RAMS ’89 : 1988 IN REVIEW

WEEK 1 Rams 34, Green Pay Packers 7

Mickey Sutton set up a pair of first-half touchdowns, one by forcing a fumble and the other with a 46-yard punt return, and Jim Everett threw a pair of touchdown passes to lift the Rams to a season-opening victory in Green Bay. WEEK 2 Rams 17, Detroit Lions 10

Jim Everett’s 5-yard scoring pass to Damone Johnson late in the third quarter, moments after Mel Owens had forced a Detroit fumble, broke a 10-10 tie in Anaheim. Greg Bell rushed for 139 yards in 27 carries and the Ram defense totaled five sacks, including Mike Wilcher’s dumping of Eric Hipple, right. WEEK 3 Rams 22, Los Angeles Raiders 17

Jim Everett teamed with Aaron Cox on a 54-yard touchdown pass late in the game at the Coliseum. That offset a 49-yard scoring pass from Steve Beuerlein in the final two minutes, and clinched the Rams’ third consecutive victory. Gary Jeter’s five sacks led a Ram defense that took down Beuerlein nine times. Greg Bell gained 109 yards rushing and opened the scoring on a 6-yard run. WEEK 4 Rams 45, New York Giants 31

Jim Everett, left, threw five touchdown passes as the Rams outlasted the Giants on a day in East Rutherford, N.J., when the two teams combined for 712 yards in total offense. Greg Bell caught one of the touchdown passes and ran for another score, gaining 112 yards in 31 carries. Everett, who completed 14 of 24 passes, hit Aaron Cox with a 69-yard scoring pass in the final three minutes of the first half to give the Rams a 28-3 lead. WEEK 5 Phoenix Cardinals 41, Rams 27

Neil Lomax directed a Cardinal offense that gained 519 yards and pulled away in the second half to deal the Rams their first loss, in Anaheim. Lomax completed 28 of 43 passes for 342 yards and Jay Novacek made nine catches to offset a three-touchdown performance by Greg Bell. The Cardinals took the lead, 21-17, in the final minute of the first half when Rod Saddler forced Jim Everett to fumble and returned the ball 16 yards for a score. WEEK 6 Rams 33, Atlanta Falcons 0

Rolling up 334 yards of total offense in the first half, the Rams blew to a 27-0 halftime lead in Atlanta. Kevin Greene had three of the Rams’ nine sacks to lead a defense that harried Falcon quarterback Steve Dils into an eight-of-21 performance. Greg Bell broke the 100-yard mark rushing before the first quarter was over and finished with 155 yards, and Jim Everett added three touchdown passes, including a 54-yarder to Henry Ellard. WEEK 7 San Francisco 49ers 24, Rams 21

Roger Craig, right, proved too much for the Rams in Anaheim, gaining 190 yards in 22 carries and running for all three 49er touchdowns, including a 16-yard run with 12-21 left to play for the winning points. The Rams had taken a 21-17 lead three minutes earlier on an 8-yard pass from Jim Everett to Buford McGee. Everett also had scoring passes of 44 yards to Aaron Cox and 18 yards to Henry Ellard. Craig’s afternoon included a 46-yard touchdown run on which he broke five tackles. WEEK 8 Rams 31, Seattle Seahawks 10

Jim Everett picked apart the Seahawk defense in Anaheim, completing 20 of 27 passes for 311 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. His short flip to Damone Johnson on a fourth-and-goal play in the second quarter put the Rams in control at 24-3. Seattle’s lone touchdown came on a punt blocked by Brian Bosworth and returned 62 yards by Vernon Dean. WEEK 9 Rams 12, New Orleans Saints 10

Mike Lansford kicked four field goals and the Rams ran out the final 3:51 to preserve a victory in New Orleans and move into a tie with the Saints for the NFC West lead. Lansford made kicks of 37, 18, 47 and 30 yards, the last with 8:35 to play. Aaron Cox, who earlier had dropped a pass in the end zone, had a 30-yard reception on third down that kept the ball in the Ram hands in the final minutes. WEEK 10 Philadelphia Eagles 30, Rams 24

