1985 Rams (impressions)

[RamDino]

Check the Rams stats in 1985 they were rated 4th overall and the Bears were first and the Bears only had five more sacks and they gave up the same amount of yards per play. The Ram defense did not lose that came, Bears scored on turnovers because Brock fumbled and threw picks...Overall yes some will contend the best defense of all time, but that Rams defense was right up there and had shut out the Cowboys the week before 20-0! And BTW Brock sucked in that game too.

Den... I know the Rams had a very good defense in 1985. But they were not even close to the Bears! And didn't the Rams get beat 20-0 by the Bears? Also, was that Cowboys playoff game the one where ED ran for like 250 yards? Re Brock... he was horrible. IIRC, he was 38 years old, from Canada, and played like a scared 20 year-old rookie. BTW, I am also in upstate NY.

 

[Ramon Ram]

Totally disagree, Brock could not hit the slant to Ron Brown who would have run for days. Brock was over the hill at that point and kept getting his passes knocked down at the LOS. The Ram defense was just as good as the Bear defense, however, the difference was Jim McMahon was far superior to Brock that day and IMHO Robinson should have put in Jeff Kemp for his ability to run and maybe he could have completed a slant pattern at the very minimum.

Agreed on the slant. Had he hit that pass we would have had some positive momentum on our side and confidence. The Tinglehoff tackle on Ellard on the early punt return breaking his ribs hurt us that day as well. They were great but had we hit the pass to Brown and Ellard not been hurt, different game IMO maybe same final outcome but different game..

 

[den-the-coach]

Brock may have been a problem, but in no way was Kemp the answer. He was shown the door after 85 as well

Rams scored 0 points with Brock, they could have scored 0 points without him!

 

[Selassie I]

I had high hopes for Kemp.

Didn't pan out.

Then he went and played for the fucking whiners.

And then the shecocks... but they were the AFC shecocks then. I still think of them like they are an AFC team that doesn't deserve to be in the NFC Best.

Kemp can suck it.

 

[dieterbrock]

Rams scored 0 points with Brock, they could have scored 0 points without him!

Same amount of points that Phil Simms was able to generate for the G-Men!

 

[den-the-coach]

Same amount of points that Phil Simms was able to generate for the G-Men!

Excellent point, but the Giants did not have Eric Dickerson. Seriously taking nothing away of your name sake so to post, but in that game, I really believe they should have tried a more mobile Kemp. Granted Kemp had his issues, but he went on to have a couple of productive seasons with the 49ers after leaving the Rams. Brock played horrendously in both post season games and the Cowboys had one of the worst defenses that year.

Brock did have some very good games in 85, but he was exposed in post season and I just feel strongly, if they had gone to Kemp, it would have not changed the outcome, but it could not have been much worse....I'm just glad the Rams traded for Jim Everett in 86 because watching Steve Dils and Steve Bartkowski was not good either.

 

[dieterbrock]

.I'm just glad the Rams traded for Jim Everett in 86 because watching Steve Dils and Steve Bartkowski was not good either.

Steve Dils is the worst QB I've ever seen play for the Rams. Including Kemp, who by the way only was with San Fran for 1 season and got replaced after starting 6 games.
Ok, in all fairness he got replaced by Steve Young...
I was in Philly a week after the Rams traded for Everett watching Dils have the best game of his career, coming in to the game down 34-0.... Ugh

 

[DaveFan'51]

Brock did have some very good games in 85,

Yep! The Rams went 11-5!!

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Wasn't Brock 7-0 at the beginning of the season.

Yep, we went 7-0 to start the season, ending 11-5. The Rams were great that season, but the Bears were a juggernaut with a revolutionary defense.

That was also the era we had to deal with the idiotic "Los Angeles Raiders." Lost our final game to them.

 

[den-the-coach]

I was in Philly a week after the Rams traded for Everett watching Dils have the best game of his career, coming in to the game down 34-0.... Ugh

I was in Cincinnati watching the Rams play the Bengals right after the Rams acquired Dils to backup Jeff Kemp in late September back in 84 and I always found it amusing that the back of his jersey seemed to read "Oils" and not "Dils" I guess the lower case 'i' made his D look like an O as I digress.

 

[dieterbrock]

I was in Cincinnati watching the Rams play the Bengals right after the Rams acquired Dils to backup Jeff Kemp in late September back in 84 and I always found it amusing that the back of his jersey seemed to read "Oils" and not "Dils" I guess the lower case 'i' made his D look like an O as I digress.

I remember a Monday night football game against the Bears, Dils filled in for an injured Everett. He was like 4 for 40 in the game but like the sun shines on a dogs azz some times, he hit Ron Brown on a long TD pass on one of the completions

 

[Classic Rams]

Interesting thread.

Some notes:

I first started recording games off of my TV in 1985. That Rams vs Vikings goal line stand game was my 1st. I tried to record the MNF game vs Seattle before that. I had to fly out with my family for a cousin family reunion, and when I got back to check it the tape was all static. 10 years later I got the game on VHS and more recently off youtube.

We didn't get all the Ram games in my area, so I missed about half of them. I was trading games in the 90s and got 3-4 that I missed from the season.

