1981 - Wk. 01 Rams vs. Oilers

of the nfc and files uh taking the place to bum phillips in houston his first game as head man of course he grew up in the oiler organization as an assistant after some 25 years in football and ray malavesi merlin olsen was booed when he was introduced to this anaheim stadium crowd i think a reaction to the freddie dreyer incident some real similarities between these two coaches dick they're both former head coaches defensively for their teams and inherited the head job in relatively uncomfortable circumstances malabasi taking over in the third game of the preseason when george allen was fired and of course eddie biles taking over for the very popular bum phillips interesting too that they both got winning teams and that's you'd say that's great but it's kind of tough to follow a winning coach and both of these men have had to follow very winning coaches well the rams won the toss so they're the victor already and we'll receive to our left wearing the white los angeles in the houston blue the oilers across the way that'll mean tony fresh will tee it up duck in some scores a final miami beat st louis 20-7 atlanta over new orleans 27 to nothing and of course it [Music] had a replaced the los angeles round mission champions last year [Music] tony fresh will tee it up at the 35-yard line there are the officials today ben dreith the referee is crew of messer's myers-williams reynolds wedge wart and millet tony fritsch had a perfect pre-season dick uh certainly an outstanding job by the little elf he told me he's finally broken in a new kicking shoe had that old one for nine years he said it was finally wearing out i had to go to a new show but he said he patted it effectually he said but this little shoe is being good for me he was the most accurate field goal kicker in the league last year and second best all time deep to return drew hill and he's all alone no one within 20 yards of hill 69 000 a sellout in anaheim and the 1981 season underway bridge to the one hill and treble now breaks into the clears at 25 and down at the 29-yard line and he had no one in front of him the last oiler cut him down was carter hartwig lineups for the los angeles rams quarterback pad hayden the speedy wendell tyler but he does fumble helen bryant who never fumbles the blockbuster dinard and waddy speedy outside men a new acquisition henry childs at tight end by the way of new orleans and washington bird panky for doug france at left tackle hill stall and harrah all pro bowlers and jackie slater made some of the all-pro teams a great offensive line first down from the 30-yard line tyler crunched at the 33 it'll be second down and seven at three river stadium in pittsburgh steelers behind terry bradshaw's 41-yard toss to jim smith have taken the league back from the kansas city chiefs late in that ball game steelers are out in front 33-30 let's go back to anaheim dick enberg merlin olsen down and seven the rams first possession second play of the game pat hayden to throw from his 33 incomplete he was shooting for preston dinard at the 44 through behind him it'll be third and seventh jack kenberg with merlin olsen in anaheim second game of the doubleheader here on nbc and we welcome you to southern california on a beautiful day beautiful sunny bright day defensively for the oilers veteran elven bethay new middle guard canard replacing coal bandy doors the other end the linebackers a great group of brazil bingham their leading tackler eight straight years hunt in washington wilson and stemrick at the corners vernon perry and mike reinfeld at safety third and seven from the ram 33 first possession of the game touchdown first completion of the season 67 yards touchdown to wendell kyler and willie miller with a great block down field they say that cannot get the ball deep but he sure found a way to do it there throwing it short to the speedy tyler watch this a dual drop off pass to the outside tyler gets out of a block or a tackle there by greg bingham 54. miller coming in to cut down the defender and then he just outlands number 37 reinfeldt into the end zone does his little dance frank corral to kick it up and it is good so the rams on third and seven on their first possession get a 67-yard touchdown play from hayden to wendell tyler across town rivals usc to ucla one of the question marks about this houston oiler team is their ability of that defensive secondary to utilize their speed to handle someone like wendell tyler last week jc wilson beaten several times by doug donnelly i know one of eddie files concerns is is that secondary they're a good secondary they've been together a long time but they're not the fastest group around and of course if you can't get pressure on a quarterback you give him time to throw he's going to beat you anyway on that particular play hayden had all the time in the world and uh the play down field and you see it so often merlin where the aggressive defense actually blocked each other out of the play there were three oilers all with a chance alone to tackle tyler but they actually were their own worst enemies two of the linebackers knocking each other off bingham had a hold of tyler looked like he would take him down one of the outside linebackers i believe washington bumped him and knocked him off the tackle corral to kick off for the rams leading seven nothing with just a minute and a second go on tulas and roaches deep for houston one of the reasons that bingham is having trouble tackling is because he's got a broken finger and he's got a cast on that hand that might have had an impact there high end over in roaches two yards deep 30 and out of bounds frank the kicker knocked him out of bounds at the 32-yard line good return by little karl roaches from texas a m here comes ken stabler his big running backs rob carpenter earl campbell the leading rusher in the league three straight years borough back after an injury in 80. mike renfro and the tight end mike barber dave casper on the bench offensive line all pro leon gray john schumacher after two years of injuries veteran karl marx over the ball with fischer in towns the blockers on the right side there is a weakness deck on that offensive unit would probably be in the depth of that offensive line campbell playing fullback last year there instead of half back and he gets the first carry and gains three running into a ram defense and stacks up this way youngblood and cody jones the ends with mike fanning and larry brooks in the middle jim youngblood no relation to jack carl eckerman for hacksaw reynolds and george andrews replaces brazinski on the right side fine back four thomas and perry to ball hawks johnson had a great rookie year out of texas last year and they're calling nolan cromwell all world i agree i want to send him to a higher league the way he's been playing even in the summer he had three more interceptions third and seven campbell slamming to the 45-yard line and a first down and very nearly picking up a filing on penalty pat thomas made the tackle eddie biles talks about a new houston offense but with a man like number 34 earl campbell in your backfield you've got to get him the ball tremendous quick acceleration and great vision he knows how to find the hole he knows how to get into it and once he's into the secondary he is devastating two carries 18 yards for campbell who has gained over 5 000 yards in just three years in the nfl now to the eye with carpenter the up back stabler's first throw and he's going long for renfro broken up nicely by pat thomas retro from tcu thomas played at a m one of the questions that we will ask today and hopefully find an answer to is can can stabler find the timing with his receivers after just a week and a half of work it's difficult enough to get that timing during a full training camp period stabler had not been throwing the ball he was retired he's back in uniform he's throwing it through pretty well last week but can he keep it up here today against a very tough defensive factory there's interesting numbers on him last year and he completed more passes than any year in his career and yet threw for less touchdowns only 13. he threw his highest number of interceptions ever that that was the damaging number second down and 10 at the houston 45 almost an 11-man line carpenter cut down at the 49 it'll be third and six houston carpenter from miami of ohio young blood and cromwell made the tackle rams lead seven nothing here now let's go for an update brian gumbel all right dick at three rivers the chiefs have taken the lead back from the pittsburgh steelers mixed up on the handoff between bradshaw and thornton paul howard comes up with it and 72 yards later the chiefs move out in front of the steelers by a score of 37-33 that with only 159 left dick so possible upset chiefs of pittsburgh here it's third and seven stabler out of the backfield hit ronnie coleman good pass at the ram 47 that looked as good for that first down ticketed but no luck as coleman could not wrap it up rod perry on the coverage coleman a specialist that they insert into the ball game traditionally on third down situations a very dependable receiver could not handle that one cliff parsley who enjoyed his best season last year averaging 40.7 a kick and he'll be kicking to ivory sully and leroy urban irving on the near side that putting average for the houston oilers 29.9 yards in the preseason a very disappointing average short kick irvin at the 21. he's got some running room 30 38 yard line special teams have looked very good in the early going on the kickoff and now the punt return a 30-yard kick and a 17-yard return the oilers figured to be pinned in deep instead they wind up with the ball out at their own 34. the oilers defensive we showed you these gentlemen before but here they are again the linebackers and the back four seven nothing rams first quarter 11 and a half minutes left hayden great protection juggles and drops at the 38 in houston andy doris puts the pressure on hayden one of the tests of a quarterback is to see how long he'll hang on to that football before he throws it hayden under pressure waited until the last possible second to let dinard find the opening in that secondary he got the ball to him but i think dinard had a feeling that someone was going right at his head mike reinfeldt had a beat on him but i think he was here in footsteps a little bit on that one 34. they should just join the 67-yard touchdown pass hayden to wendell tyler giving the rams an early seven nothing lead draw to tyler and he slams out to the 46-yard line he'll be a couple of yards shy of the first down dick am i mistaken or is tyler hanging on to that football a little bit better looks like he's tucking it away he's had the habit of carrying the football like a loaf of bread we'll keep an eye on him today to see if he's still doing that but in the at least in the dangerous area near the line of scrimmage he was hanging on to that one give you a second peek at that now watch the way he puts the ball away here the coaches have been working with him he's still carrying it rather loosely but does pull it in tight right in the contact area let's see if he does that in the open field if he has he's licked one of his down major problems three complete first down at the 48 yard line to henry the tight end and atlanta picking the fifth round in 74 then went to new orleans new orleans traded him to washington during the winter and a week later the rams acquired childs who was a home economics major at kansas state fred dreyer his influence positive or negative in uniform i gotta feel it's negative right now even though uh freddie has been a very strong leader for this team for the first down at the houston 47 misdirection and it's colin bryant at the 42 yard line of the oilers short game colin is 238 pounds he's a weightlifting fanatic he has the the body of of a linebacker or a lineman and absolutely one of the nicest people you'd meet in a football uniform we'd like to welcome those of you who have enjoyed a great game back in the east baltimore colts upset new england 29-28 we're at anaheim stadium the rams scoring early on their first possession on a 67-yard touchdown