Rams Come Back to Earth With Defeat

The game has been saved, its credibility maintained, and never again will the good name of the undefeated ’72 Dolphins have to be mentioned in the same sentence with the ’99 Rams.

Petitions to have the NFL Hall of Fame drop their retirement and five-year waiting period requirements to immediately enshrine quarterback Kurt Warner can also be shredded.

Arriving as Cinderella on Halloween--led by owner Georgia Frontiere on the sideline a la Cowboy boss Jerry Jones--the mask was removed, and what do you know, the same old Rams were there--five fumbles, 15 penalties, two of 12 converting third downs and a 24-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the only team they have played to date with a winning record.

After seven weeks, this was the team with the best record in the NFL, which tells you something about this farce of a season.

The Rams had outscored their woeful opponents, 143-36, in the first half, and in their first serious test of the year, they trailed 21-0 by the end of the first quarter.

That was predictable, of course, because the Titans (6-1) are coached by a USC alumnus who spent the next three quarters trying to maintain the Trojan tradition of blowing 21-point leads.

The Rams (6-1) failed to cooperate, however, with kicker Jeff Wilkins’ score-tying field-goal attempt from 38 yards with seven seconds to play sailing wide right.

Tennessee linebacker Terry Killens rolled into the legs of Wilkins after the kick drawing a penalty flag, but after discussion with other officials, referee Bob McElwee ruled that Killens had been blocked into the kicker. No penalty. Rams lose.

“We got the monkey off our back today,” said St. Louis wide receiver Isaac Bruce, in what must be one of the strangest quotes ever uttered by a football player after losing his first game of the year.

“Maybe this stuff will cool down and we’ll get back to playing solid football.”

Winning more games than they lose, of course, has to be a trying experience for anyone who has spent any time with the Rams. Take Fred Miller. Before this season of good luck against a soft schedule, the right tackle had experienced 33 losses and only 15 victories playing for the Rams.

Asked to play in the biggest game of the year and protect the team’s undefeated status, he became unglued, penalized six times for false starts, while being caught twice for holding.

The Rams had practiced early in the week with their linemen using electronic earplugs designed to pick up only the quarterback’s voice in a noisy stadium. The Titans complained, the NFL ruled the earplugs illegal, and Miller jumped every time the hometown fans yelled boo.

“It is usually customary to award game balls in the locker room after wins,” said Jeff Fisher, the former Trojan and head coach of the Titans.

“I didn’t give any inside the locker room. I’m here to give this to our fans in the city of Nashville, because we talked about the 12th man and they were a huge difference in this ballgame.

“We’re going to paint this up and put it in the lobby of our facilities. This is the start to a great relationship.”

If only they could play the Rams more often, the Titans could decorate every room in their new practice facility.

“I felt all week we could line up and play with this group,” said Fisher, so confident that he benched Neil O’Donnell, 4-1 as a starter, to bring back Steve McNair.

Playing with McNair, six weeks after having a ruptured disc in his back surgically repaired, the Titans went 80 yards in 11 plays to open the game with a touchdown. It was the first time all season the Rams had trailed by more than a field goal.

“I thought McNair was very effective running the ball; that’s what he really did well,” said Vermeil, while apparently not all that impressed with his 13-for-29 passing performance for 186 yards.

“He’s not making the Pro Bowl on that performance, I’ll tell you that.”

Warner, who looks as if he will be representing the NFC in the Pro Bowl, felt pressure for the first time this season, and was sacked six times. The first time the Titans got to him, he appeared stunned, fumbling, and allowing Tennessee to recover. One play later, McNair passed to Eddie George for a 17-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Warner fumbled again on the next possession, the Titans recovered and this time it took two plays for them to score, with McNair running 10 yards up the middle for the touchdown.

“We just basically gave it away,” said Warner, who fumbled four times, losing two, while throwing for 328 yards on 29-for-46 passing. “Penalties and turnovers really killed us.

“To me, the difference in the game was we hurt ourselves . . . if I hadn’t fumbled we would have been talking about a win instead of a loss.”

Warner brought the Rams back in the second half with an assist from the Titans, who seemed intent on making the game close.

They allowed Marshall Faulk to catch a short pass and go 57 yards for a touchdown on St. Louis’ second play of the third quarter.

Warner then threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Bruce, which prompted the Titans to fire back with a 27-yard field goal from Al Del Greco.

Tennessee had a 10-point lead, but on their next two possessions they ran three plays and punted. “What was really great was how short their drives were,” said Vermeil. “They ran 30 seconds off the clock on one drive--that really helped.”

The Titans remained opponent-friendly to the very end. After Warner threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Amp Lee, St. Louis pounced on an onside kick with a little more than two minutes to play.

Despite two false starts and being out of timeouts because they had wasted two in the third quarter, the Rams moved to the Titan 20 before rushing their field-goal team onto the field for Wilkins’ miss.

“I know what this is going to do now,” said D’Marco Farr, veteran Ram defender. “It’s just going to open the door for all the doubters and naysayers. I guess it’s to be expected--we lost.”

The Rams then boarded their pumpkin and returned to St. Louis.