1985 Los Angeles Rams season

1985 Los Angeles Rams season
Logo commemorating the Rams' 40th season in the Greater Los Angeles Area
Owner	Georgia Frontiere
General manager	John Shaw
Head coach	John Robinson
Home field	Anaheim Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Cowboys) 20–0 Lost NFC Championship (at Bears) 24-0
Uniform

The 1985 Los Angeles Rams season was the franchise's 48th season in the National Football League and their 40th in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

In the playoffs, the Rams shut out the Dallas Cowboys 20–0 in the Divisional playoffs, advancing to the NFC Championship Game, but were shutout themselves by the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears 24–0. Eric Dickerson rushed for 1,234 yards in 1985 while missing the first two games while in a contract dispute. He missed the Pro Bowl for the first time in his short NFL career. He did, however, go on to rush for a playoff record 248 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in post-season play.

It was also the last time the Rams would win an NFC West divisional title when based in Los Angeles until 2017, and the last NFC West title until 1999 while they were in St. Louis.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1985 Los Angeles Rams draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	21	Jerry Gray *	Cornerback	Texas
2	50	Chuck Scott	Wide receiver	Vanderbilt	Made roster in 1986
3	77	Dale Hatcher *	Punter	Clemson
5	113	Kevin Greene * †	Linebacker	Auburn
6	161	Mike Young	Wide receiver	UCLA
6	162	Damone Johnson	Tight end	Cal Poly	Made roster in 1986
7	189	Danny Bradley	Running back	Oklahoma
8	218	Marlon McIntyre	Running back	Pittsburgh
9	245	Gary Swanson	Linebacker	Cal Poly
10	274	Duval Love *	Guard	UCLA
11	285	Doug Flutie *	Quarterback	Boston College	Signed with New Jersey Generals (USFL)
11	301	Kevin Brown	Defensive back	Northwestern
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1985 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 Running Backs – Bruce Snyder Wide Receivers – Lew Erber Tight Ends – Norv Turner Offensive Line – Hudson Houck Special Assistant – Denny Schuler

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

Roster

1985 Los Angeles Rams roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  5 Dieter Brock  8 Steve Dils  9 Jeff Kemp Running backs (RB) 31 Lynn Cain 29 Eric Dickerson 44 Mike Guman 30 Barry Redden 33 Charles White Wide receivers (WR) 89 Ron Brown 82 Bobby Duckworth 80 Henry Ellard 88 Mike Young Tight ends (TE) 86 Mike Barber 81 David Hill 85 Tony Hunter

Offensive linemen (OL) 62 Bill Bain T 73 Russ Bolinger G 60 Dennis Harrah G 72 Kent Hill G 75 Irv Pankey T 78 Jackie Slater T 56 Doug Smith C Defensive linemen (DL) 70 Charles DeJurnett DT 71 Reggie Doss DE 69 Greg Meisner DE 98 Shawn Miller DE 93 Doug Reed DE

Linebackers (LB) 90 Ed Brady 50 Jim Collins 55 Carl Ekern 57 Jim Laughlin 91 Kevin Greene 59 Mark Jerue 51 Norwood Vann 54 Mike Wilcher Defensive backs (DB) 21 Nolan Cromwell FS 25 Jerry Gray SS 27 Gary Green CB 47 LeRoy Irvin CB 20 Johnnie Johnson SS 22 Vince Newsome FS Special teams  3 Dale Hatcher P  1 Mike Lansford K

Reserve —- Chuck Scott WR (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 8	Denver Broncos	W 20–16	1–0	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
2	September 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–6	2–0	Veterans Stadium	Recap
3	September 23	at Seattle Seahawks	W 35–24	3–0	Kingdome	Recap
4	September 29	Atlanta Falcons	W 17–6	4–0	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
5	October 6	Minnesota Vikings	W 13–0	5–0	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
6	October 13	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 31–27	6–0	Tampa Stadium	Recap
7	October 20	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 16–0	7–0	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
8	October 27	San Francisco 49ers	L 14–28	7–1	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
9	November 3	New Orleans Saints	W 28–10	8–1	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
10	November 10	at New York Giants	L 19–24	8–2	Giants Stadium	Recap
11	November 17	at Atlanta Falcons	L 14–30	8–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	Recap
12	November 24	Green Bay Packers	W 34–17	9–3	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
13	December 1	at New Orleans Saints	L 3–29	9–4	Louisiana Superdome	Recap
14	December 9	at San Francisco 49ers	W 27–20	10–4	Candlestick Park	Recap
15	December 15	St. Louis Cardinals	W 46–14	11–4	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
16	December 23	Los Angeles Raiders	L 6–16	11–5	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 0 16 0 0 16 • Rams 3 7 0 10 20 Date: September 8 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Gordon McCarter

Rams overcame 2 touchdown passes by John Elway with a late comeback led by "old" rookie QB Dieter Brock, who passed for 174 yards and a touchdown in his first NFL start. Backup RB Charles White ran for the winning touchdown in place of holdout Eric Dickerson.

