To Live And Die In LA (Rams 1994-)

[Manning2Harrison]

Wild Card Round
Chiefs 27, Steelers 24 (OT)
Packers 28, Lions 24
Giants 17, Vikings 10
Raiders 42, Broncos 24

Divisional Round
Bills 29, Raiders 23
49ers 44, Giants 3
Cowboys 27, Packers 17
Chiefs 28, Oilers 20

Conference Championships
Bills 30, Chiefs 13
Cowboys 38, 49ers 21

Super Bowl XXVIII
Cowboys 30, Bills 13

(Many thanks to iteachpercussion, whose 1994 roster made this franchise possible)


The year is 1994, and the NFL has just undergone the most radical change in its storied history, expanding from 28 to 32 teams and realigning from 6 to 8 divisions. Two abandoned cities have received replacement teams for ones that relocated, while two new cities have come into the NFL fold. The Ravens bring football back to Baltimore for the first time in a decade, while the St. Louis Steamers bring pro football to the Gateway City for the first time since 1987. The new entries are the Jacksonville Jaguars and Charlotte’s Carolina Panthers.

The Los Angeles Rams are coming off a 5-11 1993 season and are entering the third year of the second stint of Chuck Knox as the team’s head coach. Knox also coached the Rams from 1973-77, and never won fewer than 10 games in any of those five seasons, reaching the NFC title game three years in a row (‘74-’76) but never getting to the Super Bowl. Knox has been far less successful thus far, with a two year record of 11-21. In the interim, Knox coached in Seattle and Buffalo, making four postseason appearances with the Seahawks in 9 years, and two with the Bills in 5 years. Also in 1994:

-Future Hall-of-Famer Kurt Warner was signed as an undrafted rookie by the Green Bay Packers.

-Marshall Faulk was the second overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft.

-This will be the final year in Los Angeles for the Raiders, who will end their 12 year hiatus from Oakland.

-At the University of Tennessee, senior quarterback Jerry Colquitt got his first career start but suffered a season-ending injury in the game’s first series. He was replaced by future Colorado Rockies slugger Todd Helton. When Helton was also felled by an injury, a QB battle was initiated between blue-chip freshmen Branndon Stewart and Peyton Manning. Manning would start all of Tennessee’s remaining games, but he did not have unanimous support in Big Orange Country.

-Forrest Gump was tops at the box office, followed by The Lion King.

-LTJG Mudcat graduated from EOD school.

Memory Lane:

[Manning2Harrison]

Team summaries will be posted following the preseason.

[Manning2Harrison]

YEARLY SUMMARIES

[Manning2Harrison]

AWARD WINNERS AND PRO-BOWLERS

[Manning2Harrison]

FIRST ROUND PICKS 1995-

[Manning2Harrison]

Rams’ O is a “0“ in Preseason Opener

Due to the nature of the preseason, any number of outcomes are possible in its games. Had the Los Angeles Rams (5-11 in 1993) defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys in their exhibition opener, not many eyebrows would have been raised. It is, after all, “only preseason”. But what the Rams did, or rather did not do, may still be cause for concern. Even their scrubs could not score a point against the Dallas scrubs. Were it not for a safety recorded on a shared first quarter sack of Troy Aikman by Shane Conlin and Fred Stokes, LA would have been shut out. Although Jerome Bettis and David Lang ran the ball well, LA’s quarterbacks could not sustain drives, although newcomer Tommy Maddox got the Rams close late in the game. Maddox-led drives ended with a turnover on downs at the Dallas 3 with 5:50 to go and an INT by Clayton Holmes at the Cowboy 19 with 1:57 to play. Adding to the fruitlessness, Tony Zendejas missed a 42 yard field goal attempt in the second quarter.

Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams
1994 Preseason Week	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Dallas Cowboys (1-0)	0	7	7	0	14
Los Angeles Rams (0-1)	2	0	0	0	2

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		DAL	LAR
6:28	(LAR) Safety	0	2
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		DAL	LAR
4:56	(DAL) Michael Irvin 10 pass from Rodney Peete (C. Boniol kick)	7	2
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		DAL	LAR
3:24	(DAL) Scott Galbreath 5 pass from Rodney Peete (C. Boniol kick)	14	2

Dallas Cowboys PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Rodney Peete (79.5) 16/29 159 2 1 Troy Aikman 1/4 11 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Tommy Agee 23 105 4.5 0 Emmitt Smith 6 34 5.6 0 Rodney Peete 2 8 4.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Michael Irvin 6 85 14.1 1 Scott Galbraith 5 40 8.1 0 Cory Fleming 2 15 7.5 0 Alvin Harper 1 7 7.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Clayton Holmes 6 1 1 0 Kenneth Gant 5 0 0 0 Russell Maryland 5 1 0 0 Robert Jones 4 1 0 0 Hurvin McCormack 4 1 0 0 Jim Jeffcoat 2 1 0 0

