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JIM EVERETT: Yes sir....The Giant Playoff game was certainly a game to remember. Before I go into any stories...let's give those that were there a bit of flavor on what allowed us to be qualify for that playoff road game.
Here's a good review: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loa_Angeles_Rams_season
We started off our 1989 campaign with 5 straight wins. Then went for four losses in a row. We got back on the winning trail with four in-a-row again!
Can any one say streaky? LOL
Then the 49ers got us at home....in a game that REALLY got away from us (why? we are up 17-0, and going in to score on the one yard line to be 24-0 then we our fumble the snap...ulghhhh. Then right afterwards they went 99 yards for a TD (Taylor goes for 92 yards of it on a silly slant pass!! But then...we fumble again on the kickoff return...so we were going to be up by 24...the next time I touched the ball, we had a 7 point lead. Folks...on our league...that's a big difference! In the end...The 49ers scored 20 in the 4th quarter to beat us 30-27. On a side note...The doubt at the end of this game...would come back to haunt us later when we faced them in the championship game.
Anyways...We put ourselves in a position to MUST WIN our last two game in order to qualify for the payoffs (needed to be 11-5) . New York Jets at home was a rather easy one for us...but going to New England for the last game of the season was extremely tough. Thus our playoff run started on Dec 11th...not Dec 25th!
So to qualify as a wild-card, we knew we would be on the road for our last 5 games (last regular season in NE, then 3 playoff game, then #5 would be the Super-Bowl).
Winning 5 road games is extremely rare...but what about the 2010 Green Bay Packers??!!...who won their last 4 road games...and also their last two home regular season games (against Giants & Bears) to qualify as a wild card team....then went on to win the SB. Now that is special!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to 89....Our wild card game was at Philadelphia, and we were huge underdogs going into the game against Reggie White, Eric Allen, Jerome Brown & Company. Also, our defense was very banged up at that point and Fritz Shurmur came up with...a never used before...2 down lineman, 5 linebacker scheme because our interior D Lineman were out and injured.
Before the Philly game we had to hear and answer questions about "west coast team can't go east and win in the winter" what are you going to do if the weather is bad...blah, blah, blah. . Well. we went to NE on the last game of the season and got a tough win in tough weather...so by the time we went to Philly (with all our cold weather gear and hot coco) we absolutely stunned the Eagles when we came out and threw 14 points on the board in the first quarter. Their Defense was reeling and our Defense kept Randell Cunningham from doing his "Hey, I am going to pass....no I am just a runner gig!" angry smiley( This was ONE OF THE BEST wins ever that gets overlooked...and BY FAR the best job coaching especially on our Defensive side...because we had so many injuries...but we held the Eagles to one score.
This was a very good win for us and as a team...we became closer, as we were traveling more...we didn't care where we played...we believed.
Then it was Giants week. Sure....earlier in the year we beat the Giants by a large margin, but they didn't have their key players in the lineup due to injury, So we did not take anything for granted and...again...we kept hearing everyone back east saying we can't go into the cold and win. So what did we do?...Our D prepared for a low scoring game for we ALL knew playing against LT, it would be difficult to score over 30 again. We also prepared for having two men (lineman and Back...or Lineman and TE) over LT at all time...if LT moved to one side...we'd start the cadence...and then move the TE over to him and change the play...that is how good he was! An entire game based around where one man lined up. Incredible!! The only other two individual we ever played against that commanded 80% of that attention was...Reggie White and Bruce Smith.
Back to our Giant tale...LOL...Did you know that Bill Belichick was the Giants Defensive coordinator in 1989? Really, it's so fun to watch him...still to this day...as with all of us...there are a few tendencies that repeat....and those tendencies were sniffed out by Ernie Zampese. Let me explain. Bill is a cover 2 zone guy at heart. Bill loves to keep his corners up...so they can be physical and then let the safeties cover over the top. Why? This is a bend-but-don't-break strategy (NOT Buddy Ryan...Oh I mean... Jeff Fisher's philosophy I'm Sorry smiley...but over time...Bill has move more towards Fisher's strategies than most realize) and helps eliminate those big plays that we are accustom to seeing from New England's offense with Tom Brady. That's why Tom is so in-tune with the game. He's getting not only excellent offensive strategy, but he has Bill letting him know where the weaknesses need to be attacked. It's on the best relationships to watch. Oh...got off track...back to the old days. LOL
Here's the ending...
Getting the interference call...was a blessing. yet we were at the 30 or so and we went with a run but received a penalty that moved us back to the 35. Why is the 35 a key area? We'll it's a 52 yard kick from there and we Rams...had the wind at our back. Mike Landsford is very capable of hitting 50 yarders...so if the Giants could just move us back 5 to 7 yards (like as in a sack) then they could rest easy that they would get the ball back in OT. Well, that means blitz for Bilechick...yet his corners are built to be zone guys. Advantage...Rams.
Just as predicted by Ernie...Giants blitz...and Flipper is STILL RUNNING!
Afterwards we celebrated and felt on top of the world at that time. I don't recall the flight home...it all went too fast...and that's how life should be. Enjoy ALL the moments life offers us. Many of the opportunities...we'll jump on, some we'll miss...but damn ain't it fun finding opportunities?
