stadium watches Washington win.

There was 1:54 remaining, very possibly the final 1:54 in the history of the Los Angeles Rams. The scoreboard, favoring the Redskins, 24-21, suggested the hometown team was going to end its run with a seven-game losing streak.

One minute and fifty-four seconds to go in a meaningless game, and yet the moment meant everything to Chuck Knox Jr., who stepped beside his father, put an arm around his shoulder and patted him on the back.

Only 1:54 left, and if rumors are true, this was going to be it for Chuck Knox, who had walked tall for 21 years on the sideline while becoming the NFL’s sixth-winningest coach. “I just wanted to let him know, ‘Hey, hang in there,’ ” said the younger Knox, who coaches Ram running backs. “It’s a definite possibility, but I wasn’t thinking about whether this was the end. I just wanted to support him.

“Things didn’t go as we would have liked, but he hasn’t lost hope. Hell no, and you can quote me. I know my father, he’s tough and he won’t give up until that last breath. I don’t know what the future holds, but there’s still a lot of fight in him.”

There would be one more chance to rally, to feel satisfied, to walk from the field a winner, but the 1994 Rams continued to maintain form to the very end Saturday in Anaheim Stadium.

A final drive for a tying field goal or a winning touchdown ended with Chris Miller gaining a yard on fourth and 11 from the Washington 42-yard line, and the Redskins (3-13) were winners, 24-21, before 25,705, the smallest crowd to ever watch the Rams (4-12) play in Anaheim Stadium.

This was the worst season in Knox’s impressive career and, in the final seconds, he jogged across the field to shake hands with Norv Turner, one of the game’s youngest coaches.

The cameras were pointed in tackle Jackie Slater’s direction because there has been speculation that his 19-year career is about to end, and so Knox walked from the field almost unnoticed. The fans in the end-zone seats were yelling something nasty about St. Louis, and a Ram baseball cap landed at Knox’s feet as he walked through the tunnel to get to the locker room.

“We just didn’t get it done,” he said. “The same mistakes that have plagued us all year, plagued us once again. Special teams gave up a big touchdown--I think that’s five for the year on returns against us. It’s tough to win when those things happen. It kind of went like it’s been going all year.”

What did he say to the team?

“All I said was, ‘We didn’t get it done,’ ” Knox said, his eyes watering. “That says it all. I say ‘we’ in terms of my coaches, players, everybody.”

How much did talk of the move affect the team’s performance?

“I don’t want to talk about that because I don’t want to make excuses,” he said.

There were no more questions, and he was gone, moving into the locker room to shake hands with his players.

Knox has one more year remaining on a four-year pact, but if his 15-33 record results in his dismissal, “It would be criminal,” said Joe Vitt, the team’s assistant head coach. “No one said life is fair, but it would be criminal.”

Players circulated a petition and submitted it to management on Knox’s behalf this weekend, but on the field their play provided no support.

“A petition is a cop-out to me,” said Ram defensive captain Anthony Newman. “If you want to keep anybody here, you go play like it. There’s no need to sign papers. You can make a coach look like the best coach in the world by playing well.”

The Rams have not played well for weeks, but they had every opportunity to do so against the Redskins, who had lost their previous seven games. And, after three offensive plays for the Redskins, the Rams had a 7-0 lead after Newman had returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown.

They had a 14-7 lead after Miller (27 of 40 for 304 yards) threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Todd Kinchen in the second quarter, and a 21-17 advantage with four seconds remaining in the half after Miller’s 36-yard scoring pass to Jermaine Ross, Ross’ first NFL reception.

“Words can’t describe how discouraging it is,” said Ram tight end Troy Drayton. “It’s like, I don’t know . . . I’m all choked up.”

Victory could have been theirs, but Brian Mitchell returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown, the third punt returned for a touchdown against the Rams this season. Throw in a pair of kickoff returns for scores in New Orleans, and the Rams have faltered badly in an area that had received extra attention during the off-season, training camp and in daily practices.

“It’s just a miserable end to a miserable year,” linebacker Shane Conlan said.

Heath Shuler’s one-yard touchdown pass to James Jenkins put the Redskins ahead to stay in the third quarter, but Tony Zendejas had the chance to tie from 33 yards with little more than four minutes to play.

“I just missed it,” Zendejas said.

The Rams got one more chance to score and then ran out of downs. The season was over, farewells and petitions presented and then the locker room was empty.

“I watched Coach Knox leaving,” Henley said. “He’s hurting. Chuck is hurting. He knows how to put teams together, and it just hasn’t happened.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Empty Houses

The Rams averaged 42,312 in their eight home games at Anaheim Stadium this season after drawing 45,401 in 1993. In 1980, their first in Anaheim, they averaged 62,550.

Smallest regular-season crowds for the Rams at Anaheim Stadium:

Attendance Opponent Date 25,705 Washington Dec. 24, 1994 32,969 Arizona Sept. 4, 1994 34,155 Cleveland Dec. 26, 1993 34,599 Atlanta Oct. 2, 1994 34,960 New Orleans Dec. 4, 1994 35,315 Atlanta Dec. 8, 1991 37,073 Atlanta Nov. 14, 1993

Source: Rams