hayden to tyler and the rams have the ball second and five at the oiler 41. wendell tyler stopped inside the 40. daryl hunts spearheading the charge number 50 of the oilers 54 greg bringham the leading tackler produced in eight straight years also in on the play we were talking about the great build of colin bryant i think perhaps the finest build on the field belongs to ken hill number 72 six foot five 260 pound guard you see him right there in the middle of the action not getting much of a piece of anybody there but that's an unusual shot he usually has a shoulder or hit on somebody all day long third and two wadi in motion blocked at the line of scrimmage by 71 ken canard of course that's one of the things that has plagued that because he's short in height 511. sometimes he can't get it over those giant linemen and canard only 62 time his fly swat move you perfectly able to get that one knocked down but one of the things that did happen on that play which is an indication of the value of henry childs charles was about 35 40 yards down the field opening up the way for those wide receivers to come in underneath ray malavesi says that charles is the most valuable addition to his ram team in 1981. frank corral the only man who punts and place kicks in the nfl slides that one to the far sidelines out of bounds at the 11-yard line so the oilers have the football for the second time good kick by corral 29-yard punt by the way hayden's touchdown to tyler which was actually a short pass turned into a long gainer by tyler was the second longest touchdown play for hayden in his career 68 yards being the longest ever for the rhodes scholar from the university of southern california burro left renfro right see lionel taylor talking with haven campbell and carpenter behind stabler campbell it's about where you'd see a baseball player break up a double play how'd you like to have campbell rolling indiana six four three a lot of eyes uh on number 55 carl eckernow on the field eckert of course replayed it replaced hacksaw reynolds a great metal linebacker for so many years and akron has earned the respect of all of his teammates with the kind of play you see right there quick reaction to the ball and a very hard and fierce tackle not a big middle linebacker but great speed and a great nose for the football if he can stay healthy he's going to make some people forget jack reynolds campbell again has a blocker out there gets close to the 19 jack youngblood sprinting to the sidelines the all-pro number 85 of florida made the tackle they say it often but it's it's a fact in the game of football you measure the aggressiveness and the tenacity of a defense often in their ability to pursue great job of pursuit by jack youngblood on that play i think uh having campbell on the field pumps a little extra adrenaline into those defenses though you better be alert oh boy and how would you like to be rod perry and pat thomas solo on earl campbell five nine and 170 and they campbell must look 3.90 third and two campbell again 55 and young 53 shoulder to shoulder to stop campbell short of the first down well they stacked up the play there was young blood too that one looked better than it was because the rams had a blitz on and they had people blitzing right into the hole that earl campbell was coming up into but still a very aggressive play by the ram defense 69 000 to sell out artisan ram crowd they send back two men to return parsley's boot drew hill joins leroy irvin irvin on the near side [Music] beautiful spiral leroy urban a fair catch at the 31-yard line no leading seven nothing the rams have the football again 48-yard punt a good one by parsley no return it's only the third time these two teams have played in the regular season the other two contests in the astrodome and both won by the rams two other games pre-season games both of those also won by the rams so the oilers are looking for their first win against the ram organization and eddie biles of course looking for his first win new head coach tyler reversing his field he's got some blockers 35 40 and he ad libs his way to the 48-yard line wendell tyler it's very rare in this day and age to see him back reverse his field it takes tremendous speed to be able to do that that's exactly what tyler did here he got trapped for about a five-yard loss came all the way back now watch right at the end preston denard gets right in front of robert brazil to give him that last four or five yards had to come all the way around first down at the 48 of los angeles brian gets three yards to the 49 of houston so tyler has accounted for 94 yards already now let's go to new york and bryant dick at three rivers stadium in pittsburgh the chiefs have completed their upset of the steelers this is bradshaw trying to drive the steelers with less than a minute left looking for stallworth gary barbaro picks it off the chiefs were able to run up the clock and they beat the steelers 37-33 dick rams ball houston 49-yard line second down seven confusion and setting up in the backfield and the tip is intercepted by vernon perry he's at the 40 and has blockers in front 50 and hayden gets him out of bounds at the los angeles 35 off the fingertips of dinard bobbled in the backfield by reinfeldt and then into the arms of vernon perry timing thrown off on the pass pass thrown to dinard watch denard in the pattern ball comes to him high and he'll tip it right here it'll be tipped again now a second time this is like the tip drill your practice reinfeld right into the hands of vernon perry of course we saw perry pick off four of those against the san diego chargers in a playoff game does an outstanding job of picking some extra yardage there 35-yard return vernon perry he played with brazil and walter payton at jackson state stadler carpenter punished that's coming up to make the hit for the rams was nolan cromwell well you can't cover any better from that safety spot coming up to pick off a running back a good pass defense is a combination of aggressive pass rush limiting the amount of time the quarterback has to throw and good coverage not only by the defensive backs but also by the linebacker and one of the toughest patterns to cover is a pattern out of the backfield you can't do it any better than nolan cromwell did it there two yard game second down eight seven nothing rams lead it [Applause] we welcome those of you who have watched the upset kansas city beating pittsburgh 37-33 houston's ball earl campbell battling his way to the ram 32-yard line the rams scored on their first possession pat hayden hitting half-back wendell tyler who ran 67 yards for a touchdown the rams were moving again when hayden was intercepted by vernon perry perry returned 35 yards to this current situation where houston looks at third down and about seven at the ram 33 on that last play dick uh campbell felt himself being trapped faked a little pass back there he actually did throw two passes one for a touchdown last year so i guess it's not a fake without something behind us and it came in the opener and pittsburgh when campbell threw for a touchdown stabler under pressure and a man wide open but had to deliver the ball too quickly to ronnie coleman to the rams gamble there were more blue shirts back toward the goal line than there were white shirts but stable had no time to throw an accurate pass and all out blitzed by the rams look how many are coming right up the middle two of them coming hard linebackers coming if you don't get to the quarterback on that kind of a blitz it's all over but stabler is not a mobile quarterback that's one of his problems they were able to get to him on that play tony frisch is going to try a long field goal of 50 yards fresh out of the hole to reinfeld accurate kicker in nfl history behind the patriots john smith frisch nails one from 50-yard 7-3 rams here's the setup on that field goal by frisch merlin bad snap now watch watch the way reinfeld gets this ball down now the whole timing of the kick had to change amazing that fresh was able to get it and nail it just fairly over the crossbar you see how he's leading i don't blame him for being excited he's a little cheerleader out there that's how he reacted in wembley stadium before 140 000 soccer fans when austria upset england about 10 years ago and he scored two goals and he's still perfect for the year he has yet to miss a field goal or an extra point kicks this one high fairly short down on a wing ivory sully at the 18 out to the 27 yard line so fresh has kicked him to both corners high you can see he puts the ball up he likens field goal kicking or place kicking to the corner kick in soccer he said that's been the great training for him in this game i've never seen a kicker who has better control of the football than tony fresh i've told the story on the air once or twice but i was out on the field in dallas when they were going to play the cowboys and he said you want to see me hit the crossbar hit the crossbar said you want to see me hit the upright he hit the upright i couldn't believe it first down rams leading 7-3 at their eight well there's some smacking going on as gerald thomas number 33 just in the lineup for the first time 5 10 and 235 with the freshman at ucla transfer to san jose state gets about three yards thomas was used in the next to last game last year against dallas and rushed for 147 yards came back the next week and gained 144 against atlanta many feel he has the potential to be a big star all right yeah he is big eddie viles very impressed with jerrell thomas earth panky replacing the injured doug france at left tackle having some problems gives us a chance to update the scoreboard for you lead the oilers 7-3 in just a moment anaheim stadium sold out 69 000 fans warm day in the 80s rams with the ball and leading the houston oilers 7-3 ball at the 31-yard line two minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter billy waddy to the right preston denard to the left bryant and wendell tyler behind quarterback pat hayley [Music] open waddy did he have control yes at the 49 line some of the oiler coaches didn't think so across the way jc wilson on the coverage one of the most controversial rules added to the roster this year is the possession rule now states that as long as you have two feet on the ground in bounds you have control and a reception but he didn't have control of the ball at that point he was stepping out of bounds we'd like to welcome those who've been watching seattle and cincinnati bengals with a great comeback down 21-0 beat the seahawks 27-21 here at 7-3 rams leading houston wendell tyler runs into a sea of blue and vernon perry from a safety spot and gold train at the backfield writes him down shy of the 50. number 77 doug france into the lineup he was hurt on that last play he's been out a good deal of the year has had shoulder trouble and all throw one of the most physical defensive offensive players in the nfl you see him using his hands as they're allowed to do now there is a big question about the strength of his shoulder two operations on that rotator cuff he says he's ready to play we'll find out call it midfield second down call it 10. widespread you'd think they pass out of this but they don't tyler is sweeping right tackled forward across the 45-yard line oh that was a solid crack you can hear the crowd go and we're going to go to brian gumbel in new york dick if you and merlin thought that wadi catch was questionable watch this one it happened in denver this is morton going up top to rick up church you're supposed to have both feet in bounds for a score watch up churches the left one's on the line the right one never does reach the end zone touchdown anyway it's 7-6 oakland dick all right brian thank you i guess some of those officials would like to have the luxury of watching our instant replays they don't make many mistakes but unfortunately we catch them when they do goldman in the game for the first time for the rams and baker crashing through jesse baker from jacksonville state applies the first sack on the rams hayden and the man he beat number 77 doug france we were just taking a look at baker the designated rusher coming from that