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 10 0 0 7 17 Eagles 3 3 0 0 6 Date: September 15 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck and Hank Stram

Rams defense sacked Randall Cunningham 5 times and picked off 4 passes and White ran for 144 yards and a touchdown. Henry Ellard added an 80-yard punt return touchdown.

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 7 0 14 14 35 Seahawks 0 7 3 14 24 Date: September 23 Location: Kingdome Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Joe Namath, and O. J. Simpson

Dickerson celebrated the end of his holdout by rushing for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns in this Monday Night matchup.

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 3 3 0 6 • Rams 0 10 7 0 17 Date: September 29 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Jim Tunney Television network: CBS

Rams continued to dominate on defense and Brock passed for two touchdowns.

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Vikings 0 0 7 3 10 • Rams 0 6 7 0 13 Date: October 6 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier and Dick Vermeil

Rams stayed unbeaten despite being outgained in yards 306–188.

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 0 14 10 7 31 Buccaneers 7 13 0 7 27 Date: October 13 Location: Tampa Stadium Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (CBS): Jim Hill and John Dockery

In a nip-and-tuck game, the Rams had two interception return touchdowns in the second half, by LB Carl Ekern and the winning touchdown by CB Leroy Irvin.

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 0 13 3 0 16 Chiefs 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 20 Location: Arrowhead Stadium Referee: Dick Jorgensen

Dickerson ran for a touchdown and Mike Lansford kicked three FG's. Rams' opportunistic defense intercepted Todd Blackledge six times. Brock passed for only 68 yards.

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • 49ers 14 14 0 0 28 Rams 0 0 7 7 14 Date: October 27 Location: Anaheim Stadium Game start: 1:00 PST Referee: Gene Barth TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier and Dick Vermeil

Rams were knocked from the unbeaten ranks at home as their offensive failures came back to haunt them. Joe Montana passed for 3 touchdowns and led the 49ers to a 28–0 lead. Brock passed for 344 yards (most of them late) and two late touchdowns.

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 0 0 7 3 10 • Rams 7 7 7 7 28 Date: November 3 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Tom Dooley

Rams were totally dominant at home as Brock passed for 2 touchdowns and Dickerson (108 yards rushing) and White each had a touchdown run. Rams picked off 3 passes and had nine QB sacks.

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 7 6 3 3 19 • Giants 0 7 10 7 24 Date: November 10 Location: Giants Stadium Referee: Jerry Markbreit

Giants fought back from a 16–7 early 2nd half deficit behind 2 touchdown runs by Joe Morris.

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 0 0 14 14 • Falcons 10 10 3 7 30 Date: November 17 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Referee: Bob Frederic

Surprising blowout by the 1–9 Falcons behind three rushing touchdowns by Gerald Riggs and a Falcons' defense that held the Rams to only 45 yards rushing.

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 0 10 7 0 17 • Rams 7 7 7 13 34 Date: November 24 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Pat Haggerty

Dickerson had 150 yards and a touchdown, but the real hero was Olympic sprinter-turned-WR Ron Brown. Brown returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass.

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 0 0 3 • Saints 6 3 0 20 29 Date: December 1 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck and Hank Stram

Saints got their revenge for the earlier blowout by sacking Brock nine times and recovering 3 fumbles. Bobby Hebert passed for a touchdown and LB Jack Del Rio returned a fumble for another. || Louisiana Superdome

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 0 3 7 17 27 49ers 0 7 6 7 20 Date: December 9 Location: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California Game attendance: 60,581 Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Joe Namath and O. J. Simpson

Scoring summary Q2 14:54 SF Clark 7 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 7–0 Q2 8:52 LA Lansford 25 yard field goal SF 7–3 Q3 14:46 LA Brown 86 yard kickoff return (Lansford kick) LA 10–7 Q3 13:10 SF Rice 66 yard pass from Montana (kick blocked) SF 13–10 Q4 9:32 LA Lansford 29 yard field goal Tie 13–13 Q4 5:38 SF Craig 1 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 20–13 Q4 5:08 LA Ellard 39 yard pass from Brock (Lansford kick) Tie 20–20 Q4 3:24 LA Green 41 yard interception return (Lansford kick) LA 27–20

In this road Monday Night matchup, the 49ers looked to be in control until Henry Ellard scored on a tipped pass and CB Gary Green returned an interception for the winning points. Montana passed for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Rams clinched a playoff spot with the win.

