1989 Los Angeles Rams season
| 1989 Los Angeles Rams season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | John Robinson |
| Owner | Georgia Frontiere |
| Home field | Anaheim Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–5 |
| Division place | 2nd NFC West |
| Playoff finish |
Won Wild Card Won Divisional Lost Conference |
The 1989 Los Angeles Rams season was the team’s 52nd year with the National Football League and the 44th season in Los Angeles. It constituted their last postseason appearance in Los Angeles before owner Georgia Frontiere, who would eventually move the team, sold many top players, and they were only stopped by a powerful 49ers team from reaching the Super Bowl.
Offseason
NFL Draft
Main article: 1989 NFL Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season
In week 16, Jerry Gray returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown. The victory over the New England Patriots clinched a playoff berth for the Rams.
Schedule
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Rams points | Opponents | Summary | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | Sept. 10 | at Atlanta Falcons | Win | 31 | 21 | Falcons rookie Deion Sanders gave the home crowd an early lift with a punt return TD (despite fumbling the ball twice), but Rams pulled away in the second half behind 128 yards rushing and two TD's by Greg Bell. Kevin Greene had three sacks. | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Sept. 17 | Indianapolis Colts | Win | 31 | 17 | Jim Everett and Henry Ellard hooked up for three scores as the Rams had another strong second half. | 2–0 | |
| 3 | Sept. 24 | Green Bay Packers | Win | 41 | 38 | Rams rolled to a 38–7 halftime lead behind Bell's 221 rushing yards and 2 TD's and 2 more TD passes by Everett, but barely held off a furious comeback from the Packers behind Don Majkowski | 3–0 | |
| 4 | Oct. 1 | at San Francisco 49ers | Win | 13 | 12 | Rams got early NFC West bragging rights in a tough road win. Everett hit Willie Anderson on a 65-yard TD bomb for the game's only TD. | 4–0 | |
| 5 | Oct. 8 | Atlanta Falcons | Win | 26 | 14 | Everett passed for two TD's and Mike Lansford booted four field goals. | 5–0 | |
| 6 | Oct. 16 | at Buffalo Bills | Loss | 20 | 23 | In a wild Monday night affair, Frank Reich, subbing for an injured Jim Kelly, tossed a pair of 4th quarter TD passes including the game winner to Andre Reed. | 5–1 | |
| 7 | Oct. 22 | New Orleans Saints | Loss | 21 | 40 | A 2–4 Saints team blew out the Rams on their home turf behind 3 TD passes by Bobby Hebert. Saints local product Dalton Hilliard from LSU had 3 TD's, two rushing and one receiving. | 5–2 | |
| 8 | Oct. 29 | at Chicago Bears | Loss | 10 | 20 | Rams lost their third straight in the cold of Chicago as the Bear defense held Everett to 13 of 35 passing and intercepted him twice. | 5–3 | |
| 9 | Nov. 5 | at Minnesota Vikings | Loss | 21 | 23 | In a highly unusual OT loss, the Rams kept the Vikings out of the end zone, but Vikings kicker Rich Karlis booted seven FG's. The winning score came when LB Mike Merriweather blocked a Dale Hatcher punt out of the end zone for a safety. The Vikings became the first NFL team ever to win in sudden death OT on a safety. | 5–4 | |
| 10 | Nov. 12 | New York Giants | Win | 31 | 10 | Rams got back to their winning ways behind two Everett TD passes and two Bell TD runs. | 6–4 | |
| 11 | Nov. 19 | Phoenix Cardinals | Win | 37 | 14 | Rams rolled to a 24–0 halftime lead and cruised behind two more TD passes from Everett. Robert Delpino had a 32-yd TD run as well. | 7–4 | |
| 12 | Nov. 26 | at New Orleans Saints | Win | 20 | 17 | Saints were in control at the Superdome, leading 17–3 after 3. Everett, however, led the Rams back behind 454 passing yards, a record 336 of them receiving on 15 catches in a monster performance by Willie Anderson. | 8–4 | |
| 13 | Dec. 3 | at Dallas Cowboys | Win | 35 | 31 | Everett outdueled Dallas rookie Troy Aikman in a spirited performance by the 1–11 Cowboys. Both QB's had 4 TD's passing. | 9–4 | |
| 14 | Dec. 11 | San Francisco 49ers | Loss | 27 | 30 | In a classic MNF performance, Joe Montana tossed three TD's, two of them for over 90 yards to John Taylor. Rams led 27-10 entering the final period when Montana hit Mike Wilson for a TD to cut it to 27-17. The Rams were driving to a TD when Everett fumbled a snap at the 49er 4, and on the very next play, Montana hit Taylor for a 96-yd TD to cut it to 27–23. The 49ers capped their amazing comeback a Roger Craig TD run after Ron Brown fumbled the ensuing kickoff. | 9–5 | |
| 15 | Dec. 17 | New York Jets | Win | 38 | 14 | Back at home, the Rams took out their frustrations on the Jets by rolling to a 28–7 halftime lead and cruising behind two passing TD's from Everett and two rushing from Bell. | 10–5 | |
| 16 | Dec. 24 | at New England Patriots | Win | 24 | 20 | Bell ran for 210 yards and the winning score in the 4th as the Rams clinched a wild-card berth. | 11–5 | |
Standings
| NFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| San Francisco 49ers(1) | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 442 | 253 | W5 |
| Los Angeles Rams(5) | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 426 | 344 | W2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 5–7 | 386 | 301 | W3 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 0–6 | 1–11 | 279 | 437 | L7 |
Playoffs
NFC Wild Card Game
Los Angeles Rams 21, Philadelphia Eagles 7
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
- Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
- Game attendance: 65,479
- Referee: Gordon McCarter
- TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden
NFC Divisional Playoff
Los Angeles Rams 19, New York Giants 13 (OT)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 19 |
| Giants | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST,1/7/1990
- Game attendance: 76,325
- Referee: Bob McElwee
- TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden
The Rams upset the Giants with quarterback Jim Everett's 30-yard touchdown pass to Flipper Anderson with 1:06 gone in overtime. New York jumped to a 6–0 lead in the first quarter with two field goals by kicker Raul Allegre. With 17 seconds left in the first half, Anderson caught a 20-yard touchdown reception from Everett to take a 7–6 lead.
In the third quarter, Giants running back Ottis Anderson scored on a 2-yard touchdown. But in the fourth period, Los Angeles kicker Mike Lansford made two field goals to tie the game, the second one coming with 3:01 left in regulation. Rams receiver Henry Ellard had the best postseason performance of his career with 8 receptions for 125 yards.
NFC Championship Game
San Francisco 49ers 30, Los Angeles Rams 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 49ers | 0 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
at Candlestick Park, San Francisco
- Game time: 5:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. PST
- Game attendance: 64,769
- Referee: Jerry Markbreit
- TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden
The 49ers crushed the Rams with 442 total yards and held the ball for 39:48.
Awards and records
- Flipper Anderson, NFL Game Record, Most Receiving Yards in One Game, 336 yards (vs. New Orleans Saints on November 26, 1989) [2]
- Jerry Gray, NFC Pro Bowl Selection
- Jerry Gray, Pro Bowl MVP
See also
Other Anaheim–based teams in 1989
External links
References
- ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/1989.htm
- ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 98
| Preceded by < 1988 |
Los Angeles Rams seasons 1989 |
Succeeded by 1990 > |
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