right side on france as we said has missed a good deal of the play this year just manages to bust inside gets gets by not only france but also number 72 hill and ducks dumps the quarterback rather unceremoniously on his behind for houston corral will deliver around the ram 38. for the sidelines and out of bounds at about the 17-yard line time out here in anaheim 34 seconds remain in the first quarter the home team the rams leading the oilers 7-3 dick henberg and merlin olsen anaheim stadium the beard now belongs not just to merlin olsen or a little house in the prairie but to father murphy yes it does dick the good father is working every day i know you had a busy week no wonder you're not answering your phone call father murphy the new nbc series and from all the critics reviews going to be a big hit this fall on nbc starring william olsen steve learned a campbell the 21-yard line around his ankles 85 jack youngblood final seconds of this first quarter and that may well be the last play earl campbell powerful thighs his thighs well 34 in his back that's how big one thigh is for earl campbell 34-inch waist we can identify with the 1-5 and some of the guys that have to tackle him how about rod perry he's about 170 pounds snake sneaks to the sneaks up to 5 8. that's right but he's a very physical guy for that size the gun sounds that's the end of the first quarter the rams scoring on a 67-yard pass hayden to tyler and the oilers on the 50-yard field goal by frisch nick berg with berlin olsen anaheim stadium we go to the second quarter the inaugural for these two teams for cfc scoring a big advantage over the nfc last year right on through the super bowl the oilers trail the rams 7-3 first down at the 21 for houston earl campbell lots of turnovers in these ram linebackers but uh not much loss of quality jim youngblood number 53 continues to improve we talked earlier about eckerd and george andrews number 52 fine young player on the other side appears to round out some real strength and some future strength for this ram defense rams go to five defensive backs leroy irvin number 47 in joe harris 51. campbell almost shredded his way into the clear and was tripped up at the 23 rams looking pass and leola's trying to hit him with a quick pop up the middle first quarter statistics as the oiler kicking team comes on total rams obviously not playing the oilers by more than the scoreboard would indicate one of the questions that we'd asked earlier with can be able to ken stapler be able to get his timing with his receivers that two yards of passing would say apparently not in the first quarter leroy irving deep at the ram 35 10-man rush parsley short kick that's a returner right there 45 50 45 he's all the way to the 27-yard line anytime you kick one that low without hand time you give the receiving team time to set up the return they got it there and urban took advantage of it leroy irvin from kansas a third round pick last year puts the rams in scoring position we'll break for this word greg bingham number 54 that heavy cast on a broken finger right hand little backer or houston oilers the rams at the 28-yard line of houston after a 27-yard cut return to reverse to child or was that well-read calvin bethay the veteran defensive end would not be fooled and was right there waiting for childs and instead of a possible big gainer the rams lose a yard on first isaiah down he's been around years and years he just forced that play to wait and he knew that if he got enough time that even though childs might get away there'd be a lot of blue shirts out there to help him lay on the ground number 27 greg stamrick and number 50 daryl hunt both over there to do just that but they has been around playing excellent football years and years he goes out on the pass downs now but he's still a great player on the right second down along ten and is bryant on a trap up the middle to the 23-yard line no flag thrown an interesting thing eddie biles has done and merlin you certainly can appreciate this because as a family man there are times when uh all athletes really uh wish that their wives could be with him he's allowing each veteran player uh to bring the wife on a trip one each game and it's alvin bethay's turn this first game of the season we talked about the cast on binghamton 54. he'll get uh maybe he'll get to bring his wife next week if he can continue to play like that so that would be the reward of the veterans for the oilers this year perhaps i think it's a good choice on the part of eddie barros bryant cuts inside the grain and he's close to a first down at the 18-yard line this may require a measurement now i believe he's got it we talked about the physical nature of colin bryant started his career as a defensive back and i can remember he came into camp he's one of the quietest people you've ever seen he ran kickoff never asked for any kind of special treatment of any kind and finally got a chance because of injuries that carry the football and has become one of the steadiest and one of the most reliable fullbacks in the nfl there's a defensive back and he returned kickoff has three for touchdowns and they were all runs at one game for the rams uh seven eight years ago hayden on first down plenty of time intercepted it's stemrick at the 30 and knocked out of bounds at the 44 yard line greg oh he was waiting in the weeds for that one well if ever you've seen a defensive back hide and just wait for that ball to be thrown you've got the shot right here hayden with hours to throw the football fox child's was open but watch it right here stammering just slips in front of him and then scoots up that sideline for excellent yardage hayden has had real problems here in the preseason for the rams through 13 no 10 interceptions three touchdowns 10 interceptions that's a lousy number of interceptions for that number of touchdowns and that's the second today the first one led to a field goal and now the oilers have the ball again with backup quarterbacks captain rutledge he's thrown one touchdown pass but two interceptions now the euler stem break a 38-yard return out to the houston 44. stabler to campbell 45 oh just running through rams to the 45 of los angeles earl campbell and that's something that bile said he was going to do this year he wants campbell to catch between 30 and 40 passes this season that's his master plan nine yards on that one earl campbell caught 10 passes in the pre-season obviously being successful total offense for the two teams still tremendously one-sided for the rams but they're not that far out on the scoreboard houston with a chance here to get things more than even it's 7-3 los angeles as the oilers parlay the first interception into a long 50-yard field goal and now on second and one stabler is really hit renfro with a catch and hit hard at the 31-yard line by pat thomas and stabler took quite a shot from george andrews on a blitz we talked about a quarterback being willing to stand in until the last second you see what happens when they do but you also see what they can do when they'll wait that extra second for the receiver to clear fine pattern by rentro who runs disciplined routes and an excellent pass by stabler 14 yards on the play a first down oilers just outside the ram 30. 10 minutes 19 seconds left in the second quarter 7-3 los angeles leads campbell stacked by eckern and company at about the 30-27 yard line earl campbell you know don klosterman thought back when campbell was a graduating senior that he had campbell wrapped up klosterman and john mckay coach of the tampa bay buccaneers close friends mckay and tampa bay owned that first draft pick and classman said maybe i got too cocky in fact he loaned campbell's car on a trip out to los angeles and says even gave him one of his little cassettes he says earl still owes me a cassette from those days back in 78. instead houston made the deal and are they glad stabler threw it away and a flag is down telecast presented by authority of the national football league intended for the private use of our audience any rebroadcast or other use of this telecast without the express written consent of the los angeles rams and the national football league is prohibited like mo towns number 76 got a hold of jack youngbud from the backside will be ticketed towns has really matured as a def as an offensive lineman but it's still a bit of a question mark holding offense number 76 towns from missouri a number one pick in 77. let's reintroduce that offense for you mark at center schumacher and fish are the guards gray and towns that tackle tight end is mike barber burrow and renfro are the wide men quarterback stapler with the running backs carpenter and campbell [Music] johnny johnson number 20 rams top pick last year out of the university of texas made the tackle petty viles talked about the changes that he's made in this houston offense they're running out of more normal sets this year not using the two tight end offense that they used last year they're featuring campbell less in their game plan they're still wanting to run the ball but they want to throw the ball more they want to throw the ball more to their backs and wide receivers spreading the offense thereby making camel more effective third down 16 a fifth defensive back in for the rams good protection for staler looking for coleman and gets him at the 24-yard line leroy irvin made the tackle that's going to be short of the first down but gets fresh a lot closer to those uprights a 13-yard play and here comes the austrian fresh and company to try his second field goal connected on a 50-yarder in the first quarter his longest ever 54. kenny stapler has thrown a couple of excellent passes in this drive dick has indeed that one took some real finesse dropped it right in over the defender although carpenter may be dusting himself off for quite a while on the sideline took a hit right after that fresh who missed only five of 24 last year this one will be 41 yards on the money so chris who was four for four in the preseason has hit two long ones in the first half of the regular year 50 yards now 41 time out in anaheim the oilers have used two interceptions to position themselves two field goals in trail by one 81 it's as hard hitting tony fresh kicks it off for the oilers couple of field goals by fresh that's drew hill at the ram five yard line seven to six the rams lead it kill from georgia tech at the six 20 and knocked out of bounds at the 26-yard line rookie bill k from purdue number 22 made the hit the oilers interestingly have a total of 78 yards in offense in the first half 73 yards in interception returns and that's been the key for them getting on the board if you're going to win you have to take advantage of your opportunities the oilers have made their best advantage off those two interceptions put six points on the board keep themselves very tight far right miller wide left and tyler into the secondary out to the 34-yard line eight yards for wendell tyler he scored the ram touchdown with just a minute gone in the game on a 67-yard pass and run payton to tyler rams going right at the middle of that defense kid canard number 71 being blocked by number 56 doug smith who's gone in at center smith doing an excellent job of moving the big nose tackle out of there you see that slam of the fist to the ground he knows he was beaten second and short brian hugging the football crosses the 40 with a ram first down what is that stat on brian fumbling he has fumbled only nine times in eight years and that is almost a thousand chances to handle a ball he's fumbled away only nine times fumbled only once all last year that despite the fact he was the leading rusher 807 yards and leading pass receiver 53 catches i can remember what he couldn't catch the ball hayden on first down good protection almost intercepted by robert brazile linebacker [Music] two interceptions and people forget about the touchdown the difference between that pass and the one you just saw completed by stabler stabler looped the ball over the defender's head had about the same amount of room peyton trying to line that ball into willie miller number 82 and robert brazil just had two long arms to allow