The Day After : Everett Makes Rams’ Loss Easier to Bear . . . Almost

Oh, Ram Coach John Robinson was mad, all right. He even said so, again and again until you almost believed him.

“I’m just so (angry) that we lost,” he said. “This club should say, ‘Dammit, no mas .’ ”

Yes, it should. Problem was, the Rams were too busy gawking at rookie quarterback Jim Everett, who, despite what anyone says, must have made their last-second loss to the New England Patriots Sunday a little easier to handle. After all, three touchdown passes . . . 12 completions in 19 attempts for 193 yards . . . no interceptions--and all of this in three quarters. Hard to hold a grudge with that in your pocket.

Even Steve Dils, replaced in favor of Everett Sunday and most likely for the remainder of the season, found little not to like.

“The kid played well,” he said. “The only surprise is how well he played.”

In less than an afternoon’s time, the Rams discovered that they had more than a quarterback with all his knee ligaments. They found themselves with something new and decidedly different: options.

Suddenly the Rams are talking about a diversified offense, one that doesn’t consider the pass an afterthought. They’ve done this before, of course. Remember Dieter Brock? Steve Bartkowski? This time the Rams sound serious.

“Everybody knows we were struggling offensively,” Dils said. “(Sunday) we made strides to become a complete offense.”

Or as Robinson said Monday: “We’ve been rowing across this (bleeping) lake and now we’ve finally got an outboard motor. You knew you would get there eventually with oars, but the blisters hurt.”

Oars discarded, Robinson said he expects to ease the Rams’ strict reliance on the run. He now has the luxury, he said, of ending the “tension” that accompanies a true run-oriented offense.

“I have a sense of a monkey off our back a little bit,” he said. “I think our whole team does. Whether we’re successful or not, I think we’ve tried to play the hand out the best way we can.

“I think we’ve been playing it close to the the vest. I think when you play it close to the vest there’s tension in that for a team.”

This is where Everett comes in. If all goes well, the Rams become less predictable. Teams no longer will do what the Chicago Bears tried in the National Football Conference championship game last year, that is, bunch defenders on the line of scrimmage daring the Rams to pass.

“I think people will be focused on more things (other than Eric Dickerson) as we go along,” Robinson said.

Everett, the outboard motor, becomes one of the other things.

Despite some late public hedging, Robinson said he decided after the Nov. 3 game against the Chicago Bears that Everett would play Sunday against the Patriots.

“I think it would have been ludicrous to have him open in Chicago and wrong to have him open in New Orleans,” he said.

So Robinson chose Anaheim and the Patriots.

Midway through his weekly press conference, Robinson was asked if Ram owner Georgia Frontiere had inquired about Everett.

“Sure,” Robinson said. “(She said) ‘Listen, you idiot, when are you playing this guy?’

“No, really, she’s great. She is a true fan. I put him in at the right time. (If I hadn’t) I might have been sitting in the stands next year yelling, ‘Ever-ett, Ever-ett.’ ”

Sense a change in mood? It got that way as Robinson talked about his newest toy. At one point, Robinson recalled a conversation with a Ram assistant shortly before the second half of Sunday’s game. By then, Everett had thrown two touchdown passes.

“Do you think these people would be angry if I started Dils in the second half?” he asked, smiling.

Told the story, Dils, too, laughed. “That would not have been an easy situation if they would have put me back in,” he said.

Rams Notes

Tight end Tony Hunter, who has missed four games with a shin injury, is expected to return this week against the New Orlean Saints. “I should have put him on IR (injured reserve) and used somebody else,” Coach John Robinson said. “But that’s hindsight.” Safety Tim Fox, who is nursing a pulled quadricep muscle, will miss Sunday’s game. Dennis Harrah (knee), Gary Jeter (leg) and Henry Ellard (thigh) most likely will play. . . . Robinson’s prediction on the National Football Conference West race: “We have to win four out of the remaining five, probably. I think the game with San Francisco will probably decide the division championship.” . . . After reviewing the films of Sunday’s final play, in which Irving Fryar caught Tony Eason’s desperation pass for a touchdown, Robinson said: “The ball would have come to (safety) Nolan (Cromwell).” But Cromwell was knocked to the ground at the end of the play. . . . The Dec. 7 game against the Dallas Cowboys at Anaheim Stadium is sold out. The Dec. 14 game against the Miami Dolphins is close to a sellout. Meanwhile, about 19,000 tickets remain available for Sunday’s game against the Saints. . . . Steve Dils on becoming a backup again: “It’s not like I’m dead or I’m dropping off the face of the earth. I’m still around. I felt like I played well when I was in there. I had fun.” . . . Eric Dickerson rushed for 102 yards Sunday. It marked the first time this season that the Rams have lost when Dickerson has gained more than 100 yards. Dickerson already has surpassed last year’s rushing total but hasn’t scored a touchdown in four weeks.