Rams Go to Banks, Drown

The only explanation is that St. Louis’ Rich Brooks cut class while enrolled in Coaching 101. How else to explain why Brooks put a rookie quarterback into the game for his first snap in the NFL with the ball nudged against his own goal line?

No one does that. Especially when you have paid $1 million a year in hiring quarterback Steve Walsh and his winning record and penchant for not making mistakes and it’s the second quarter of the second game of the season and your team is 1-0 and the score against the team you have to beat to win your division title is 0-0.

What could Brooks have been thinking?

Brooks, saying he thought the Rams needed a spark, instead ignited a 49er onslaught, beginning with the rookie quarterback, Tony Banks, getting caught for a safety on his second play in the NFL, and ending with a final score of 34-0 before 63,624 in Candlestick Park.

Oh, what a wonderful day in Los Angeles: The Raiders are in Oakland, the Rams are in St. Louis. On Sunday the Raiders went nowhere against Kansas City and, prompted by Brooks’ decision-making, the Rams fell victim to the 49ers for the 12th consecutive time.

The Rams, who have been beaten in their last three games against the 49ers by a cumulative score of 119-23, got 105 yards in total offense and came no closer to the 49ers’ goal line than the San Francisco 21-yard line. As for Banks, he fumbled three times, completed six of 17 passes for 69 yards and was sacked four times.

“The good news was he didn’t throw any interceptions,” said Brooks.

There are comedy clubs that would pay dearly for this kind of act, and yet it came quite spontaneously for the Rams. Last week they cut their deep snapper, Paschall Davis, to sign snapping specialist Joe Valerio. The punch line? Valerio snapped a ball over the head of punter Sean Landeta, who then ran back and kicked the ball out of the end zone for another second-quarter safety.

The 49ers, meanwhile, lost quarterback Steve Young because of a groin strain, had no running game worth a playoff berth and could have been had, but the Rams were not about to take advantage.

“How about that Rams ‘O?’ ” said Young, who gets a bye to recover. “They went with the philosophy of baptism under fire and just give it a whirl. It’s a tough spot for a rookie, especially the way our defense was playing. It was like our guys were playing downhill, and they were going uphill.”

Walsh, 20-16 as a starting quarterback, was booed by St. Louis fans in last week’s 26-16 victory over Cincinnati, and Brooks decided that if Walsh struggled against the 49ers he would go to Banks.

“The reason I was brought in here was because I was a winner and could win games like this,” said Walsh, who completed two of six passes for 13 yards and had one pass intercepted when his receiver fell down. “It’s a little bit frustrating.”

After the first quarter, Brooks told Walsh to call it a day, and then called on Banks, the team’s second-round draft pick, who grew up in San Diego and played for Michigan State.

But why not change your mind, Brooks was asked, after assuming possession of the ball at the one-yard line?

“No, I didn’t,” Brooks said. “I didn’t.”

So now the Rams have a quarterback controversy, and while that’s St. Louis’ headache, Brooks is unfazed.

He was asked if Banks is now the starting quarterback.

“We will do the perennial go-back-to-the-drawing-board,” Brooks said. “But right now [the starting quarterback] is probably going to be Walsh.”