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1987 Los Angeles Rams season

NFL team season

Field	Value
team	Los Angeles Rams
year	1987
record	6–9
division_place	3rd NFC West
coach	John Robinson
owner	Georgia Frontiere
stadium	Anaheim Stadium
playoffs	Did not qualify
pro bowlers	LCB Jerry Gray RG Dennis Harrah RT Jackie Slater C Doug Smith RB Charles White
shortnavlink	Rams seasons

The 1987 Los Angeles Rams season was the franchise's strike shortened 50th season in the National Football League, their 51st overall, and their 42nd in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The season saw the Rams attempting to improve on their 10–6 record from 1986 and make the playoffs for the 5th straight season. However, the Rams struggled right out the gate. In their first 2 games against the Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings, the Rams had 4th quarter leads and blew them. They led 13–0 in the 4th quarter at Houston and lost 20–16, while they led 16–14 at home against Minnesota and lost 21–16. The next week, a strike occurred which wiped out all week 3 games. As a result, their game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals was canceled. One week later, the Rams were thumped by the Saints 37–10 to start the season 0–3, their first such start since 1982, which was, ironically, also a season that saw a strike take place. The Rams finally got in the win column the next week, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, 31–21.

However, the next week in Atlanta, the Rams lost another big lead, this time after leading 17–0 at halftime and 20–7 in the 4th quarter. This was followed by embarrassing losses to the Cleveland Browns (30–17), the arch-rival San Francisco 49ers (31–10), and the Saints again (31–14) to drop to 1–7, their worst start since 1965, when they started 1–9. However, the Rams then caught fire, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis, 27–24, after trailing 24–14 in the 3rd quarter. The next week in Washington, the Rams outlasted the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football 30–26, and it appeared as though the Rams were poised to get back in the playoff race. The win over Washington was followed by blowout wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (35–3), Detroit Lions (37–6), and Atlanta Falcons (33–0) and the Rams were looking to make an improbable in-season turnaround. However, the next week against the Dallas Cowboys, the Rams lost 29–21 to eliminate them from the playoffs. The season ended with the Rams getting pummeled by the 49ers on the road, 48–0. Ultimately, the Rams finished the strike-shortened season 6–9 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1987 NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Owner/President – Georgia Frontiere
Vice president of finance – John Shaw
General counsel – Jay Zygmunt
Administrator of football operations – Jack Faulkner
Director of operations – Dick Beam
Director of player personnel – John Math
Head coach – John Robinson
Offensive coordinator – Ernie Zampese
Quarterbacks – Dick Coury
Running backs – Gil Haskell
Tight ends/wide receivers – Norv Turner
Offensive line – Hudson Houck
Defensive coordinator/inside linebackers – Fritz Shurmur
Defensive line – Marv Goux
Assistant defensive line – Larry Brooks
Outside linebackers – Fred Whittingham
Defensive backs – Steve Shafer
Special teams – Artie Gigantino

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

Los Angeles Rams	year=1987	border=2}};"	1987 Los Angeles Rams replacement roster

Roster

Robert Cox T

Regular season

On October 31, 1987, the Los Angeles Rams traded Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts in a three team trade involving the Buffalo Bills. The Rams sent Dickerson to the Colts for six draft choices and two players. Buffalo obtained the rights to Cornelius Bennett from Indianapolis. Buffalo sent running back Greg Bell and three draft choices to the Rams, while Indianapolis added Owen Gill and three of their own draft picks to complete the deal with the Rams.

Former Heisman Trophy winner Charles White would become the starting running back. The 1987 season would be his finest year as a pro, rushing for a league-leading 1,387 yards and 11 touchdowns, which earned him a Pro Bowl selection and the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

On November 23, 1987, linebacker Mike Wilcher recovered Doug Williams fumble and ran it back it 35 yards for a touchdown. It was Wilcher's only touchdown in the NFL.

Erik Kramer's 3 passing touchdown performance against the Rams on October 18, 1987, was the last three-touchdown game by an undrafted free agent rookie quarterback until Matt McGloin accomplished the feat for the Oakland Raiders against the Houston Texans on November 17, 2013.

Schedule

Los Angeles Rams	year=1987	border=2}}"	Week	Los Angeles Rams	year=1987
September 13	at Houston Oilers	L 16–20	0–1	Houston Astrodome	33,186
September 20	Minnesota Vikings	L 16–21	0–2	Anaheim Stadium	63,367
October 4	at New Orleans Saints	L 10–37	0–3	Louisiana Superdome	29,745
October 11	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–21	1–3	Anaheim Stadium	20,219
October 18	at Atlanta Falcons	L 20–24	1–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	15,813
	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–30	1–5	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	76,933
November 1	San Francisco 49ers	L 10–31	1–6	Anaheim Stadium	55,328
November 8	New Orleans Saints	L 14–31	1–7	Anaheim Stadium	43,379
November 15	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–24	2–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	27,730
	at Washington Redskins	W 30–26	3–7	RFK Stadium	53,614
November 29	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 35–3	4–7	Anaheim Stadium	45,188
December 6	at Detroit Lions	W 37–16	5–7	Pontiac Silverdome	33,413
December 13	Atlanta Falcons	W 33–0	6–7	Anaheim Stadium	43,310
December 21	Dallas Cowboys	L 21–29	6–8	Anaheim Stadium	60,700
December 27	at San Francisco 49ers	L 0–48	6–9	Candlestick Park	57,950
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Awards and honors

Jerry Gray, NFC Pro Bowl selection
Charles White, NFL Comeback Player of the Year
Charles White, Pro Bowl selection

References

"NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book". Workman Publishing Co.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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