that slapped it away almost intercepted him second and ten from the 41. tyler running to earn those yards out to the 48 just picking his way sliding to the outside and he gained about seven before vernon perry could stop him kind of unusual to see two quarterbacks on the field calling their own plays we rarely get a chance to see that anymore so many teams now calling the plays for their quarterbacks from the sideline two pretty bright men in there hayden the rhodes scholar and stapler the sagacious veteran and the oilers third and three [Music] brian all the way to the 33 of obviously pleased by that 19-yard advance by colin bryant we talked about the running power of these two big backs today but watch the agility here bryant sees the opening up inside and just accelerates does a fine bit of running looked like earl campbell on that run didn't he almost seems unfair that a man who can run a 9-700 also should weigh 238 pounds tyler corralled at the 31 after short yardage maybe a yard or two i think we'll see a lot of uh offensive linemen in and out for the rams today doug smith who's been in there at center we'll see some of france as well the the rams believe that they need to alternate the people that are good enough to play get them into that lineup get them the playing time panky has has had a bit of playing time now doug smith is good enough to start bill bain will be in and out of there as well brad radkovich the offensive line coach he's the man who's pioneered at philosophy for them on a quick hitter complete to drew hill and a first down at the 22 of the oilers hill who caught 19 passes last year had the best average of the ram receivers nearly 22 yards of catch he's another sprinter 5-9 and 170. i think one of the things you notice rapidly in looking down the rosters of these two teams how much superior depth that the ram organization has to this houston euler team and i think it's a it's a credit to houston that they have been able to perform as well as they have over the last few years without the quality depth that they would like to have rams lead seven to six five minutes left in this first half gerald thomas threw the ball right out of his own hand and then recovered at the 34-yard line merlin you talked about wendell tyler earlier and a careless manner in which he sometimes carries the ball and thomas almost did that and trying to catch his balance through the ball away a tighter look at it you see the pulling guards right there bane and harrah 62 and 60 and right there jarrell thomas trying to cut back using the ball as kind of a little pendulum a little weight to jerk himself back snapped it loose and uh that gentleman on the sideline ray malavasi obviously as unhappy about that as he was about the big run of colin brian a few minutes ago 12-yard loss on first down so second and 22 out of the 34 of the oilers three wide receivers in the game a draw to bryant and he's finally caught by brazil mike reinfeldt down at the 24-yard line so a gain of about 10 for brian [Music] third and 12. frank carrell loosening up along the sidelines mike goodman he's a good pass receiver the second year man from penn state wearing 44 is in the backfield now brian and gooman drew hill and miller to the right dinar to the left third and 12. bryant wrestled out of bounds by bingham shy of the first down at the 18-yard line a chorale in the kicking team and would figure we'll go in and here they come i said earlier dick that i can remember a time when cohen bryant couldn't catch the football he literally had terrible hands when he first came to the ramps spent hours and hours actually went through the same process that earl campbell was going through right now elijah pitts the assistant coach for the oilers throwing to him every day after practice that's how number 32 colin bryant developed his hands he's become one of the most dependable receivers on this team the oilers would like to have earl campbell develop that same kind of technique for them 35 yards away and it is good frank corral from 35 and the rams build a four-point lead three minutes 48 seconds remaining in the first half los angeles 10 houston 6. drawing to a close first half at anaheim 10-6 rams we paused briefly for station identification this is the nbc television network pprc-tv channel 2 houston frank corral who just kicked the 35-yard field goal will take it off to the oilers roaches and tulas deep it's two roaches at the four and he stopped shy of the 20-yard line gooman 44 and harris 51 on the tackle number 44 mike gooman coming down hard pressing pressing roaches forcing him right into number 51 joe harris gilman a good special teams player very aggressive player but it was really harris who uh who put the stops to him with an assist there for him but you saw how well he stayed in his lane and didn't take the bite going too far outside the play came to him discipline stabler four for seven 41 yards rob carpenter remember the great job he did in that san diego playoff game two years ago almost out of a hospital bed could hardly walk the day before and help lead the oilers who were crippled into a big victory against the chargers one of the big happy spots bright spots number 74 leon gray achilles tendon injury put him out last year put him on injury reserve and no one knew if he'd be able to come back well that achilles is holding up well he says there's no pain and he is playing some excellent football and they run behind gray earl campbell with a ball appears as if he made the first down george andrews first round pick from nebraska a year ago for the rams made the tackle the great concern because the offensive line is already thin and had they lost gray had he not been able to come back and perform you see him driving on number 76 cody jones there they would have been even more desperately in trouble in that offensive line as a result of his coming back strong they at least anchor down that crucial backside position against those strong rushers at that right-hand position around the league he had a real test he came back events against leroy selman and then harvey martin next week i said how was it he said well i found out to hurry this leg was going to hold up next saturday merlin nbc's baseball game of the week tenant minded montreal and the surprising cops at wrigley and some of you will see the yankees and the red sox the yankees were the new manager well not so no he was their manager before bob lemon announced today as the manager gene michael has been fired that's baseball next saturday on nbc short of the first down third and inches for houston [Music] and a game of big plays earl campbell trying to run with that football before it was handed off to it looked like the handoff might have been high from ken stadler so the first time houston's coughed up the ball the rams at the euler 21 when we returned [Music] campbell 34 would appear that he's having trouble adjusting to that handoff and again that's something that would come automatically after stablers handed off enough time but with just a week and a half of practice it's not as smooth as it should have been let's see if the ramp can take advantage of it from the 21 it's helen bryant to the 18 yard line and a flag goes down ken canard 71 from angelo state the replaced all-pro curly culp at that middle nose guard position made the tackle and it's against the rams apparently that's their first penalty in the game they had 31 penalties in the last two the last two pre-season games i think that's some kind of ram record olivase was just furious with his team furious with some officials too but they've done a good job here of keeping a down in this ball game that's the first they've been called for nothing makes the acid boil in the stomach of a coats more than that holding penalty on first down suddenly it's first in 20 especially after having the breakdown at the 21-yard line offense number 78. jackie slater the right tackle guilty of the hole he's from jackson state well what a team that must have been walter payton robert brazil vernon perry jackie slater all starters and stars in this league on that jackson state team a few years ago [Music] to the 19-yard line to willie miller or check it through hill drew hill makes the catch and he is smothered by j.c wilson pleased by that shot watch the pattern here drew hill is a youngster you don't hear much about just runs a quick turn back and hayden puts some zip on that ball number 33 j.c wilson has been beaten deep a number of times in the past few weeks and i'm sure giving those receivers a little extra room two-minute warning rams will come back facing second and eight at the 19. beautiful day in southern california the rams and oilers open the 81 season will be second and eight for the rams at the oiler 19 jackie slater ticketed with a holding call merlin talked with jackie yesterday and asked him about use of the hands and we'll get that report from the offensive tackle in a couple of plays rams scored quickly one minute into the game on a 67-yard pass play hayden to tyler a couple of interceptions led to euler field goals of 50 and 41 by fresh corrales took the 35-yard field goal hill in this quarter and there's field goal range now but hayden looking for six and he's got a touchdown walt arnold hunt was on that play myles knows all about that defense as he was the defensive coordinator for so long for the houston oilers watch the amount of time that hayden has to throw you can't give a quarterback that amount of time peyton hit as he threw the ball but arnold streaks into the open and young wald arnold has done a fine job here for the rams in the past few weeks impressing a lot of people meanwhile frank corral has kicked the extra point right down the middle so arnold who was an outfielder in college and he played the outfield well in anaheim six more for the rams preceding announcement furnished as a public service by the national football league so the fumble by campbell recovered by sully at the 21 and hayden turns it into a touchdown hitting walt arnold to tight in a 19-yard play tullis and roaches deep this is the rookie tullis at the two 20 and 21-yard line good coverage by the los angeles rams avery sully made the first hit scores around the national football league surprises the chiefs beat the steelers in pittsburgh by four baltimore another upset edging new england miami hasn't lost yet this year 1-4 in the summer 27 at st louis cincinnati rallied to beat seattle after the seahawks were up 21-0 the eagles beat the giants 24-10 finals dallas over washington 26-10 and atlanta blank new orleans 27-0 all the scores and highlights at halftime stabler to throw deep down the middle for renfro and he can't make the diving catch at the 48-yard line thomas there on the coverage stable showing good arm on that laid it all the way in front of renfro the kind of pass that must be thrown out front where there's no chance of interception andrews and akern two linebackers go out joe harris excellent on pass coverage number 51 and leroy irvin 47 defensive back in as the rams play pass stabler threw it away he wanted to go to earl campbell but joe harris was right there with campbell and fanning and brooks were coming in to introduce themselves to stabler that's all that experience he knew that that ball belonged out of bounds couldn't have done campbell any good to get his hands on it without any defenders right on top of him interesting contrast the two defenses here the rams playing four-man defense uh houston one of the pioneers of the three-man defense but now 21 to 28 teams in the nfl playing that three-man front although houston will go to a four-man rush on passing downs big play on third and ten for the minute 40 left in the half it's short and renfro comes back to catch it at the 48-yard line thomas had him covered stabler through short and red throw them seeing the ball while the defensive back had his head turned thomas upset with himself but again the experience of ken stabler showing through knew that with the defensive back in perfect position the only way to get that one with a hope was to throw it behind and hope that renfro could cut across thomas's heels which he did