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 7 0 7 0 14 • Rams 13 23 7 3 46 Date: December 15 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Chuck Heberling TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck and Hank Stram

Brock picked the right time to have his best game as a Ram as the Rams clinched their first NFC West Division crown since 1979. Brock passed for 4 touchdowns, Dickerson ran for 124 yards and two more, and the Rams rolled up 425 yards of offense.

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 6 0 10 16 Rams 0 3 3 0 6 Date: December 23 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Joe Namath, OJ Simpson

In a somewhat lackluster performance at home on Monday Night, the Rams could only muster two FG's and Brock was sacked 6 times.

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams(2)	11	5	0	.688	3–3	8–4	340	277	L1
San Francisco 49ers(5)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	411	263	W2
New Orleans Saints	5	11	0	.313	2–4	5–7	294	401	L3
Atlanta Falcons	4	12	0	.250	3–3	4–8	282	452	W2

Statistics

Passing

Player	Games Played	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Rating
Dieter Brock	15	218	365	2658	16	13	82.0
Jeff Kemp	5	16	38	214	0	1	49.7

Rushing

Player	Games Played	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Longest run
Eric Dickerson	14	292	1234	12	43
Barry Redden	14	87	380	0	41
Charles White	16	70	310	3	32
Dieter Brock	15	20	38	0	13
Lynn Cain	7	11	46	0	9
Mike Guman	8	11	32	0	6
Jeff Kemp	5	5	0	0	3
Henry Ellard	16	3	8	0	16
Ron J. Brown	13	2	13	0	9
Steve Dils	15	2	−4	0	−2

Receiving

Player	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns	Longest reception
Henry Ellard	54	811	5	64
Tony Hunter	50	562	4	47
David Hill	29	271	1	37
Bobby Duckworth	25	422	3	42

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
Divisional Playoff	January 4, 1986	Dallas Cowboys	W 20–0	1–0	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
NFC Championship	January 12, 1986	at Chicago Bears	L 0–24	1–1	Soldier Field	Recap

Divisional

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 • Rams 3 0 10 7 20 Date: January 4 Location: Anaheim Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. PST Game weather: Fog/drizzle; 67 °F (19 °C) Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck, Hank Stram, and Dick Vermeil

Rams' running back Dickerson (29) rushing the ball through the Cowboys' defense in the 1985 NFC Divisional Playoff Game.

Running back Eric Dickerson led the Rams to a victory by scoring two touchdowns and recording a playoff record 248 rushing yards. After the first half ended with a 3–0 Los Angeles lead, Dickerson scored on a 55-yard touchdown run early in the third period. On the ensuing kickoff, Kenny Duckett fumbled, and the ball was recovered by Vince Newsome to set up kicker Mike Lansford's second field goal. In the fourth period, Tony Hunter recovered a fumbled punt to set up Dickerson's 40-yard rushing touchdown. The Rams' defense dominated the Cowboys' offense all afternoon as the Cowboys never got inside the Rams' 20-yard-line. This was the last home playoff game for the Rams in Los Angeles until 2017. This was also the last playoff game in which Tom Landry coached.

Conference Championship

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 0 0 0 0 • Bears 10 0 7 7 24 Date: January 12 Location: Soldier Field Game start: 11:30 a.m. CST Game weather: Cloudy/snow showers; 37 °F (3 °C) Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

The Bears defense dominated the game by limiting Rams running back Eric Dickerson to 46 yards rushing, and holding quarterback Dieter Brock to just 10 completions out of 31 pass attempts for 66 passing yards. Los Angeles only gained 130 yards of total offense. The Rams had a chance to get back in the game as they got inside the Bears' 15-yard line in the waning moments of the first half, but poor play calling and clock management, as well as a controversial call by the officials on the last play of the half, resulted in the clock running out. Officials' ability to review plays (via instant replay) was not made available until the following season.

Awards and records

Milestones

Gary Jeter, NFL Comeback Player of Year.

See also

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1985

• California Angels (Anaheim Stadium)
  • 1985 California Angels season

External links

• 1985 Los Angeles Rams at Pro-Football-Reference.com