Rams News
|
|
Rams News |
|
This is Gordon Forbes' most recent column, originally appearing
Tuesday, September 15
ST. LOUIS - Every defeat in the Sunday arena hurts, but this one left Dick Vermeil with that dazed look that follows a highway collision.
Vermeil's St. Louis Rams lost a 38-31 heartbreaker to explosive Minnesota. They came within the length of Vermeil's coaching shoe of sending the game into overtime.
Vermeil was so drained by the loss that he was unsure whether the Rams could have gotten a first down on Banks' scramble to the goal line. They could have. But they probably couldn't have squeezed in a last-second timeout anyway. Yet, none of them bothered to jump up and call timeout, the lapse of a young team that leads the league in long hours and frustrating results.
After two consecutive losses, Vermeil is hearing it from media types
who compare working conditions at Ram Park to the overseas sneaker
factories. Some reporters talked about a Rams revolt, or even a mutiny.
''It hurts me more for these guys,'' Vermeil says. ''They work their butts
off. And there is always a little bitching, just like in Philadelphia.
''But they're my guys. The only way I can make them better is to coach them on the field. I can't make them better in meetings.''
Vermeil, who grew up as a teen-age grease mechanic in his father's garage in Calistoga, Calif., says he knows no other way. ''My philosophy is that you've got to build a football team by working,'' he says. ''I don't have time to buy one. Every place I've been, I've worked players.''
If the Rams were truly leg-weary from those 2-hour, 40-minute workouts known as Vermeilathons, the Vikings never knew it. The Vikings gained only 30% of their total yards (127), less than 30% of their passing yards (63) and gave up all three Rams sacks after halftime.
''A lot of guys are getting better,'' Vermeil says. ''I see this team growing week by week. By the middle of the season, this team might be a pretty good football team.''
Whatever the Rams' future, Vermeil insists he won't burn himself out as he did with the Eagles. After the Rams loss, he and Carol Vermeil relaxed by grilling hamburgers and sipping Napa Valley wine.
''I think I have things in order,'' Vermeil says. ''I think I'm more mature at this now. I know I've got to control my emotions and my intensity.''
The young Rams will test Vermeil's maturity in the coming weeks. The Rams offense will have an uncertain quality about it until quarterback Tony Banks starts making better reads, Eddie Kennison stops dropping balls and Vermeil settles on a featured back.
The defense, built around high draft picks, needs better secondary play. The unit has young playmakers who need to play (Grant Wistrom, Lorenzo Styles, Jay Williams).
Vermeil's future, however, depends on Banks. Coaches and quarterbacks have forever been linked, one rising with the other (Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr; Bill Parcells and Phil Simms), or bringing the other down (Chuck Knox and Dan McGwire; June Jones and Jeff George).
Vermeil continually raves about Banks, even after a four-interception game. ''I think Tony Banks is going to be a fine quarterback,'' Vermeil says. ''He was thrown in there long before he should have been as a rookie.''
What the Rams really need is stability from Banks. If he goes down, he will take his No. 1 supporter with him.
ARCHIVE |
HOME |