1983 Los Angeles Rams season

1983 Los Angeles Rams season
Head coach	John Robinson
Owner	Georgia Frontiere
Home field	Anaheim Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Lost Divisional

The 1983 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 46th year with the National Football League and the 38th season in the city of Los Angeles. The franchise drafted a future Hall of Fame Running Back in Eric Dickerson.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1983 Los Angeles Rams draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Eric Dickerson * ^†	Running back	Southern Methodist
2	32	Henry Ellard *	Wide receiver	Fresno State
2	36	Mike Wilcher	Linebacker	North Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

1983 Los Angeles Rams staff
	Front office Owner/President – Georgia Frontiere Administrator of Football Operations – Jack Faulkner Director of Player Personnel – John Math Head coaches Head Coach – John Robinson Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Jimmy Raye Quarterbacks – Bob Baker Running Backs – Bruce Snyder Offensive Line – Hudson Houck			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Marv Goux Assistant Defensive Line – Larry Brooks Inside Linebackers – Fritz Shurmur Outside Linebackers – Fred Whittingham Defensive Backs – Steve Shafer Special teams coaches Special Teams – Gil Haskell

^[2]

Regular season

Eric Dickerson

While he considered going to the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League, Dickerson decided to go into the National Football League at the advice of his mother because the NFL had been around longer. He was selected second overall in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. An immediate pro success, he established rookie records for most rushing attempts (390), most rushing yards gained (1,808) and most touchdowns rushing (18), including another two receiving touchdowns.^[3] His efforts earned him All-Pro, Pro Bowl, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors.^[4]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Summary	Attendance
1	September 4, 1983	at New York Giants	W 16–6	Vince Ferragamo tossed 2 TD passes to new TE Mike Barber and rookie Eric Dickerson rushed for 91 yards on 31 carries in his Ram debut. Rams were also buoyed by the defense, which sacked Giants QB Scott Brunner five times and intercepted 3 passes.	75,281
2	September 11, 1983	New Orleans Saints	W 30–27	In a barnburner of a game, the Saints took a late 4th quarter lead, 27–21, on a Ken Stabler TD pass to Eugene Goodlow. After stalling on their next drive, the Rams pinned the Saints deep and punter Russell Erxleben chose to run out of the end zone for a safety. However, Ferragamo and the Rams took the free kick and drove to the winning score on a 3-yard run by Dickerson, his third of the day.	45,572
3	September 18, 1983	at Green Bay Packers	L 27–24	Rams fought back from a 17–3 halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points in the third. Ferragamo threw for 2 TD's and Dickerson rushed for another, but the Packers came back in the fourth and won a late FG.	54,037
4	September 25, 1983	at New York Jets	L 27–24	Dickerson ripped off an 85-yard TD run on the Rams' second play from scrimmage and finished with 192 yards rushing, but the Jets prevailed in OT as Richard Todd passed for 446 yards and two TD's. This game was marred by a brawl between Rams OT Jackie Slater and Jets DE Mark Gastineau after Gastineau did his infamous "sack dance".	52,070
5	October 2, 1983	Detroit Lions	W 21–10	New superstar Dickerson paved the way as Rams got back on winning track, rushing for 199 yards and all three Rams TD's.	49,403
6	October 9, 1983	at San Francisco 49ers	W 10–7	Rams gained an early upper hand in the NFC West in a tough defensive struggle on the road. Dickerson rushed for 142 yards and the Rams only TD	59,118
7	October 16, 1983	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–21	Rams fought back from a 21–7 deficit as Ferragamo hit Mike Guman on a late TD pass. Dickerson was held in check (64 yards), but scored two more TD's.	50,404
8	October 23, 1983	San Francisco 49ers	L 45–35	49ers prevailed in a slugfest, overcoming 5 TD passes by Ferragamo and 144 yards rushing by Dickerson. The 49ers rallied from a 28–17 deficit by scoring 28 fourth quarter points, the go-ahead TD coming when DE Dwaine Board recovered a Dickerson fumble in the end zone. Joe Montana tossed 3 TDs for the winners.	66,070
9	October 30, 1983	at Miami Dolphins	L 30–14	Dolphins pulled away in the second half behind rookie QB Dan Marino, who passed for 2 TD's and ran for another.	72,175
10	November 6, 1983	Chicago Bears	W 21–14	Rams rolled to a 14–0 halftime lead and held on. Dickerson had 127 yards and 2 more TD's	53,010
11	November 14, 1983	at Atlanta Falcons	W 36–13	Dickerson and backup Barry Redden both went over 100 yards rushing and Ferragamo passed for two TD's in this Monday night rout.	31,202
12	November 20, 1983	Washington Redskins	L 42–20	Rams were blown out at home by the defending Super Bowl champs. The Redskins rolled up 479 yards of offense and got 3 rushing TD's from John Riggins and 4 FG's from Mark Moseley.	63,031
13	November 27, 1983	Buffalo Bills	W 41–17	Ferragamo passed for 3 TD's and Dickerson ran for 125 yards and another TD. CB Johnnie Johnson sealed the victory with a 60-yard INT return for a TD late.	48,246
14	December 4, 1983	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–9	In a tough game in the cold at Philadelphia, the Rams couldn't crack the end zone and the Eagles won on a Ron Jaworski TD pass late.	32,867
15	December 11, 1983	New England Patriots	L 21–7	This was a sloppy clunker for the Rams at home as Mosi Tatupu ran for all three Patriots TD's and the Rams lost six fumbles. The loss eliminated the Rams from the NFC West division race.	46,503
16	December 18, 1983	at New Orleans Saints	W 26–24	Needing a win for a playoff berth, the Rams failed to cross the goal line on offense, but were helped by defense and special teams on the road. In a nip-and-tuck battle, the Saints scored first on a Stabler TD pass. The Rams then ran off 16 unanswered points on a Jack Youngblood safety, a punt return TD by Henry Ellard, and an INT return TD by Johnnie Johnson. The Saints got a TD run by backup QB Dave Wilson and a FG, but then Nolan Cromwell returned an INT for a TD. After the Saints scored their final TD to go up by one, Mike Lansford won it for the Rams on a late FG.	70,148

