Rams News

Vermeil avoided air battle with Broncos
08/09 11:00 PM

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch

MACOMB, Ill. -- Total offense: 193 yards. Yards passing: 99. Third-down conversions: three for 10.
``It would be so easy for me to be so upset with the offense,'' Dick Vermeil said.
But he won't do it. He's taking a deep breath, looking for better things this week against San Diego, and counting to 10. Actually, he's counting to eight -- as in the eight-man front played by Denver's defense in much of Saturday's 20-13 preseason loss by the Rams.
By putting an extra man -- a strong safety -- near the line of scrimmage to stop the run, the Broncos all but dared the Rams to pass the football. But this being the preseason, Vermeil didn't want to engage in a throw-a-thon with the Broncos. He wants to work on running the ball, even if it might be more prudent strategically to throw.
Remember the Governor's Cup game with Kansas City in 1996? The Chiefs lined up in an eight-man front as well and stuffed the Rams' ground game early. Coach Rich Brooks junked the run and started winging it. The Rams posted a 34-30 triumph, but it was a hollow victory because one of Brooks' stated goals entering that preseason was to work on the running game.
On Saturday in the Trans World Dome, the Rams had 7 yards rushing on five carries by early in the second quarter. But Vermeil kept handing the ball off -- at least when the Rams had the ball -- and got some results from Greg Hill, then June Henley late in the game.
``I didn't want to get into a situation where you throw 60 or 70 percent of the time, because we want to try to run the football,'' Vermeil said.
The Rams didn't have the ball that much -- 45 plays to Denver's 72. But they still managed 94 yards on the ground at a healthy 4.9 yards a clip. Hill carried seven times for 56 yards and a touchdown. Henley recovered from a slow start with a 19-yard run on the last play of the third quarter, before Raymond Priester took over in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Vermeil conservatively said that Hill would be ``competitive'' for a spot on the final 53-man roster. He was considerably more gung-ho early Sunday evening after reviewing game film.
When asked if Hill would be ``competitive'' for a starting spot in the backfield, Vermeil said, ``Damn right he is. I go on what I see. Nothing has any bearing on my evaluation other than how a guy plays. Not his contract. Not the bonus. Nothing. It's `does he play well?'''
Hill played pretty well. Well enough that he may pass Jerald Moore and Robert Holcombe on the depth chart if they continue to be sidelined with injuries.
As for the passing game, Vermeil didn't toss nearly as many bouquets. Even though the Rams didn't emphasize the passing game, they didn't make the most of their opportunities, either.
Tony Banks (to Ernie Conwell) and Will Furrer (to Malcolm Floyd) misfired on passes that might have resulted in touchdowns. The three Rams quarterbacks -- Banks, Furrer and Kurt Warner -- completed 16 of 24 passes, but they averaged only 7 yards a completion.
``Obviously, the first-team offense didn't play as well as we would have liked,'' Banks said. ``But that's what the preseason's for, to get the bugs out. Hopefully, we'll be better prepared for San Diego. Denver does a few things that are different from other teams (like the eight-man front), and we don't really game-plan for preseason games.''
Banks misfired on two passes to Conwell, and his timing was off on an ``out'' route to Isaac Bruce. And late in the first half, when the Rams had a chance to make something happen in their two-minute offense, Banks threw an ill-advised interception right into Denver's coverage.
``If I make the throw I'm capable of, just dropping it over that corner's head, Amp (Lee) is running down the sideline for a good gain,'' Banks said. ``But it didn't happen, and I was a little bitter to finish off the half like that.''
With three Denver defenders in the vicinity, Vermeil said there was only one thing for Banks to do on that play. ``He should have run the football,'' Vermeil said. ``Especially a guy with his skill.''
If anything, the Denver game underscored the fact that the Rams will go only as far as Banks takes them. When asked if he was concerned with Banks' early play in the Indianapolis scrimmage and Denver game, Vermeil said, ``I'm no more concerned about Tony after the game than I was before the game. My concern is how fast we can bring him along to be a playoff-caliber quarterback. But when we have people open on big plays (Conwell) -- if you're going to win big games, you've got to hit them.''
(Some information was provided by Elizabethe Holland of the Post-Dispatch staff.)

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