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Surely Dick Vermeil's vision of his initial season with the St. Louis Rams didn't include seven losses in succession...
And no doubt Vermeil and his staffers never imagined losing twice in three weeks to the perennial NFC West doormats--the Atlanta Falcons.
And surely no one thought that, after 11 games, the '97 Rams record (2-9) would be one game worse than the '96 Rams...
Not with all-world Orlando Pace in the picture at left tackle; not with Tony Banks maturing as a second-year QB; not with Isaac Bruce catching darts thrown by Banks; not with Jeff Wilkins signed up to kick three-pointers; not with Jim Hanifan mentoring Pace and the rest of a young offensive line; not with Bud Carson at the controls of a young defense.
And most of all, not with Dick Vermeil in charge of everything football in St. Louis.
No, the general all-around failure of the '97 Rams is not something that your average football guru had written in his or her pre-season NFL forecast.
The Rams 1997 picture looked, if not rosy, at least tinged with hope.
But Sunday's game vs. Atlanta typified the futility exhibited by the '97 Rams, as the Falcons came from behind (scoring ten fourth quarter points) to defeat the home squad, 27-21.
And at the tail-end of Sunday's game, the Rams had one final chance to reach the end zone vs. Rich Brooks' Atlanta defense.
But there was something missing...or perhaps more correctly, there was someone missing...from the Rams offensive picture as QB Banks (21-38, 266 yds, 2 TDs, 0 INT) smartly led his team toward the Atlanta end zone.
That someone was Lawrence Phillips.
Phillips, who rushed for 50 yards on 13 carries and caught three passes (for 28 yards) earlier in the game, was absent for the entire drive.
Not injured, mind you.
#21 was just benched.
Literally and figuratively.
In other words, when it came to crunch-time, a healthy and apparently law-abiding Lawrence Phillips was not in the Rams picture.
And if body language is any barometer, LP wasn't very happy about his predicament.
While Banks and the offensive unit moved the ball from right-to-left, Phillips' backside was planted firmly on one of the white benches that are set up about fifteen yards from the sidelines.
And what a sight it was.
Picture this--
There was Tony Banks, leading his team, in the final moments of a game, from right-to-left, down the field...in an Elway-like last minute drive.
There were most of the Rams coaches and players, on the edge of that same field, cheering and rooting for Banks and his offense as the game began to slip away--all the while with their eyes glued to the action on the field.
And there was Phillips, sitting alone on the end of the white bench, eyes focused to his left, AWAY from the action on the field, for the duration of the final, doomed Rams scoring drive.
Perhaps Lawrence Phillips just couldn't bring himself to watch his replacement at running back, Jerald Moore, who Vermeil has been touting for the last week or two as someone who deserved more playing time.
Or maybe Lawrence Phillips could see the handwriting on the wall...and that his time-card with the Rams had been punched for the final time.
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