September 25, 1983

Week 4: Los Angeles Rams 24, New York Jets 27

Game summary

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Rams	14	0	3	7	0	24
Jets	7	7	7	3	3	27

at Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Wildcard	December 26, 1983	at Dallas Cowboys	W 24–17	43,521
Divisional	January 1, 1984	at Washington Redskins	L 51–7	55,363

December 26, 1983

NFC: Los Angeles Rams 24, Dallas Cowboys 17

Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	7	10	24
Cowboys	0	7	3	7	17

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
• Game weather: 27 °F (−3 °C), mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 62,118
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Game information
Scoring LA – D. Hill 18 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) RAMS 7–0 DAL – T. Hill 14 pass from White (Septien kick) 7–7 DAL – field goal Septien 41 DAL 10–7 LA – Dennard 16 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) RAMS 14–10 LA – Farmer 8 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) RAMS 21–10 LA – field goal Lansford 20 RAMS 24–10 DAL – Cosbie 2 pass from White (Septien kick) RAMS 24–17

January 1, 1984

NFC: Washington Redskins 51, Los Angeles Rams 7

Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	7	0	0	7
Redskins	17	21	6	7	51

at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C), mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 54,440
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Game information

Scoring WAS – Riggins 3 run (Moseley kick)WAS 7–0 WAS – Monk 40 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick) 14–0 WAS – field goal Moseley 42 WAS 17–0 WAS – Riggins 1 run (Moseley kick) WAS 24–0 LA – Dennard 32 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) WAS 24–7 WAS – Monk 21 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick) WAS 31–7 WAS – Riggins 1 run (Moseley kick) WAS 38–7 WAS – field goal Moseley 36 WAS 41–7 WAS – field goal Moseley 41 WAS 44–7 WAS – Green 72 interception return (Moseley kick) WAS 51–7

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers^(2)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	432	293	W3
Los Angeles Rams^(5)	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	361	344	W1
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	2–4	7–5	319	337	L1
Atlanta Falcons	7	9	0	.438	1–5	4–8	370	389	W1

Awards and honors

• Eric Dickerson, NFC Pro Bowl selection
• Eric Dickerson, All-Pro selection
• Eric Dickerson, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
• Eric Dickerson, UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year
• Eric Dickerson, UPI NFC Player of the Year

See also

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1983

• California Angels (Anaheim Stadium)
  • 1983 California Angels season

External links

• 1983 Los Angeles Rams at Pro-Football-Reference.com

References

1. "1983 Los Angeles Rams draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
2. Associated Press (March 1, 1983). "Transactions". The Evening News. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
3. Eric's Days as a Ram, http://www.ericdickerson29.com/rams.htm
4. Eric Dickerson: Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?PLAYER_ID=55