A Running Debate on Two Styles : Pro football: Rams’ Everett is a drop-back passer; Eagles’ Cunningham scrambles. Each leads, and wins, in his own way.

Let’s say you just won an NFL expansion franchise in a breakfast cereal sweepstakes and you had a choice between Randall Cunningham and Jim Everett as your quarterback. A hypothetical situation, to be sure, but consider it for a minute, anyway.

At this point in their careers, it doesn’t seem as if you could go wrong with either guy. They are both 27 and considered solid candidates to enter the next century carrying the mantel of “The Quarterback of the ‘90s.”

But what we’re talking about here is a basic philosophical approach to the game. Do you want to build your offense around a scrambler or a pure drop-back passer?

The advantages the running quarterback brings to an offense are obvious. Remember Merlin Olsen’s face after a couple frustrating hours of vainly trailing Fran Tarkenton like some sort of pull-along toy attached by a four-foot string?

Cunningham used his arm and his legs to compile some pretty impressive statistics this season: a 54.5 completion percentage, 3,400 yards passing, 21 touchdown passes, a team-leading 621 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns.

The pure passer’s assets are sometimes more subtle, but a confident, accurate quarterback can render a defense defenseless with rare ventures out of the pocket. Just watch a tape of the 1986 Miami-Ram game in which Dan Marino completed 64% of his passes and threw for five touchdowns.

Everett had his best year in 1989. He stood and delivered, completing 58.7% of his passes for 4,310 yards and 29 touchdowns. He “rushed” 25 times for 31 yards.

Everett doesn’t hesitate to admit he envies Cunningham’s ability to move the football without the help of a receiver.

“Absolutely,” he said. “The way he can dodge out of trouble and make great things happen out of nothing. He’s probably the best running quarterback I’ve ever seen.”

And Cunningham, who gives Everett the nod over Joe Montana as “the best quarterback in the NFL right now,” is quick to point to the Ram quarterback’s accuracy in the clutch as a talent he covets.

“He’s got a great arm, he’s smart and he drops back and delivers it,” Cunningham said. “And when it’s a pressure situation, he comes through. When he has to squeeze a ball in there, he’s able to do it.”

Not surprisingly, offensive coaches feel more comfortable with the control inherent in the drop-back passing game. And defensive coaches like the fear and frustration the scrambler instills in a defense.

“Being a defensive coach all my life,” Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan says, “I know the toughest guy in the world to defend is the guy that can scramble for three or four big first downs a game. That will really kill you.

“That’s the kind of quarterback I wanted, one who can throw the ball and run the ball.”

When Jim Everett came along, John Robinson just wanted a quarterback . . . any quarterback. But this season, Everett’s increasing poise and command has made the Ram coach, a longtime proponent of the running game, a true believer in the aerial attack.

He recently told reporters not to feel too sorry for Everett when the quarterback did not make the Pro Bowl team. “He’ll play in five Pro Bowls before he’s through,” Robinson said.

So, neither team’s defense is all that excited about its task in Sunday’s wild-card game at Philadelphia.

Ram safety Jerry Gray says playing against Cunningham is something like facing Michael Jordan. “You have to try to contain him,” Gray said. “You don’t stop him, you just try to hold him to a certain number of points.”

Said cornerback LeRoy Irvin: “It’s like facing two different offenses, one that the coaches design and one that Randall Cunningham designs.”

Laying down a blanket coverage and then watching helplessly as the quarterback gallops for 25 yards can be most disheartening for a defense. But then being dissected by a guy who throws for 400 yards and a handful of touchdowns isn’t all that fun, either.

Defensive tackle Mike Golic thinks the Philadelphia pass rush must knock down Everett a few times to give him “happy feet.”

Two diametrically opposed styles, each with strengths and weaknesses. Both quarterbacks have proven that they can win football games, their way. The Rams’ and Eagles’ records (both 11-5) are testimony to that.

Make no mistake, Fritz Shurmur is a Jim Everett fan. But he’s also the Ram defensive coordinator who’s staying up late trying to figure out how to stop Cunningham.

His opinion on the comparison between Everett and Cunningham:

“They both have very strong arms. ‘They’re both tall (Cunningham is 6-feet-4, Everett 6-5), which is indeed a help if you’re throwing in the pocket.

“One has exceptional ability to move around and make plays. The other has exceptional ability to hang in the pocket and surgically tear you apart. And, all of those things are associated with good choices--good first choices, second choices and third choices.”

So, up until the time they look at their primary receiver, these guys are very similar. But if receiver No. 1 is not open, Cunningham and Everett are likely to go separate ways. Cunningham will be looking for a spot to run free; Everett will remain in the pocket and search for another receiver.

“With Cunningham, you’re looking at a guy who, when it comes to second and third choices, he’s relying on his feet and athletic ability,” Shurmur said. “One guy’s strengths come out in his overall athletic ability and the other guy’s come out in his overall ability as a quarterback.

“And both of them scare you to death.”