I recorded over losses. That damn 9er game at home was brutal, not worth keeping. But the Raider MNF game I should've kept. I recorded over some, but was able to save a little, including a bizarre Special Teams fight where Charles White kicked a Raider between the legs on the sideline right in front of the camera and the infamous "givin' him the business" ref Ben Dreith, and got kicked out. Drieith had some choice words on the mic , but not like the call he's more known for. I uploaded that part to youtube years ago but they later blocked it. I hated that the Rams lost to a damn Marc WIlson-led team though, and also hated that Marcus outrushed Dickerson.

Another non-keeper was that damn Saints game in NO. I was so pissed watching it. No way did I want any part of that game after that lousy performance. And that damn owner with his dumb Benson boogie... hated that guy.

That MNF game vs the 9ers though was glorious. Too bad my reception was snowy, we couldn't get cable where we lived until a few years later. My favorite game from that year, I haven't seen a sharp copy of that game anywhere.

Brock, I was okay with him. Never liked Kemp, he was a total stiff. Robinson didn't let him throw too much because he sucked. Dieter was exposed vs the Bears, but I really doubt Kemp would be much better. Brock had some pretty good games in the reg season though. But Kemp was a waste of a roster space. The next year the Rams got Dils, who was worse, but at least he beat the Bears on MNF.

I have a bunch of 1st gen Rams VHS tapes, but my vhs and dvd recorder are long gone, so I need to get them to mp4s somehow. I'll need to either find some cheap equip or have someone do it for free and let them keep everything just give me the mp4s.

Sorry for the long winded post, just have a lot of memories from that year. 1985 was one of my favorites, and I loved seeing the Rams dethrone the 9ers for the West title.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Those Linebackers were MONEY one of our greatest groups ever IMO. The Secondary was solid too...real solid

 

[SteveBrown]

I had heard that Dieter hurt his shoulder...and that is why the Dallas game was so bad....probably just a rumor.
To say he wasn't tough...hmmm I think he was. He never ran out of fear in the pocket....he slid....well, I only watched the first 9 games in the last 2 weeks, not the last 9, so maybe I am wrong.

Also, Brock, though 34 years old, was a rookie....so, I wonder if any QB could come in and play that well with just 1 training camp in a vanilla offense. A lot of sacks he took were his fault...he hung in there 4-5 seconds...too long. The Rams offense was not coordinated that year....great O line really didn't look so great in many games.
Dickerson didn't look good until Week 9 against the Saints (not counting wk 3 against Seattle), and then he hurt himself in that game....so, he was never healthy after missing training camp.

 

[SteveBrown]

Interesting thread.

Some notes:
That MNF game vs the 9ers though was glorious. Too bad my reception was snowy, we couldn't get cable where we lived until a few years later. My favorite game from that year, I haven't seen a sharp copy of that game anywhere.
.

Classic rams....check your 'conversations'...I sent a note to you regarding send you games.

 

[fearsomefour]

Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, Talkink about the '85 Rams. This was their Starting Line-Up:
SKILL POSITIONS;
** QB- Dieter Brock
** RB- Eic Dickerson
** WR- Ron Brown
** WR- Henry Ellard
** TE- David Hill
** TE- Tony Hunter

O-LINE:
** LT- Irv Panky
** LG- Kent Hill
** C- Doug Smith
** RG- Dennis Harrah
** RT- Jackie Slater

In 1985 the Rams Ran a 3-4 "D":
** LDE- Doug Reed
** NT- Charles DeJurnett
** RDE- Reggie Doss

** LOLB- Mel Owens
** LILB- Carl Ekern
** RILB- Jim Collins
** ROLB- Mike Wilcher

SECONDARY:
** LCB- Gary Green
** RCB- Leroy Irvin
** SS- Nolan Cromwell
** FS- Johnny Johnson

Special Teams:
** K- Mike Lansford
** P- Dale Hatcher

I just thought it would be helpful to remember who ALL the starter's where in 1985!!


Edit: A funny thing about this roster is that it was the Rams 1st year without "Jack Youngblood" Another reason we didn't just DESTROY Da Bears!!

Dat O line doh....
That O looks pretty loaded with one exception.....Dieter on football.

 

[SierraRam]

Dat O line doh....
That O looks pretty loaded with one exception.....Dieter on football.

Exactly - we were strong everywhere except QB. We struggled with the same issue through most of the 70's.

Vince Ferragamo broke his hand during game 3 in 1984 and never played well again. He should have been the leader of that '85 squad... I know Deiter did his best, but Vince was legit - just ask Lott

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

Totally disagree, Brock could not hit the slant to Ron Brown who would have run for days. Brock was over the hill at that point and kept getting his passes knocked down at the LOS. The Ram defense was just as good as the Bear defense, however, the difference was Jim McMahon was far superior to Brock that day and IMHO Robinson should have put in Jeff Kemp for his ability to run and maybe he could have completed a slant pattern at the very minimum.

Ah yes, that freaking missed slant, caught a great D with their pants down and just couldn't execute a simple 8 yard pass...

 

[Ramlock]

This Brock hatred has me drinking early

In your case, I don't blame you