Los Angeles Rams PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Tommy Maddox (47.5) 14/28 125 0 1 Chris Miller (102.3) 7/9 77 0 0 Chris Chandler (75.3) 5/7 23 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Jerome Bettis 7 34 4.8 0 David Lang 5 21 4.2 0 Johnny Bailey 7 15 2.1 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Isaac Bruce (R) 7 92 13.1 0 Johnny Bailey 6 24 4.0 0 Jerome Bettis 2 22 11.0 0 Ron Middleton 2 22 11.0 0 David Lang 3 18 6.0 0 Jessie Hester 1 17 17.0 0 Flipper Anderson 1 12 12.0 0 Todd Kinchen 1 9 9.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brett Collins 8 0 0 0 Thomas Homco 8 0 0 0 Shane Conlan 6 0.5 0 0 Steve Israel 6 0 1 0 Wymon Henderson 6 0 0 0 David Rocker 4 1 0 0 Fred Stokes 4 0.5 0 0

[Manning2Harrison]

Rams Lose Rookie Toby Wright For Season

The diagnosis is in on rookie safety Toby Wright and it is not good. Wright, a compensatory second round selection out of Nebraska, suffered a torn rotator cuff in second half action vs. the Cowboys and will require season-ending surgery. Also injured in the 14-2 loss was backup left tackle Darryl Ashmore, with a torn abdominal. Ashmore will be out for the remainder of the preseason and may be inactive on opening day as well. To fill Wright's roster spot, the Rams have signed rookie DB Filmel Johnson.

[Manning2Harrison]

Crosstown Victory

After failing to produce any points through the first five quarters of exhibition play, the Los Angeles Rams’ offense finally got on track to score 10 second quarter points against their crosstown rivals, the LA Raiders, giving the Rams a 3 point halftime lead. Chris Miller’s 27 yard touchdown pass to running back David Lang extended the lead to 17-7, but the Rams blew that 10 point lead. Jeff Jaeger’s tying field goal came with 11:09 left in the game and came after a goal line stand in the wake of a 49 yard run by Calvin Jones for first and goal. But in the following series, the first for third string QB Tommy Maddox, the Rams drove to a go-ahead score that held up. While there is no clear leader in the QB battle between Miller and Chris Chandler, Maddox bested them both by completing all 7 of his attempts and throwing the game-winning touchdown.

Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Raiders
1994 Preseason Week 2	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Los Angeles Rams (1-1)	0	10	7	7	24
Los Angeles Raiders (1-1)	7	0	7	3	17

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		LAR	LA
10:02	(LA) Harvey Williams 9 run (J. Jaeger kick)	0	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		LAR	LA
5:10	(LAR) Tony Zendejas 45 FG	3	7
1:19	(LAR) Jerome Bettis 13 run (T. Zendejas kick)	10	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		LAR	LA
11:28	(LAR) David Lang 27 pass from Chris Miller (T. Zendejas kick)	17	7
4:14	(LA) James Jett 24 pass from Vince Evans (J. Jaeger kick)	17	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		LAR	LA
11:09	(LA) Jeff Jaeger 19 FG	17	17
6:32	(LAR) Troy Drayton 14 pass from Tommy Maddox (T. Zendejas kick)	24	17

Los Angeles Rams PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Chris Chandler (49.0) 10/20 125 0 1 Chris Miller (69.6) 8/14 87 1 1 Tommy Maddox (150.3) 7/7 74 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Jerome Bettis 9 61 6.7 1 David Lang 9 30 3.3 0 Chris Miller 2 21 10.5 0 Johnny Bailey 6 19 3.1 0 Chris Chandler 1 16 16.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Ron Middleton 8 81 10.1 0 Troy Drayton 3 47 15.6 0 Jessie Hester 3 41 13.6 0 Flipper Anderson 2 36 18.0 0 David Lang 1 27 27.0 1 Howard Griffith 2 23 11.5 0 Isaac Bruce (R) 3 17 5.6 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Shane Conlan 8 0 0 0 Waymon Henderson 6 1 0 0 Thomas Homco 6 0 0 0 Marquez Pope 4 0 1 0 Brad Ottis 2 0.5 0 0 Gerald Robinson 2 0.5 0 0 Robert Young 2 1 0 0 Brett Collins 1 1 0 0

Los Angeles Raiders PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jeff Hostetler (64.1) 16/25 152 0 1 Vince Evans (105.0) 8/14 106 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Calvin Jones 5 67 12.2 0 Harvey Williams 9 33 3.6 1 Vince Evans 3 28 9.3 0 Jeff Hostetler 1 9 9.0 0 Napoleon McCallum 1 1 1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD James Jett 3 68 22.6 1 Andrew Glover 6 56 9.3 0 Tim Brown 3 40 13.3 0 Rocket Ismail 2 24 12.0 0 Harvey Williams 4 21 5.2 0 Tom Rathman 1 7 7.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Patrick Bates 7 0 0 0 Derrick Hoskins 7 1 0 0 Mike Jones 7 0 0 0 Eddie Anderson 6 1 0 Alberto White 3 1.5 0 0 Scott Davis 2 1 0 0 Winston Moss 2 0 1 0