Rams Dig Up Something to Be Savored in Loss

Sifting through the rubble of Sunday’s 6-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints, the game where there were more turnovers than points, excavator John Robinson managed to find something worth salvaging.

There was, he reminded everyone at his Monday press conference, the 14-play Ram drive at the end of the first period and start of the second quarter that reminded him of the good ol’ days. Eric Dickerson runs left . . . Dickerson runs right . . . Dickerson runs up the middle.

And then . . . Dickerson fumbles, which isn’t so good.

But wait, Robinson said. Remember that nifty 11-play drive in the fourth quarter, the one where caretaker quarterback Steve Dils moved the Rams nearly 60 yards and toward a go-ahead touchdown?

Sure. Now remember how Dils ended the promising drive with an interception? And how the Rams would never venture into Saint territory again? And how Robinson probably wanted to pull his blue Sansabelts over his head in shame?

This was the same Ram team that had defeated the Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears six days earlier, the same team that had three straight victories, the same team that was on its way to a surprisingly trouble-free NFC West title. Now this. Now the sight of Robinson, who could find something nice to say about boiled liver, struggling to find an encouraging word.

Safety Vince Newsome had a fine game, he said.

Cornerback LeRoy Irvin can be proud of his efforts, he added.

The Rams still lead the division by a half-game over the San Francisco 49ers.

After that, Robinson found himself searching for candidates. The towel boy? Jim Everett’s chart keeping? Soon, he quit trying.

“We’ve proven that we can play at the highest level,” he said. “We proved that last Monday night. And, like every other club in the NFL, without exception, we’ve proven that we can fall on our faces when things don’t go the way we would like.”

How faces fell:

--Dils completed 16 of 34 passes for 134 yards and one interception, prompting CBS play-by-play man Gary Bender to keep asking analyst Hank Stram when rookie Jim Everett might become the starter. Stram said not yet. Robinson agreed Monday. He expects Dils to be the starting quarterback against the New England Patriots Sunday in Anaheim Stadium.

“At this point, I don’t have any further comment on the quarterback position,” Robinson said. “We’re going to try to go each week and play the guy who gives us the best chance to win. We have an issue involving all three (Dils, Steve Bartkowski and Everett).”

With that, Robinson asked that Dils’ passing statistics be ignored for the moment. Instead, he used the recent victory over the Bears as a measuring point. “If you listed the last 20 games played against the Chicago Bears by quarterbacks . . . his performance would rank very close to the top,” he said, adding that Miami Dolphin Dan Marino and Minnesota Viking Tommy Kramer would be the only ones ahead of Dils.

And what of his ranking after the Saint game?

“In this game, we didn’t get the ball in the end zone,” he said. “No one can escape that loss.”

As for Everett, Robinson said the timing isn’t right for his debut--yet.

“I would frankly like to put him in for seven plays of the first half of the next game and 14 in the next one and get him to the level where you could say, ‘By God, we could play him, we could start him,’ ” he said. “But to send him in now . . . “

--Dickerson rushed for 57 yards in 21 tries. After the game he said he was too weary to talk to reporters. He was excused from a light workout Monday because of “personal reasons.”

Said Robinson: “I think the game Monday night took something out of him. I think that was a big effort for him. That was something that was very important for him to do well against the Bears. That was one of his best games of all time, I thought. And, obviously, Sunday wasn’t. But there were a lot of unblocked guys Sunday. We just didn’t block them.”

--Four fumbles, one interception, no running game. “We have to be efficient,” Robinson said. “We can’t give away five turnovers and win the game. There’s not any way that can happen.”

Ram brawn also took a beating Sunday. Robinson’s theory that the Rams will wear an opponent down by the fourth period was sent to the bench by the Saints. “This was one of the first times since Atlanta that we came away and said we weren’t in physical control at all,” he said.

Ram Notes

Injury update: Running back Mike Guman is nursing damaged ribs. Ram Coach John Robinson said Guman’s status is still uncertain for Sunday’s game against the Patriots though nothing is broken. The same goes for tight end Tony Hunter, who is trying to recover from a stress fracture in his left leg (he has missed three straight games). “Right now, he’s in the don’t-heal-so-quickly category,” Robinson said. No word on what changes Robinson will make if Guman and Hunter are unable to play. Wide receiver Ron Brown, who suffered a concussion Sunday, is expected to return to the lineup this week. “By the time we landed in L.A., he was fine,” Robinson said. . . . Robinson on the instant-replay debate: “When you don’t score a touchdown, you don’t worry about those philosophy things.”