William Frizzell intercepted a Jim Everett pass at the Philadelphia 7-yard line with 16 seconds to play, allowing the Eagles to escape with a victory at home. Randall Cunningham accounted for 376 yards of total offense and passed for five touchdowns, including a 2-yard toss to Keith Jackson early in the fourth quarter for a 27-10 Eagle lead. Everett passed for 377 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted four times. WEEK 11 New Orleans Saints 14, Rams 10

A final Ram drive ended with an interception in the final minute for the second week in a row, as Gene Atkins picked off a Jim Everett pass in the end zone with 50 seconds to play to assure a Saint victory in Anaheim. Trailing, 14-3, the Rams pulled to within four points when Greg Bell scored on a 1-yard run on fourth down early in the fourth quarter, before falling short. The victory gave the Saints a one-game lead over the Rams in the NFC West. WEEK 12 San Diego Chargers 38, Rams 24

Barry Redden scored on a pair of 1-yard runs in the fourth quarter as the Chargers countered several Rams comeback bids to hold on for a victory in Anaheim. San Diego took charge in the third quarter when Keith Browner recovered a Charles White fumble and lateraled to Sam Seale, who completed the last 50 yards of a 76-yard scoring return for a 24-14 lead. Jim Everett was sacked five times as the Rams losing streak reached three. WEEK 13 Denver Broncos 35, Rams 24

John Elway passed for 272 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a 1-yard run to hand the Rams their fourth consecutive loss, in Denver. The Broncos took control on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, when Elway hit Mark Jackson with a 58-yard scoring pass for a 21-10 lead. In defeat, Jim Everett passed for 365 yards to pass the 3,000-yard mark for the season and Greg Bell rushed for 112 yards in 22 carries. WEEK 14 Rams 23, Chicago Bears 3

Ending a four-game losing streak, the Rams became the first team all season to deny the Chicago offense a touchdown, sparked by plays such as Anthony Newman’s interception, right. Jim Everett teamed with Henry Ellard on a 31-yard scoring pass late in the third quarter, and Greg Bell later scored on a 1-yard run to break the game open in Anaheim. Bell gained 98 yards in 28 carries to pass the 1,000-mark and Everett broke Vince Ferragamo’s team record by pushing his season passing total to 3,460 yards. WEEK 15 Rams 22, Atlanta Falcons 7

Keeping their playoff hopes alive, the Rams rolled to a 22-0 lead through three quarters in Anaheim. Mike Lansford kicked three field goals, the third a 32-yarder that gave him 574 points for his career, one more than Bob Waterfield’s old team record. The Falcon offense was hurt by the loss of quarterback Chris Miller, who was knocked out of the game with a concussion after a second-quarter hit by Doug Reed. Jim Everett completed 24 of 33 passes for 303 yards, including a 28-yard scoring pass to Henry Ellard. WEEK 16 Rams 38, San Francisco 49ers 16

Damone Johnson, left, caught three of Jim Everett’s four touchdown passes as the Rams rolled in San Francisco to finish in a three-way tie for first in the NFC West and wrap up a wild-card berth in the playoffs. Kevin Greene sacked Joe Montana four times in the first quarter to stymie the 49ers offense, and Henry Ellard caught six passes for a season total of 86, breaking Tom Fears’ 38-year-old team record. Everett finished the season with 30 touchdown passes, tying Vince Ferragamo’s team record. NFC WILD-CARD PLAYOFF Minnesota Vikings 28, Rams 17

The Ram season ended in Minnesota, where the Vikings intercepted Jim Everett three times and never trailed. Interceptions by Joey Browner set up Viking touchdown drives of 73 and 17 yards in the first quarter. After Everett’s 3-yard scoring pass to Damone Johnson had cut the margin to 14-7 at the half, the Vikings drove 84 yards for a touchdown after the second-half kickoff to take control. Everett could only manage 19 completions for 45 passes, for 247 yards and two touchdowns.