beautifully fine fine hands good catch timeout is called with 129 left in this half stabler conversing with eddie biles he'll be 50 next month will biles his 29th year in football a native of reading ohio went to the miami ohio university where his coach was tara parsigan he said i was the right guy at the right time paul brown i was able to be influenced by his teachings at that university and then woody hayes was there as a when he was a freshman player and parseking the varsity coach that is pretty good tutorship [Music] talking about his coaches i think one of the most interesting moves he made of course bob phillips leaving to take that job in new orleans and the man he went to get to hire as his defensive coordinator former new orleans head coach dick nolan another former head coach went to become the defensive coordinator of a team whose offensive coordinator has been hired to be the new head coach in washington who was that dick san diego chargers heart jack party absolutely very uh very unusual eddie biles and he's kept the tradition he's got the cowboy boots i don't know if those are lizard or crocodile i don't think bum left too many things in houston and except some broken hearts he left some friends there he did indeed 129 left in this first half stabler from the ram 48. great protection got a man open dave casper first appearance of the game johnny johnson on the coverage but couldn't quite get it through his big tight end i believe that's the first pass he's thrown to his tight ends today and of course last year both tight ends casper and barber well over 50 catches 100 catches between the two of them but with the changes that they've made in this houston offense the tight ends will not be as productive will not be used as much as they were last year casper a pro bowler the last five years stays in the game burrow left renfro right casper the tight end on the right side campbell and carpenter behind stapler draw and campbell runs right into the blitzing linebacker actually was cody jones on a stunt who came in cleanly jones from san jose state he was the man who replaced number 74 a few years ago when merlin olsen decided to retire and now is almost an equally tough task he's been asked to replace number 89 fred dreyer at their right defensive end position over the middle carpenter and no penalty flag joe harris had his hands all over the receiver no call on that draw play that was stopped so beautifully by cody jones you get lucky sometimes as a defensive lineman and you'd love to have a stunt called right into that draw play because obviously they're going to let you go and when you do hit it right it's quite a quite a bit of excitement of course i'm not so sure i want to go in there on earl campbell i'd rather have a smaller back to tackle that's right that's no treat less than a minute remaining so the rams will have time to generate some offense if they should so desire they have their timeouts remaining parsley oh a fake and parsley throwing to at your armstrong but i don't know if he made it it's going to be very close clock is running 47 46 45 no one's call time and now at 43 seconds we'll have a measurement it's going to be very close as you said eddie biles head coach new head coach giving folks an indication right away he's not afraid to take a few gambles well thrown pass by parsley yes it was fine pass edgar armstrong a little used back looked to me like he went down ahead of that marker to bring the chains from across the field to measure here it is again parsley's first ever nfl pass and he hit his man perfectly but did he get enough yardage a little smile from many files well even if he did there's a lot of yardage between where the ball is and the goal line but they would like of course to yes they do they got the first down they got a chance to get inside field goal range at least so parsley keeps the drive alive one for one there's your maybe you're only one thousand percentage passer in the nfl career he's not kicked of all that well today maybe uh maybe it's good that he completed charging his troops with 37 seconds 36 the clock is running it was stopped for the measurement 17-6 the rams lead first half coming to a close stadler can't get rid of it down he goes hit the 50. that's the first stack for the rams number 90 larry brooks also in on that sack that's what you fondly uh recall as a defensive lineman turn it loose [Music] stabler back to live action down the middle renfro at the 33-yard line whistle sounds with seven seconds left leroy irvin made the tackle a flag is down back where sabra threw the ball could be a hole could be a rough let's see apparently against houston holding now the pass would have given frisch a chance at another long field goal they'll just about deny the oilers any chance except on this final desperation play the houston oilers very happy to have double zero kenny burrell back in the lineup missed 14 games last year number 62 john schumacher from the university of southern california did not play in 79 nor last year because of a back injury was a 12th round pick and has persevered he would not give up and now is a starter in that euler line let's see if maybe stabler doesn't go to his deep man kenny burrow double zero on this one should be the last play unless there's a penalty of this first half little screen to campbell 45 50 40 and finally shirt tailed out of bounds at the 36-yard line a flag is down but i believe against the oilers if so the half is over if it's against the rams then the others will have another play i believe it's against john schumacher looked like it was thrown right in the area where he was blocking holdings on the offense number 55 the half is over harlem walk ticketed in the screen blocking so pat hayden with a couple of touchdown passes won yards to wendell tyler another a 19-yard bullet to tight end walt arnold and he's telling his teammates that he's happy with the first 30 minutes of play and so are the fans here in anaheim an interesting first half lots of scoring coming off mistakes two missed cues by the rams interceptions double field goals by the houston oilers of course the rams taking advantage of that earl campbell fumble to put themselves some insurance points on the board so at the end of the first half here before sellout crowd in sunny anaheim california it's the los angeles ram 17 houston oilers six fights off what grabs your eye well a couple of things the yard's rushing an obvious mistake in most games 38 yards for the oilers usually they warm up on the first part of the first quarter with that the rams have 100 yards and the other big difference you don't see it there but the third down efficiency houston one of eight and twelve percent the rams uh four of seven almost sixty percent and i think that has been the difference houston just has not been able to convert on third downs uh passing very even seven to thirteen to 7-13 turnovers and of course we talked about the fact that all three resulted in points being scored so the oilers trailing 17-6 corral kicks it off second half underway tullis will let it go out of bounds and that'll cost the rams five yards and corral will kick it again i know some of you while we're away at halftime we're not with nfl 81 at your local news we'll run down all the scores for you here early in the second half rams scoring first and uh seven nothing then seven three in the first quarter a couple of long field goals by frisch made it seven six then growl a field goal before hayden in the last two minutes hit arnold a 19-yard pass and a 17-6 lead other finals kansas city beat pittsburgh 37-33 baltimore upset new england 29-28 it was miami over st louis 20-7 cincinnati down 21 to nothing in the first quarter rallied to beat the seahawks 27-21 the eagles mauled the giants 24-10 it wasn't that close dallas handled washington 26-10 atlanta blank new orleans 27 nothing detroit beat the 49ers 24-17 and it was green bay bart stars team had a good summer and they upset the bears in chicago 16-9 today denver leads oakland 9-7 in the first half it's buffalo 10 the jets nothing in the first half so up-to-date on all the scores corral kicks it again the rookie telus at the eight 25 and they stretched out the defense but he could not turn the corners kirsten irvin made the stop for the ram so ken stabler brings his offense onto the field he'll have marked the veterans center with schumacher and fisher the guards gray and towns the tackles we'll see whether it's barbara or casper tight end it's dave casper although barber started at that position renfro one wide receiver can burrow the other and in the backfield earl campbell and rob carpenter ram defense spanning and brooks to tackle young blood and jones the ends linebackers jim young blood eckern and andrews pat thomas and rod perry at the corners johnson and cromwell at safety did not have control gordeni they're going to call that a catch at the 49 of the rams it appeared that he was still juggling the ball and malavesi burning the ears of the official a 23-yard play our angle bad from here but perhaps you'll get a better shot from this angle behind the camera watch his feet now he needs to touch both feet down after getting that ball he's still reaching for control at that point well i'd say maybe these officials are trying to atone for that one lousy call they gave the rams earlier in the game first down at the 49 of los angeles as houston with a break they trail 17 to 6. flag down barber unable to find the ball at the 37-yard line appears to be a hold against houston towns has earned his second holding family of the game working on jack youngblood youngblood appears to be getting back into form a little bit jack young but number 85 in his 11th year with the rams after they picked him number one out of the university of florida back in 1971 had 11 sacks last year to leave los angeles defensive player of the year in the nfc twice number 76 and mo towns gets the 10 yard ticket one of jack's good friends on the other sideline a story in his own right john reeves come back quarterback who may well play a big picture for these houston oilers during this season nice to see a guy get a second chance dick absolutely absolutely you know there's something about sport that never closes the door on someone who perseveres and reeves has done that rallying from his own personal problems not cool to bit the ram defense as they've done a good job in checking earl campbell larry brooks from virginia state petersburg five consecutive pro bowls for number 90. he made the play he and jack youngblood very close friends and also partners in a western goods store here in southern california look at campbell still only 26 yards for the man who has been the leading rusher in the nfl each of the last three years there might be a little redesigning going on on this houston offense if they don't get some yardage here in the second half second down and long complete but for short yardage out to the 45-yard flag down and they're going to call unnecessary roughness apparently on rod perry very late flag both those tiny cornerbacks perry and thomas 49-27 in on the tackle hard to tell what they were calling i'll have to wait for the official perhaps a face mask they'll mark it off from the spot yes it was a facemask that'll be five more yards out to the 49-yard line and bring up third and 12. let's see if it was on perry or thomas they fast on a defense on a tackle as a five-yard penalty and a first down let's see which one there it is right there it's on 27. it's on pat thomas coming in late watch him coming from the backside now he is not allowed to even put his hands on that mask had it been a flagrant use of that mask on the tackle it would have been 15 yards that's a five yard penalty and rightfully called by the official nice coverage two good angles carpenter caught in the backfield by jim youngblood and then smothered by the rest of the rams but it was 53 young blood who once wrestled gentle bend the bear in high school and he did a pretty good job of wrapping up carpenter we sent the beginning of our game today that neither of these defensive teams who are traditionally powerhouses in their respective