Rams Hope They Can Clear Away the Boos

Now that we’ve seen the numbers, we can better appreciate Todd Lyght’s 30-day holdout.

We’re not talking about $5.55 million for five years.

We’re talking Seattle 23, Rams 7.

Imagine the phone call that gave Lyght the official word late Thursday night:

Agent Bob Woolf: “Todd, the Rams have agreed to our terms.”

Lyght: “Oh my God, what do we do now?”

So far, the Rams are having the kind of preseason that bankrupts pet shops--two dogs in three weeks--to say nothing of new-and-improved public relations campaigns. Against Atlanta, they fumbled eight times and allowed 38 points. Against Seattle, they threw three interceptions and managed no points for 55 minutes.

So they beat the Chargers.

So could San Diego State.

Of course, what does exhibition football mean anyway? It’s just a way to fill the time until the holdouts come to camp, just a way to pad the season-ticket package to an even $300.

It’s nothing to take very seriously.

And who are the Rams to break with the consensus?

The best thing about Saturday night’s game, Ram Coach John Robinson aptly noted, was that “it was fast. It was over quick.” Any other highlights? “We played without a lot of emotion,” Robinson said, “(although) our defense was better than our offense in that area.”

It was still a 6-0 game until Seattle’s final play of the first half, when Seahawk quarterback Dave Krieg sent wide receiver Louis (And) Clark on an expedition down the left sideline. It was second and 15 from the Ram 31 with 12 seconds left, with the Rams blitzing, the kind of thing defensive coordinators experiment with in the preseason.

In charged strong safety Pat Terrell, leaving cornerback Darryl Henley on his own with Clark. It was a bad time to be alone. Clark beat Henley to the goal line and then to the football, landing in the back of the end zone with a 13-0 Seattle lead.

Poor Henley. First they draft Lyght to take his position, then they pay Lyght $5.55 million to take his position, then his position makes the 11 o’clock news back in Seattle.

Sure, the Rams need Lyght, but Henley didn’t need the extra visual aid.

Krieg gave way to rookie Dan McGwire in the second half and McGwire, big, unpolished and untested, dueled Jim Everett and Chuck Long to a 7-7 standoff. It took awhile for McGwire to get going--after two possessions, his numbers sounded like a typical day at the park for brother Mark: 0-for-3--but he hit his next six passes, driving Seattle to a fourth-quarter touchdown and a 23-0 lead.

By then, the only thing in midseason form for the Rams were their fans.

They booed.

They booed after Everett’s first interception, a badly overthrown pass ostensibly intended for Aaron Cox.

They booed after Everett’s second interception, a badly underthrown pass intended for Flipper Anderson.

They booed after the Rams’ third interception, this one delivered by Long. That’s depth the Rams have at the quarterback position.

Both passers were most accurate in their postgame analyses.

Everett: “I would call it an embarrassment, as far as how we executed. We moved the ball well but there were times when we seemed to self-destruct. We just weren’t operating on all eight cylinders tonight.”

Long: “We’re professionals, we have to come ready to play. . . . It is simple--you can’t make mistakes and win. When you have three interceptions in one half, you just aren’t going to win.”

And the boos, already high enough and long enough, with 15 days still to go before the season opener?

“They paid good money to come see the game,” Everett said.

The Rams were staring at a shutout until Long hit Stacey Bailey for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 4:50 remaining. It helped cosmetically, but just barely.

“I didn’t really see any outstanding performances,” Robinson said. “I don’t know if I saw anyone on offense who didn’t play poorly.

“We were pretty much a flat group. . . . Those are the kind of things that happen in preseason. We kind of went through the motions offensively.”

They have two weeks left to lose the doldrums. Either that, or resume the losing that had every Ram in 1990 looking ahead to 1991.