European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 05, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 24 the stars and stripes Friday. January 5. 1990 bbb Abii by will rams stay with new Nickel by Frank last Rutherford. N j not when a pro football team fates a passing situation it usually puts in its Nickel defense with five defensive Hacks or a dime defense with six. 1 earns usually have three or Lour defensive linemen Rush the passer one May he a linebacker. In addition one or Mure linebackers or defensive backs May bin. So the formation the Angeles rams used Sun Day against the Philadelphia in passing situations looked More or less the same As any Ordinary Nickel or dime defense Lour defenders rushed the passer and seven dropped Back Inlo coverage. The difference was in who those four rushers Uherc they were All linebackers because the rams defense for Tomse plans had five linebackers six defensive is and no linemen. I he rams had never done that before. They devised the plan for Hal game because so Many defensive line men were injured and because Randall Cunningham. The i Agios quarterback often eludes a Normal a Rush when the rams meet the giants at 12 30 . 6 3 1 . Tin in to on Sundas Al ii ans stadium in a National football league playoff game the new align ment May go into Mothballs i Hil sirm the giants quarterback is not especially Mobile and lends to stay in the Pockl longer. Our Basic objective was to yet Guys in there who Pittsburgh looking like old Steeles by Alan Robinson i la Isburgh api Back in the la Liiro not these resurgent Pittsburgh Steeles. Who Are too pumped up b the present to live in the past. Six victories in their last seven games have Nickelet the Steeles into sunday s acc semifinal game Al Denver an to. 10 . Sunday and have led to the inevitable comparisons Between the super sleepers of the 1470s and the Cin Derella sleepers of i to. Joe Ireene. Their de Lenove line coach and Hall of Fame tackle said last Sun Das s 26-23 playoff Victory in Houston reminds him of Lac 1474 s tellers 24-13 acc title game Upsel of Oakland the Victory most responsible for launching the sleepers dynasty. Only time will Tell but i think that s the kind of game we re looking Ireene said. And Well he even belter in Denver anything can happen. We then team broadcaster Myron c Ope is Lamg one of his famed Lermo towels out of Mothballs so Quartz Hack Hubby Hester can Wear it sunday. Bui some Steeles Aren i comfortable living in the past even though their re cell history includes four super bowls in six years and a legacy of excellence unrivalled by most nil franchises. Tor them the past is passe most starlets especially Don t want 10 be compared to the 1984 sleepers. Who also finished 9-7 before upsetting Denver 24-17 in the playoffs. Those sleepers lost to Miami 45-28 in the acc title game then slumped to 7-9 in 19x5 and 6-10 in 1986. I m nol going to Lalk about 1984. Be cause 1984 is in the coach Chuck Noll said. We re going to talk about i 990 and going to somebody was talking about 1984. But a Don t know anything Aboul that because most of these Guys weren t around Here Brister said pro bowl tackle lunch Ilkin was around in 1984. And knows Why most of the current Day Steeles. Including their 12 rookies Are thin skinned when n Muld run who mud Ihas. A in lit Laid a Ril san inner. The Kams defensive . At times last car we used the same formation hut Uilah one defensive lineman and Lour the ll-5-fi defense child have problems against the run because the linebackers would Yue Awa i u us id Era Hie weigh to the of Fen Siw linemen Luiking them. It Sune eded against the i a tries be cause the rams did nut fear the. T. In i be i Lell behind i Arl. N m us Itji to establish the him injun Well esp i kill1.in. i he giants it is running imiikuseltt1 Illard the la or a tunes the i ird the is Irr seen or c i it he. Lull the Kani i i the Kams were a to i i i. Help Tine. ,1-4 Witul Rookie from a i la Thune. Be i iteeiv.1 a. Urnelt i Trsinar. Ifni i real Strickland t.1 a lined up As Deletis men and Mike Viu if j-1s Ned up uhen .1 Normal would. "1 think the used i in put faster Pla or on tie Field to Rush Unningham ii ans coach Hill Parcells said. Ii they can do that against Simms. They probably will use it again but their theory of the Nickel defense did t change lust the style of the rushers fight weeks ago. When the rams whipped the giants. 31-111. The Nants had trouble with the rams Quick linebackers Greene twice got by Doug Riesen Berg the ii ans Olla naive tackle and sacked Simms. It s probably tougher to handle because they re Quick Riesenberg said so the rams Aren i giving away that much on third Down and Long if the other team is gnim1. To pass Why not gel in your Best pass rushers the Bestol the rams pass rushers is Greene play ing his fifth season As a pro. He has had id1 sacks in each of the Lasi two seasons. He s a cry catalytic Parcells . He plays hard he s one of the very Best players in the league " the coach said his learn had a plan to mop Irenec this Lime Hen he conies Parcells said we re going to Lasso him. Tie him up. See if we can t put him in the dressing room and hold him hostage until 4 o meanwhile it was announced wednesday that Mark Bavaro. The giants starting Light end when healthy will undergo Arioni Copic surgery Friday to repair the ligament that Sabih eve his left knee. He is lost for the playoffs. Pittsburgh s Irmis loses control of Al mrs pass in last sunday s playoff ichor out i illusion As oilers Chris Dishman defends. Comes to laying it on thick about the past. Until their recent winning . The Steeles had lost 44 of 74 games since beating Denver in 84, and their failures of the sos were As widely chronicled and Antici de in Pittsburgh As their successes and predecessors were Canoni de in the 70s. I be been thinking Aboul i9h4. Be cause everybody keeps reminding me of Ilkin said. That was a great great Day for us because we went in there As big under dogs and everybody in Denver was ready to play Dan Marino and the dolphins and they Felt they were going to the super howl we went in there and it was loud and the place was rocking and when we left you could be heard a pin drop. I think there Are a lot of parallels thai can be drawn Between the 84 team and this football club. We arc similar in thai we were kind of an up and Down team. We got hot Down the Strelch and took it into the playoffs. The same thing is happening this year we be overcome a lot of Ilkin said beating Houston meant More to him than upsetting Denver in 1984, because the Steeles have come v far so soon. It s been just Lour months since they were outdoor cd l 2-t i in their first two games and were being and Ciulei. As the worst team in pro Luot Ball. I on Cloud nine after Houston lust being in the Plav Olfs is very Spe Cial because you know anal once you Are in the playoffs that anything can Hap Ilkin said la Sjuls Quick hop. Skip and a jump to the super bowl we feel very confident right now. And in terms of sheer la Lent. Yeah there s no doubt that we have More Tal ent on this football learn than we did in a i4." and. He said More of a future. As a team we re gelling compared to i /k4. U the Early 1970s. People Are com paring Center Dermontt Dawson to Mike Webster Are comparing me to Larry Brown. It s flattering a great compliment. But this is sweeper because this is now "