leagues had played that well in the pre-season the rams appear to have gotten their act together have played extremely well in this ball game so far and that would appear to be the difference so far in this game dick they've checked the euler running game two minutes into the second half at second and 14. that's casper pushed out of bounds by cromwell at the ram 43 yard line [Music] just shy of the first down how many times have we seen that duo in other uniforms making the same kind of play stabler under pressure finding his favorite receiver casper and casper making a casper catch he just finds a way to get open and finds a way to get that football and although it looks simple enough because he made it look easy when that falls down below your waist that's a tough catch the great players make it look easy dick and sometimes as a result they don't get the kind of recognition they deserve so third down and a long yard as leola is trying to overcome that first down holding penalty toss to campbell hit some blocks and a first down to the 37 of los angeles and nolan cromwell was the last fight uniform in the path of campbell cromwell who was a 400 meter hurdles champ in the big eight ran a 49.5 a big eight record at the time and also in the decathlon and he's shown that he's such a complete athlete working at that safety spot for the rams that's a very talented second area the emphasis now with the the new rules puts the uh the onus on speed if you don't have speed behind that line you've got real trouble the rams have a very fast defensive secondary campbell and as he popped into george andrews number 52. so andrew's at 223 and he caught campbell before he gets started you don't see campbell bounce back very often george andrews better put this in his highlight file you don't get many shots like that on earl campbell normally the guys who bounce like that are the defenders he's running over andrew's out of nebraska a line performer who's fit in very well to this defense just had the angle took advantage of it i loved earl campbell a loss of two second and 12 at the ram 40. we're in the third quarter three and a half minutes gone the oilers have taken the kickoff to start the half and have marched to this position out of the backfield carpenter get immediately at the 38-yard line and a gain of just a couple george andrews again well indeed merlin olson mr andrews has a couple of pages in his book first a hit on campbell and then only a two yard game on the pass [Music] one of the problems the oilers had last year they completed a lot of passes but they weren't getting the average yardage that you need you've got to get more than two yards on a pass to make it worthwhile for you staedler i'm sure will be looking a little deeper but does not have the velocity to get the ball as deep as he could early in his career looks like the rams may have a linebacker coming they do joe harris he's picked off pass is complete to renpro but rod perry stops him shy of the first down stabler will look to what has been the houston offense so far tony fresh again but that play again typical of the kind of teamwork you need between quarterback and receiver stabler under pressure and renfro sensing that coming back to the ball they are going to go for it apparently fourth and five down by 11 points files figures a field goal still keeps them outside a touchdown and an extra point so the orders will go for it interesting choice he gambled earlier with a pass out of front formation and now going forward on fourth down fourth and five down the middle great catch and a touchdown rob carpenter rolls the dice stabler gets him a seven and back saber six for six on the drive doing exactly what his coach wanted him to do finds the open man a very steady receiver rob carpenter that's a fine catch in traffic rams colliding with each other and sliding right out of the end zone to try the extra point out of rheinfeldt's hole so houston scoring on its first possession right back into the game oops two very uncharacteristic gambles for head coaches in the nfl unusual for them to to go for that kind of play there's the snake a 33-yard pass to carpenter defense made contact to be a five-yard penalty on a kickoff you wonder what eddie biles had going through his mind as that particular play was being played we'll give you a little feeling for that we'll show you what he did one right after this kick nails it down the middle it's 17-13 rams let's watch that files reaction to that touchdown throw in the play he's set to gamble that was one of those i told you that we'll be back in anaheim 9 51 left third quarter fell 81 it's as hard hit and the tenth play of the drive came on fourth down and five 33-yard touchdown play stabler to that man preston carpenter rob carpenter going back a ways to call him president tony frisch kicks it deep and drew hill lets it go fresh has shown every touch on the kickoff he hit it high left high right short high and deep and low and drove it over hill's head you just tell me how you want to kick i'll kick it that way it doesn't have to be deep but if you want it deep i'll get it deep 38 year old elf from vienna first game he saw in the nfl he kicked two field goals of over 40 yards i wonder if he'll challenge blanda's record of playing until he's 49. rams down their lead whittle to four and it's tyler for the 22. i've always wondered about this merlin whether as an offensive player or defensive player uh you get ready for the second half then suddenly the other team generates a long time consuming drive it's been about 15 20 minutes since the ram offense has taken the field at the half how did that affect them it hurts you hurt you to sit the other thing that hurts you is when a team comes out that has been outplayed in the first half and puts as much of a drive together as they did as convincing the drivers used to did turns the momentum around up to the ram offense if they can to get their team back on the scoreboard again turn the momentum again second and eight is hayden to throw a little screen to tyler and he's hammered at the 28-yard line prior to that play you saw a close-up on the sidelines of number 77 angelo fields of the houston oilers 6-6 and 318 pounds is field from michigan state we actually have two of the very biggest players in the nfl in this game fields who has not had a chance to play much and until he loses a little more weight i doubt that eddie biles will give him a chance on the other side of the field we've got a a six foot five inch 310 pounder phil murphy who has had a chance to play although he's nursing a bad ankle right now even high tony frisch in fields uniform sure tyler on third and two and he's got the first down at the ram 32-yard line running behind irv panky the left tackle who's back in the game tyler doing a better job of covering that football we had talked earlier about the difficulty he's had during his career with fumbles he has not fumbled the ball today but you see it there you see him carrying that ball loosely in the open field but at least he's learned to tighten it up pull it in as he gets into traffic 17 houston 13 first down intercepted bingham to the 20 to the 19 yard line greg bingham notre dame recruited him but got a chance to sign dave casper took casper bingham west to purdue became an all big ten linebacker and he really made a quick move here merlin dick i don't think hayden is seeing those linebackers i think he's just seeing his receivers i don't think he's seeing those blue shirts come in there that's the third interception today and certainly a fine play by bingham but a pass that never should have been thrown peyton zipped the ball but bingham just uh there at plenty of time i don't know that uh that hayden is seeing the defenders as well as he's going to have to so houston trailing by four a chance to get the lead between thomas and cromwell and stayers the rams being reminded very forcefully that football is a four-quarter game resting apparently on their laurels in the first half they've been shocked with two quick touchdowns from kenny stabler that one a deep shot to kenny burrow stabler he's thrown nine times this half nine straight completions cromwell was kind of an interesting move all of a sudden went right by and bro cut in behind him apparently cromwell felt somebody else had that coverage [Applause] driver point by frisch is good so in a matter of just a little over a minute houston has 14 points let's see if we can see what happened to cromwell i think cromwell was was on kenny burrow i think he's actually just over covered it he's ahead of kenny burrow doing too good a job of covering paul thrown behind him pearl sucks it in for the td bingham's interception 20-yard touchdown houston leads by three ken stabler number 12. he's been in camp just a week and a half he's thrown two touchdowns here in this third quarter and houston now leads for the first time 2017 and drew hill will not run out the long kickoff by tony fritsch so the old man can still put a good leg to it at 68 yards in the air and on the touch back rams have it at the 20-yard line and hayden is booed as he comes on the field it's got to be very difficult for him in his home park to have his own fans wrapped around his neck that's just an extra weight for him to carry on to that field with two touchdown passes and three interceptions the three interceptions have led to two field goals and a touchdown costing 13 points that's wadi in motion and tyler good block from kent hill and tyler ducks out of bounds at the 35-yard line what a job by camp hill number 72 number one pick out a georgia tech in 79. a chance to get down at field level but on your helmet you'll see 72 leading this play and he gets tangled up right there but continues right on over the top now crucial block right there on jc wilson number 33 a bulldog on him number 26 tyler busting to the outside around ryan phelps vernon perry finally writing him out number 32 of the order 12 yards on the play first down and it's colin bryant running through a tackle and a flag goes down as brian cries to the 36 yard line and it's in a spot thrown by the umpire where you suspect holding a step that gives you some credibility we've talked about the importance of not throwing the interceptions last year stabler had real interception problems and a good quarterback should have about a one-to-one ratio on touchdowns and interceptions last year stabler threw 13 touchdowns 28 interceptions and so far hayden zero for four offense number 61. i'll take it back that's last year's staff for hate who was playing in a backup situation four interceptions no touchdowns and of course he's got his interceptions today had ten interceptions and three touchdowns in the and that's why the fans are upset course you have said that the rams let paragon will get away there's a completion of tyler a little short pass and an awkward tackle and those are the kinds you don't like to see tyler apparently is okay down at the 33-yard line let's pause briefly for station identification this is the nbc television network pbrc tv channel 2 houston rams getting back 10 yards plus one at second and nine stabler is nine for the last nine though he's on a hot streak the all-time record burt jones completed 17 in a row tyler met by daryl hunt number 50 from oklahoma after a short game it'll be third and about seven hunt was a very small linebacker when it came out of oklahoma only about 220 225 pounds has beef himself up considerably and is doing a fine job for the houston oilers in the middle number 51 ted thompson comes in in a pack rams getting back 10 yards plus one at second and nine stabler is nine for the last nine so he's on a hot streak the all-time record bert jones completed 17 in a row tyler met by daryl hunt number 50 from oklahoma after a short game it'll be third and about seven hunt was a very small linebacker when it came out of oklahoma only about 220 225 pounds has beefed himself up considerably and is doing a fine job for the houston oilers in the middle number 51 ted thompson comes in in a pass situation so does carter hartwig a fifth defensive back the rams look at third down call it eight interesting too how