Steve Young knows both sides of this coin. The San Francisco quarterback was such a proficient ballcarrier that he once played running back in the USFL. Later, at Tampa Bay, he ran for his life most of the time.

These days, however, he’s Joe Montana’s understudy in an offense that stresses getting the ball to some of the best receivers in the game and letting them do the damage with their legs.

Young has been trying to curb his instincts to escape the pocket and take off running “unless all else fails.”

He thinks quick feet can be a curse disguised as a blessing.

“There’s a fine line,” he said. “A quarterback who doesn’t wait long enough for everything to develop hurts his team. I mean you work all year long on the timing of your passing game, pass routes, protection. If you’re too quick to run, it takes away from the efficiency of your offense. It can be really detrimental.”

And Young believes the temptation to run for it grows with the do-or-die stress of the playoffs.

“Especially in bigger games, you kind of say to yourself, ‘I always have my legs.’ I think with Cunningham, you’ll see him leave (the pocket) prematurely sometimes. With Jim, he’s more apt to sit and wait and see if he can find someone late.

“If the first route is open, then both are the same. They’re going to drop back and throw. But when things break down, that’s when you’ll see the difference.”

Everett’s route relies on his teammates for success. Cunningham pretty much works solo on the scramble. Young says the Rams’ approach has added advantages.

“If you take a look at the last 10 years, I compare the Rams and Everett to a Marino offense. It’s built on confidence. It’s like, ‘I’ll take a chance and wing it in there because I know we can do it.’

“It’s arm strength, accuracy, and a river-boat gambler approach.”

While the Ram passing game has soared to new heights this year, the Eagles have been grounded. And while the Rams’ Flipper Anderson and Henry Ellard have taken turns starring on highlight shows, Philadelphia’s offense has pulled into a conservative shell because of injuries to Pro Bowl tight end Keith Jackson, five-time Pro Bowl wide out Mike Quick and other key receivers.

In the second game of the season, Cunningham rallied the Eagles, who overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Washington, with a 447-yard passing performance that included five touchdowns, three of which came in the fourth quarter.

But in the last 11 games, he has thrown for 200 or fewer yards eight times.

“Our system changed this season,” Cunningham said. “Instead of going for it, trying to get down to the end zone and throw touchdown passes, we ran a more conservative offense because of the injuries.

“I could’ve been a guy who went out and tried to go for it all the time, but I said, ‘Heck, we’re winning games by running the ball, let’s keep doing it.’ ”

Everett, of course, has engineered more than his share of spectacular comebacks this year, but each man, in his own way, has bred an almost spiritual sense of confidence in his teammates.

“There’s no question about either of their leadership abilities, their abilities to be a catalyst,” Shurmur said. “They both are the dominant factor on the offense.”

Cunningham has been elevated to folk-hero status in Philadelphia and with good reason, according to Robinson.

“Randall Cunningham is the most dominant player, in terms of impact, on their team,” Robinson said. “He defies statistics in some ways because he makes such big plays at certain times.

“He’s their leading passer, rusher and punter. Other than that, I don’t know that he does a whole hell of a lot.”

Cunningham was elated when Ryan handed him the reins of the Eagle offense and said: “It’s your offense. If it doesn’t work, it’s going to be your fault.”

“I enjoy the guys looking up to me like that,” Cunningham said. “Let the pressure be on me. But this year, it’s turned around some. A lot of other people on this team are making big plays. It’s not just me anymore.”

Everett, too, draws strength from the reassuring looks of trust on the faces of his teammates in some of those fourth-quarter huddles.

“We’ve pretty much lived on the edge lately, and I enjoy the pressure,” Everett said. “But trust me, I wish we would have the game in hand earlier. But if we don’t, we feel confident we can take care of business in that situation.”

As an example of the power of the positive, Everett points to Cunningham’s admiration of his ability to “squeeze the ball in.”

“That all comes from confidence between you and the people you’re throwing to,” he said. “If I know I’m going to a guy, I know before he’s out of his break, so the ball’s already gone and it looks like it’s being squeezed in. But it’s just anticipation, which goes back to confidence.”

So, Sunday, two impact players--both exuding confidence--will venture into the impact zone that is the NFL playoffs. Both will be bent on avenging playoff losses of last season. Cunningham will give the Rams a run for their money. Everett will try to throw the Eagles for a loop.

Who is the best bet to come out on top? Will it be fancy footwork or passing fancy?

This must be why rotisserie leagues are so popular.

JIM EVERETT PASSING

Att. Comp. TD Int. Yards 1989 518 304 29 17 4,304 CAREER 1,484 847 78 56 11,350

RUSHING

Carries Yards Average TD 1989 25 31 1.3 1 CAREER 93 264 2.8 3

RANDALL CUNNINGHAM PASSING

Att. Comp. TD Int. Yards 1989 532 290 21 15 3,400 CAREER 1,788 959 77 58 11,933

RUSHING

Carries Yards Average TD 1989 104 621 6.0 4 CAREER 368 2,495 6.8 18