Rams Finally Find Success--at Square One : Pro football: After the months of changes on offense and defense, team rediscovers what works.
ANAHEIM — Three victories and three defeats into 1991, the Rams find themselves with Kevin Greene at left outside linebacker, a tight end with a knack for making key receptions, and an offensive line built around Jackie Slater, Tom Newberry and Doug Smith.
Meet the new Rams, who are surprisingly like the old Rams.
It took six games and a reshuffling of the roster, but the re-evolution of the Rams took hold Sunday in their 30-24 victory over the San Diego Chargers.
The Rams suddenly look very similar to last season’s version. Here is how they got there:
--Greene’s switch from blitzing linebacker to an undersized but mobile right defensive end in new defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher’s four-man line was supposed to be a key element of the new Ram style.
But after five frustrating games, Greene was temporarily switched back to his old spot, left outside linebacker, and responded Sunday with a safety and three solo tackles. The bigger Gerald Robinson stepped in at right end and also played well.
Robinson suggested Monday that Greene, who had asked to move back to linebacker, where he has more room to roam, might be back there for good.
“I think this is the right move at the right time,” Robinson said Monday. “I feel like Kevin did a good job (at linebacker against San Diego), and I feel like he will do a better job. I don’t think (moving Greene to end) was a mistake, but I feel we’re moving in the right direction now.”
The trick now, Robinson concedes, is to work Greene’s blitzing into Fisher’s attack, which counts on linebackers to be both pass defenders and pass rushers. Fisher’s scheme will have to be altered to suit Greene as a linebacker.
“It’s a funny kind of problem Jeff has,” Robinson said. “Now he has to find ways for Kevin to rush, change the defense. Kevin has to be able to rush, which means, does (strong safety) Mike Stewart come up to take his man (in coverage) or does Larry Kelm? Or do you play different kinds of combinations so he can rush?”
--The Rams opened the season with grand plans of an offensive line heavier and hardier in the middle. Newberry was switched from left guard to center, Bern Brostek moved in at left guard and Joe Milinichik at right guard. Smith was benched.
There were breakdowns from the outset, problems of communication, and finally injuries took Milinichik and Brostek out of the equation.
With Duval Love replacing the injured Milinichik at right guard, Newberry already having had to move over to replace Brostek, and Smith stepping back in at center, the Rams Sunday had four of last year’s starting offensive five back in their familiar positions and had their best pass-blocking day of the year.
On Monday, Robinson indicated that, barring further injuries, this will be the way the line stays.
“Ultimately, for us, we would still move Tom (Newberry) back to center next year. . . . Now is he going back this year? I don’t know.”
This unit, Robinson suggests, is better at pass blocking, which was a major Ram problem early, although the revamped unit early in the season clearly was superior at run blocking. So Robinson’s plan for a power running game has to wait.
--After losing veteran tight end Pete Holohan to Plan B free agency, the Rams said first-year player Jim Price could fill his role. But when Price struggled, they said maybe there really wasn’t a need for a tight end to be so important in the new Ram offense.
But the Rams had their most productive offensive day of the season when their pass-catching tight end also had his, catching Jim Everett’s first two touchdown passes of the season and offering evidence that the Ram offense really does need a cagey H-back/tight end to slice up those heavy zones and draw coverage that would otherwise be concentrated on the wide receivers.
“I’d say the H-back (tight end) is crucial in that he provides certain things for you, certain matchups,” Robinson said. “(But) I think to identify problems that we’ve had with that, it would be much of an oversimplification.”
The mere presence of a receiver able to find seams in zones seemed to comfort Everett, who had his best game of the season and who made sure always to point out the loss of Holohan when asked about the Rams’ pass-game struggles.
“We felt like Jim Price was the future there and that’s the direction we decided to go,” Robinson said. “We had some setbacks with Jim with (a hamstring) injury and such in training camp, that it got off to a slow start. Like a lot of things for us.
“But Jim Price is beginning to look like the player that we think he can be. We don’t pretend that he is Pete Holohan, but we think there will be a time when he is.
“We are starting to see some of the things that Jim can do. We’re looking at a player who at some point is going to be a major, major player for our team. It’s great to get some of that started.
“We’ve been languishing for a month or so, trying to recover from injuries and trying to get untracked, and he contributed heavily to it.”
RAM NUMBERS
HIGHLIGHT: JIM PRICE He can’t be found among the 61 player profiles, accompanied by pictures, in the Rams Media Guide. You have to go through the alphabetical listing of “1991 Free Agents and First-Year Players” on Pages 122-123 to find the only two lines in the annual about Jim Price. Rather obscure, you say? He’s not obscure anymore. A 6-foot-4, 247-pound tight end out of Stanford, Price caught six of Jim Everett’s passes Sunday for 82 yards and two touchdowns in The Rams’ 30-24 victory over the Chargers and, suddenly, he’s being mentioned in the same breath as Pete Holohan. Holohan was the tight end supreme the Rams allowed to get away through free agency to the Kansas City Chiefs. It takes more than one game to supplant Holohan. So, stay tuned. SEASON TO DATE
Six-Game Totals (Record: 3-3)
FIRST DOWNS
RAMS: 95
OPP: 103
RUSHING YARDAGE
RAMS: 540
OPP: 664
PASSING YARDAGE
RAMS: 1,038
OPP: 1,225
PUNTS/AVERAGE RAMS: 30/36.5 OPP: 24/42.8 RUSHING
ATT AVG. TDs RAMS 158 3.4 7 OPP 167 4.2 7
PASSING
ATT CP TDs RAMS 159 92 2 OPP 165 97 8
PENALTIES/YARDS
RAMS: 34/258
OPP: 33/277
FUMBLES/LOST
RAMS: 12/7
OPP: 11/5
INTERCEPTIONS
RAMS: 4/85
OPP: 5/21 SCORING BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL RAMS 3 60 27 13 0 103 OPP 31 34 17 51 0 133
POSSESSION TIME
RAMS: 29:18
OPP: 30:42