the emotional level for the defensive team seems to jump as their offense puts some more points on the board [Applause] [Music] knocked it away from one another that ball just skied was up for hours everyone had a chance at it let's see if hayden was hit as he threw that ball no threw it off his back foot and it got away from it just flat got away from it and again the oilers knocked themselves off of that pass almost had to fair catch that one nevertheless the owners are going to get the ball as morale waits for the snap at the 20-yard line karl roaches is at the houston 24. that's a long 30 seconds over and that's returnable roaches almost worked his way free 37-yard line he returns about a 10-yard return call at nine on a 38-yard kick so houston with a ball again the third quarter has been to the oilers they lead by three i like that picture breyer said hey quit boone let's get up there he started to become a cheerleader you're not going to play me i want the rams to win these are my friends and he's got the whole trout on its feet fred dryer becomes a cheerleader pretty expensive work to be certain over 200 000 a year earl campbell busting off the right side of the 38 yard line jack youngblood made the tackle the fans are chanting we want dryer that's not the reason fred was was getting involved he just wants the crowd to get into the game positively although he'd like to play too we apologize that we've not had our usual number of updates on other games but we're experiencing problems with the telephone company we're working on that that's why you've not seen as many uh plays from elsewhere as we normally would bring you from nfl 81. second and eighth campbell bulldogged at the 41 yard line five yard shy of the first down eckerd and andrews collaborating on the stop has to be a tough thing for fred dryer it's he's going to get paid anyway but what do you do very difficult i'm sure for ray malavasi who wanted to make it possible for fred to step aside gracefully it just didn't work that way and i'm sure it is painful for freddie to be on the sideline he's been playing he's been a regular for so many years and not to be in the game and yet to have to be ready to play and then to have to stand on the sideline extremely difficult third and five boilers lead at 20 to 17 third quarter four minutes left draw play to campbell bubbles and the rams cromwell has it and just quickly spun around put his [Music] first one resulted in a touchdown let's see what happens with this one and credit joe harris number 51 with a tackle the rams have the ball campbell charred free of the football rams are recovered other scores kansas city over pittsburgh 37-33 will get them all in after this play his momentum takes him out of bounds at the 37-yard line close to a first down all right all the rest the scores today in the nfl first week of play 15 more to go baltimore surprise defeats new england 29-28 it was miami they won all four preseason games beat st louis at st lou today cincinnati rallied from 21-0 down to a victory philadelphia showed its power against the giants 24-10 dallas ease past washington 26-10 more after this play second and one tyler across the 35 a first down at the 34 of the oilers completing the nfl scoreboard for you atlanta flexing its muscle blanks new orleans 27-0 detroit victorious against the 49ers by a touchdown green bay bart starr really had him going this summer the whip out and he gets a win in the first regular season game at chicago 16 to 9. partial scores in the third quarter denver nine oakland seven as they work on andy dorris the injured oiler didn't believe that that might be the happiest man in the park right now kenny stapleton meanwhile pat hayek trying to turn the booze to cheers first down play swings it out to bryant gets a block 30 25 20 flag down and brian finally ridden down at the six yard line we may have a penalty against the rams to call it back a shame because cullen brad did a masterful job of getting his hands on that football and avoiding the traffic looked like an illegal block or illegal use of hands by one of his blockers however that's going to nullify that excellent play and an excellent call i might add by by pat one of the penalties they're calling more and more it's not a clipping call they're calling it illegal use of the hands where they're pushing the player from behind in the back it's not a 15-yard penalty but a 10 whereas they were calling it 15 yards last year because it was a block from behind if it's the hands of other ways it's just a 10 yard offense number 72 this was just a regular good old-fashioned 10-yard hold by cam hill alabasie's shaking his head we talked about the 31 penalties in two weeks but watch watch the play here watch the the play right there as as brian avoids that traffic and then picks the hole and accelerates blowing through traffic doing a fine job he has really been impressive today and continues to improve as a running back another amazing player first down 20 from the 44. tyler across the middle included a couple of blue shirts but pays the price at the 40-yard line bingham jc wilson 33 and on the stop hayden trying to work underneath the secondary of the houston oilers but that brings tyler right into contact with some of those big linebackers and bingham that smashed him again watch the football as tyler pulls it in we've talked about the way it's held loosely very dangerous let's see what he does with it here as he grabs it look at that football out like a loaf of bread boy that's if sitting at home if you're playing high school or pop warner football or college ball that's not the way to do it second down right side of the ram line off before the snap of the ball looks like saul uh looked like the center may have been a little late on that one the whole right side moved early made behind the line of scrimmage anyway the oilers undoubtedly will decline that take the penalty wasted down there's an interesting comparison uh merlin alabasi's wendell tyler has 162 yards in offense passing and rushing earl campbell 19 carries only 36 yards and two fumbles for the oilers yet houston leads 2017. well the reason they lead oddly enough the passing of ken stapler is a knight for nine in this half still has completed his last nine passes all at the 44. and they took the penalty surprisingly second down at the 44-yard line well it was actually a false start before the snap they had no choice they had to take the penalty looking for pass carter hartwig the fifth defensive back in for the oilers wadi in motion going long for dinard the only thing they did wrong is not get two feet in watch the shot here on the sideline one foot down second foot just on the line had dinar been able to get that second foot down a little bit shorter only a matter of inches that would indeed have been a reception watch tamrick 27 as he well we didn't quite get all of the end of that play as he applauded the official ray malibasi hardly in that mood third and 20. nothing wrong with doris as he makes the sack the second of the game both by doris the fourth and very long all the way back to the ram 47 yard line they needed to get down to the 24 for a first down ram offense in reverse here so unable to take advantage of the euro campbell fumble it has not been a good quarter for the rams they've coughed up a 17-6 lead the boilers have a three-point advantage 20 to 17. karl roach is back at the 12. as corral punts good kick roaches dangerous six-yard line sidesteps one man and that same man comes back to make the tackle at the 13-yard line there was number 23 lucius smith a free agent pick out of cal state fullerton just down the highway from anaheim stadium breaking the action will return during the commercial break freddie dreyer applauding the reaction of the fans who are cheering and chatting we want drier got to think at this point that becomes a harmful uh interplay for the rams team it was all right for him to get him going to cheer the rams but for him to applaud the fact that they were chanting leewan dryer i don't like that freddie might be hurting his own case with that part of the kick ball at the houston 13-yard line the oilers with two touchdowns here in the third quarter enjoy the lead by three stabler remembers completed nine in a row rob carpenter almost broke into the clear and he knew it he had one man to beat but thomas tenaciously at the 19 it was nothing but clear sailing downfield down at field level chance to feel it be right there with rob carpenter watch him spin away from the first tackle of johnny johnson but right there thomas just bulldogged him excellent play by the little cornerback that saved the touchdown a gain of about five rob carpenter who caught a touchdown from stabler 33 yards earlier in this quarter earl campbell a big hole cromwell by the jersey stops him from a touchdown at the 40 and suddenly the oilers are doing everything right got to be a frightening experience even as talented as nolan cromwell is to be all alone with earl campbell and i don't blame him for just grabbing and hanging on you'd see it right here he just hooks up and becomes an anchor pulls into the ground 23 yards for campbell as he improves his rushing statistics letting the clock run as number eight jeff rutledge of alabama back up to hayden is warming up along the sidelines 14 seconds showing on the clock apparently they're having some difficulty with the clock and they're just going to let it run now well if pat hayden is replaced in the very first game of the regular season won't they be writing stories again this week in the los angeles in orange county newspapers ken stabler meanwhile has enjoyed an outstanding third period a couple of touchdown passes and the oilers lead the rams 20-17 we'll be right back after these messages from your local station just moments ago hayden had his head bowed apparently he knows that jeff rutledge is going to be the quarterback in the next series another lonely moment for hayden who is intercepted three times two touchdown passes meanwhile houston as we open the fourth quarter with a 20-17 lead first down play campbell breaking a tackle to get to the 43-yard line we have not been able to bring you the usual number of nfl 81 updates highlights from other games because of difficulties with telephone company a t and we're sorry that we're not able to give you those great plays from elsewhere in the nashville football league but this far home company has not been able to resolve their problems elsewhere it's denver nine oakland seven in the fourth quarter that would be a major upset and buffalo breezing past the jets thirty one nothing everyone felt the jets were around the man going to really start fast but chuck knox's bills had other thoughts today second and six campbell with some running room johnny johnson saved the touchdown this time that's three times in this series that the last ram tackler has been able to bring down the ball carrier first carpenter and now twice it's campbell breaking into the clear campbell contained so well in the first half it just exploded here in the second half making the most of the running room he can get down that sideline and showing you the kind of speed that is so incredible for a back that size want to make one statistical correction merlin stabler has completed his last eight we forgot cliff parsley had one of those completions in there so eighth grade for stabler who has no thoughts of passing apparently now the way the running game is geared up right into the stunt by the rams as larry brooks knifed through to make the tackle for a loss on carpenters well again stabler showing his experience he's got his lead and he also has begun to get some some ground out of his running game and he knows that if he keeps that ball on the ground he eats the clock and right now if he can do that and maintain control of the football he takes away the opportunity for the rams to do anything second and 12. [Music] look at campbell run through a tackle and dive to the 28-yard line leroy irvin finally made this stop so here is campbell what a great athlete he is checked for the first half did not have a good heaven suddenly he's just ripping the