Can Rams Get Up for Falcons? : Coming Off Big Win Over Bears, They Face Team They Beat, 33-0
So what’s an emotional win worth around Anaheim these days? Do you dare go back to the Rams’ most recent biggest-game-in-history party, a 12-10 win over the Saints in New Orleans on Oct. 30?
Maybe not. That game sent the Rams into a 4-game skid that wasn’t halted until Monday night’s season-saving 23-3 pounding of the Chicago Bears.
The Rams have proven they can get up for the big games. But how about the little ones? It’s a problem Coach John Robinson faces this week as he breaks out the Atlanta Falcons game film.
Technically, this game is as important as any the Rams play all season, but will that sell? How can Robinson possibly top last week’s rousing table-pounding antics as his team prepared for the Bears?
Let’s see, the last time his team met the Falcons, Oct. 9, the game was over at halftime, the Rams eventually winning, 33-0.
Robinson hopes he hasn’t played his best hand. He thinks his team still has plenty to play for--a lost season, for example.
“I think we’re still a pretty sober group in terms of the certain kind of anguish over letting it get away from us,” he said. “In the same light, I don’t want us to be made out as some sort of fools that are different from our peers.”
But, admittedly, the challenge of rebounding strongly against the Falcons is this week’s meeting room theme.
Maybe Robinson should screen showings of the loss to the Chargers.
On a clear day, you can almost see a playoff picture: Monday night’s win over the Chicago Bears kept the Rams’ playoff hopes alive and flickering.
What do the Rams need most to win the division title? Two wins to finish 10-6 and an Atlanta win over the Saints in New Orleans on Dec. 18.
The cleanest way to the title has the Rams winning their final 2 games, against Atlanta and San Francisco, with New Orleans beating San Francisco and losing to Atlanta. That would leave the Saints and Rams tied for first at 10-6, and the Rams in the playoffs, based on tiebreaker rules--better record in division play.
If the 49ers beat the Saints at home next week and New Orleans loses to Atlanta a week later, the Rams could end up in a first-place tie with San Francisco. Again, the Rams would go, based on tiebreaking procedures--common games.
Remember, the Rams lose a 3-way tie for first with the Saints and 49ers. As for wild-card hopes, the Rams win head-to-head tiebreakers at 10-6 with the Saints, 49ers, New York Giants, and Minnesota, but are losers in a tie with Philadelphia.
Other important notes: A loss by either the Eagles or Giants in their last 2 games would help the Rams’ cause greatly.
Confused? Another helpful reminder: Ram fans should root for Phoenix to beat Philadelphia this Saturday.
“We’re not going to worry about the playoffs,” Robinson said. “I’m not going to look at the playoff picture until after Sunday. Then it gets down to those terms of one. Twos are confusing for me. The ones I can handle.”
Bell’s swell: After 14 games, 1,058 rushing yards, 20 receptions and 16 touchdowns, Robinson finally admitted on Tuesday that Greg Bell has meant a lot to the Rams’ offense.
It wasn’t exactly a canonization.
“It’s important for all of us to accept Greg Bell for what he’s done,” Robinson said. “He’s over 1,000 yards rushing and is within a 10th of a yard (average per carry) as Herschel Walker and Eric Dickerson. . . . He deserves a legitimate amount of praise.”
Here’s how those average-per-carry numbers stack up among the National Football League’s top rushers: Roger Craig leads the way at 4.9, followed by Walker and Neal Anderson at 4.4, Dickerson and Bell at 4.3 and John Stephens at 3.8.
Ram Notes
Henry Ellard and Greg Bell came out of the game with thigh and chest bruises, respectively, but both are expected to play Sunday against Atlanta. . . . Linebacker Mark Jerue, who has missed the last 2 games with a tender knee, is still listed as questionable. Jim Collins has filled in at his spot. “Collins is starting to look like his old self at times,” John Robinson said.
Robinson said that he will probably stick with his new 4-man pass rush team of Brett Faryniarz, Kevin Greene, Gary Jeter and Fred Strickland. Strickland, the rookie from Purdue, is a natural linebacker who has also been used at defensive tackle this year. “He has a chance to become a big-time player,” Robinson said. “He has to check in with us every week to see what he is.” . . . As of Tuesday morning, more than 20,000 tickets remained for Sunday’s game.
