Ram Defense Does Its Part in NFL Trend

Sunday’s pinball game between the Rams and Green Bay Packers made you wonder if there is such a thing as great defense in the National Football League anymore.

The Rams thought they had something special with their Eagle, yet through three winning weeks the defense has been burned for four long touchdown passes while allowing opponents an average of 393 total yards a game.

Good thing the Rams’ offense is doing the same unto others.

Cornerback Clifford Hicks’ heels were so hot from getting burned Sunday he needed to soak them in ice water.

Hicks isn’t alone, though. Look around the league. Everybody is getting scorched. Three of the supposed best defenses in the NFL--Buffalo, Minnesota, Chicago--gave up 41, 27 and 27 points respectively.

There’s something funny in the air. It’s the ball.

“There’s an interesting phenomenon going on,” John Robinson said Monday. “Whether it goes on throughout the year, I really don’t know. I’m very curious about it. I think the kind of defense we’re playing and other people are playing has precipitated this.”

Is this the curse of Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense? In 1985, the Bears rolled to the Super Bowl championship with Ryan’s attacking, blitz-the-quarterback schemes. Copycat defenses quickly followed.

Ryan took his act to Philadelphia where Sunday, his Eagles gave up 38 points and 428 passing yards to quarterback Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers.

Offenses have turned the tables on the new defenses with all-out aerial attacks of their own. The Don Majkowskis of the world are routinely throwing for 300 yards a game.

Robinson concedes that teams with schemes that involve crowding the line of scrimmage and attacking the quarterback are paying the price.

“Teams are coming out and saying, ‘To hell with you. If you’re going to stop the run on first down we’re going to throw all the time,’ ” he said. “There’s some good things about it, because it’s exciting football, but there’s some bad things about it. Green Bay turned the ball over five times.”

Green Bay was also unstoppable in the second half of Sunday’s 41-38 loss, outscoring the Rams, 31-3.

“It’s making the game wild and out of control,” Robinson said. “I think it’s a dangerous way to play, but it certainly is an exciting way to play. It’s a successful ploy if you can maintain the ability to run the ball as well. If you can go out and throw it 45 times and then come back and run it pretty well, I think that’s pretty good.”

The Rams salvaged Sunday’s game with two time-consuming, fourth-quarter drives led by tailback Greg Bell.

Robinson isn’t ready to scrap the Rams’ Eagle defense, though he’s plenty worried about what has happened in recent weeks.

Robinson insists that his team’s problems are not conceptual, but stem rather from breakdowns in fundamentals.

“Our tackling stunk from beginning to end,” he said of the Packer game.

But what of those missiles being launched over the cornerbacks’ heads?

Blame part of it on inexperience. Hicks is only in his third year. And in the Eagle, cornerbacks must be able to cover receivers one on one.

“He’s been victimized a little bit by this, as all young corners are,” Robinson said. “That’s what happens when you’re a new guy on the block and they come and get you. Our confidence in his (eventual) success is certainly not diminished. We just have to ride this out with him. The trouble is there are some guys that you run stride for stride with that are absolutely fantastic athletes. That Sharpe is big time.”

That Sharpe was rather Sterling, who finished with eight catches for 164 yards against the Rams.

Robinson is really worried because he has actually pulled back the reins on the Eagle in recent weeks and is still getting burned deep.

“The ball’s going up over us, even when we’re playing zone,” he said. “It isn’t so much that we’re playing with some gambling, wide-open thing.”

Help may be on the way. LeRoy Irvin returns from his substance-abuse suspension this week and will probably start for Hicks at right cornerback this Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in Candlestick.

Robinson no doubt is hoping for a great defensive struggle, a 34-30 game perhaps. Are the days of the Steel Curtain gone forever? What exactly is a good defense?

“I think the criteria for what that is is going to change,” Robinson said.

The Greg Bell Fan Club is growing by the minute. Robinson, who had never use the word great to describe his latest star tailback, finally found it Monday.

“I’m very impressed with what he’s done so far this year,” Robinson said. “And the way he’s doing it. He’s a major part of what we’re doing offensively, and he certainly deserves to be considered one of the really great backs in this league. Because of the circumstances, I don’t know why exactly, those words haven’t been used to describe him. But he’s certainly earning that kind of a reputation.”

Bell rushed for a career-high 221 yards Sunday and leads the NFL with 417 yards in 76 carries, a 5.5 yard average.

Ram Notes

Cleveland Gary should finally make his Ram debut this week after a long summer holdout and a minor car accident. The question is: With Greg Bell around, will it matter? The leading runner after Bell this season is Robert Delpino, who has 23 yards in five carries. And has anyone seen Gaston Green lately?

Why has the Rams’ pass rush been missing lately? Two theories: The Rams aren’t blitzing as much and they miss Gary Jeter as an inside pass rusher. Jeter was lost to Plan B free agency in the off-season. Fred Strickland may be the answer at defensive tackle when his knee mends completely, but first pick Bill Hawkins hasn’t made much of an impact at the other spot. “He did not play well yesterday,” Robinson said of Hawkins. “But he had lots of company.”

LeRoy Irvin is expected to return to the active roster Wednesday. Based on Monday’s first press release, rookie cornerback Alfred Jackson will go on injured reserve with a knee injury to make room for Irvin. The team obviously jumped the gun on the roster move and later amended the release.

THE RAMS BY THE NUMBERS HIGHLIGHTS GREG BELL Answering Coach John Robinson’s challenge of “restoring the running game” after a pass-happy win over Indianapolis the previous week, the tailback responded with the best day of his six-year career against the Packers. His 46-yard run in the game’s final minutes not only brought his game total to 221 yards, but gave the Rams a crucial first down while holding a precarious 41-38 yard lead. With 417 yards in three games, he’s well on his way to matching his 1,212-yard total of ’88.

SEASON TO DATE Two-game totals FIRST DOWNS RAMS 67 OPP 65 RUSHING YARDS RAMS 483 OPP 282 PASSING YARDS RAMS 770 OPP 863 RUSHING

ATT AVG TDs RAMS 97 4.9 6 OPP 60 4.7 4

PASSING

ATT CP TDs RAMS 91 61 6 OPP 113 68 5

PUNTS/AVERAGE RAMS 11/39.5 OPP 11/41.5 PENALTIES/YARDS RAMS 20/147 OPP 16/97 FUMBLES/LOST RAMS 5/1 OPP 5/3 INTERCEPTIONS RAMS 4/112 OPP 3/28 SCORING BY QUARTERS

1 2 3 4 F RAMS 23 49 14 17 103 OPP 10 28 21 17 76

POSSESSION TIME RAMS 34:09 OPP 25:51