ram defense apart at the seams here in the second half you saw george andrews knocked camel down earlier watch campbell get even he knocks about three or four rams down on this play i don't think that we'll ever see a more punishing runner than earl campbell was in his rookie year his first year and he's not much less punishing today yards in his first three seasons and he's close to the 100 yard mark today third and four campbell on the draw stopped at the line of scrimmage and then tackled before he could make the first down yardage cody jones and mike fanning made the play for the rams here comes tony frisch and the field goal unit for houston to be a long shot for him close to a 50-yarder bridge a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter and came back with a 41-yard connection in the second the line of scrimmage the 27 if the oilers a 45-yard attempt and ted thompson has the ball taken right out of his hands by a fellow member of that defensive unit and the rams deny fresh a three-pointer someone leaping high behind the line of scrimmage to bat it down jack youngblood number 85 amanda got his hands knock that up away and let's see if that turns the momentum got the crowd back in it as the rams youngblood blocks the three-point play new quarterback for los angeles rutledge when we return 11 53 left bryant dumbledore in new york at rich stadium in buffalo the bills are pouring it on the lowly jets roosevelt leaks doing the honors from a yard out it is now 31-00 bills out in front dick merlin brian on the sidelines head bowed pat hayden jeff rutledge is the new quarterback merlin the leadership of the team it's geared so much to the play of the quarterback here already in the first game hayden out i've got a feel though that malavesa is so concerned about hayden's inability to keep from making that mistake throwing that interception that he's willing to make a change this early rutledge played very well against the dallas cowboys throwing strikes playing extremely well against the tough defense let's see what he can do here houston leads 20 to 17 replays to tyler and he is trapped by ted washington 59. also in on the play greg bingham at the 30-yard line dick the whole tempo of this game has changed though the oiler defense has come alive here in the second half certainly the ram defense has gone to sleep and the ram offense so productive in the first half has been able unable to do anything here rams led at the half 17 to six but houston took the kickoff to start the second half march for a long touchdown 33-yard play to carpenter it was a fourth and five play by the way flag down and out of bounds rutledge's that's a key point to remember in this game that houston down 17-6 did not go for the field goal but on fourth and five stabler passed a carpenter for a touchdown then an interception by bingham and on the very first place stabler hit burrow 20 yards for a score and suddenly houston has jumped into the lead 2017. jeff rutledge on that last play is going to get a little bit of a initiation from number 52 robert brazil but the oilers were offsides and uh got themselves marked up for it hello alvin buffet 65 too quick on the snap offside second and two and a half tyler trouble getting his balance does drive to the 36 yard line he'll be short of a first down by a yard well ball bear bryant is bama team a winner again last night against lsu and got two of his pupils on the field pat hayden of course not one of them jeff rutledge a graduate of bama 79 and of course ken stabler in 1879 now a snake who has played very well today 68 was picked by the oakland raiders number 62 bill bain has gone into tight end big offensive guard to give them some more blocking power let's see if they go to the big fullback friday tyler almost in the clear tackled they ran right in behind the blocking of number 32 colin bryant tyler just about broke it loose you often see that on a short yardage plate and everyone uptight and if you can't pop loose they've got to run you down from behind you know stabler doesn't make himself look very attractive but everyone who's known him and played with him basically they really like him as a man he's a cliche a man's man rutledge might go all the way all the way to the 20-yard 39 yard completion jeff rutledge to henry child child showing you the kind of speed and running ability that the rams just have not had and rutledge read the defense perfectly you can't lay that ball out there more gracefully than he did there look at charles run right out of that tackle finally number 27 stem right getting into the ground i don't think this young man is happy he's going to get down there and get everything put back together let's see if they can put this drive together it'll be first down rams at the houston 20-yard line when we return the rams in field goal range brian dumbleton new york at mile high stadium in denver the broncos continue to surprise the raiders jim plunkett operating behind his offensive line down by two under a heavy rush tries to throw its sidearm intercepted by larry evans raider steel trail 9-7 dick thank you brian here in anaheim houston 20 the rams 17 you see the time remaining less than 10 minutes ray malavesti's team at the 20th houston first down regulates the quarterback tyler he has all the ram rushing yards in this half 35 yards total for tyler greg bingham who was shaken up on the pass play rutledge to childs of 39 yards comes back into the lineup for houston bingham who is starting now in his 126th consecutive game he's the die hard battery he never fails to start playing right now with a finger that's been operated on splintered together got a couple of pins in it he doesn't even slow down second and five at the 15. tyler again and it was robert brazil with the stop at the 13-yard and a tough three for the rams and malavesi now with hayden out of the game is calling the plays buy signals is he not or is he sending in he's sending in players he also can signal probably a combination of both frank corral now loosening up his leg he may get the call if they don't pick up this first down and the 13 third and three juani right left tyler he didn't make it to the 11-yard line good interior defense by the oilers and that of course has been their strength through the years and here comes the field goal team on for what apparently would be a tying field goal and the fans don't like it play to tie it home rory valerci a conservative coach by nature is not the kind of coach that wants to take those easy gambles he'd rather get the tie and then count on the quality of his team to get another field goal or a touchdown on the board or force it into overtime and it is no good he missed to the left so 29 yard attempt fails to hit it and now the fans are really unhappy corral has only kicked two field goals during the season did not kick at all during the preseason hit an earlier one in this game hooks the ball just outside very very close but close this is cabinet football the wave of the officials and watch ray malavesi's reaction furious so the rams a long drive to zero houston has the ball at the 20 and they still own a 2017 lead back at anaheim fred dreyer his string of 174 consecutive games apparently will end today in uniform but apparently really not a part of the rams plans pat hayden out of the game lack of performance jeff rutledge has replaced him and ken stabler has had a good game helped by this man earl campbell against five on first down dreyer who wants to play yet obviously knows the rams do not have plans for him except the fact that he has a contract worth over 200 dollars that he says hey you you said you wouldn't cut me or wave me and stapler who said he had retired changed his mind and back he comes under a cloud of controversy oh he certainly has played to 17 well [Music] campbell again good tackle by mike fanning the former notre dame american 6 6 and 260. grams shifting their defense to the weak side in anticipation of a weak side run campbell trying to juke a little bit and get through there mike fanning just reached across with those long arms and pulled him right down that was an exceptionally good defensive play clock running six minutes 13 seconds left in the game campbell has 100 yards on 26 carries he is amazing an off day and he has his 100 yard line goes earl campbell tyler rose is down but perhaps more from exhaustion than an injury although he was hitting his side dick i think he's hurt he did not see rod perry from the outside perry took his leg out from underneath him with a low tackle which is the only way to try and tackle earl but i think maybe he's hurt 123 yards now after that gallop to the 49-yard line watch perry come back from the outside you did not see he did not see perry at all number 49 perry had been taken out of the play another shot now watch the leg right right from the outside from the right side of your screen right there oh okay well that that's not nearly as frightening to see it from that side because it probably is a bruise rather than a torn knee but still he took a heavy shot on the leg his foot was not planted the thing you would worry about had that foot been planted and he'd taken that shot he might have torn the knee but it seemed the other knee the knee away from the contact it really buckled that's possible too that's the franchise that eddie files is kneeling over okay dick new head coach dan reeves inherited a great defense from red miller when he took over this denver unit it is still containing the oakland raiders here kenny king loses the handle and don latimer comes up with it broncos threatening the pad a 9-7 lead dick thank you bryant earl campbell the good news on his feet boy did he take a lick and you can see now how important it is for the athlete to know where the contact is coming from he did not see the man who hit him and of course that in that relaxed manner really took a pop campbell has great vision but look at him he's expecting all the action from the inside did not see perry from the outside and was not prepared for that shot again from from another low camera angle you see the hit right there he's lucky he was not more seriously injured badger armstrong replaces him and armstrong on his first carry goes to the 44-yard line nolan cromwell with a tackle that was armstrong's first ever nfl rush and he gets a solid seven so the oilers chewing up the clock it ticks down to the five-minute mark and ray malavesi after his team missed the short field goal of 29 yards that would have tied it showing some concern renfro breaks huddle to the left burrow to the right the tight end casper on the left side armstrong stays in with tim wilson it's wilson so the 42-yard line is going to be very close to a first down carl made the tackle johnny johnson on the assist as we sat before the start of the game interestingly migrating toward each other drier met stabler they talked and hayden came in the three men who've had to battle controversy and they're on the ram sidelines the two figures alone alone in essence in their own grief one of our best friends in the picture also chuck benedict long time sportscaster out here a man who helped me get a start a long time ago third and short crucial down for the ram defense they'd love to force the houston oiler offense to make a decision here on fourth down armstrong but at the bottom of that pile there's a lot of fighting going on for that football let me tell you apparently two men both have a grasp on the football it's a matter of which has the advantage nobody wants to admit that the other the other person has the football he better believe they're about a dozen arms around that football the bottom of that stack campbell coming on one play too late his replacement badger armstrong has fumbled and the rams get a chance outside their 40-yard line surprisingly the report from the field is that campbell injured his shoulder on that tackle so has rob carpenter so with his two starting backs wounded eddie files has a problem although it did appear campbell was going to come into play had that not been a fumble jeff rutledge has another opportunity to move the ram offense down the field got to believe that the houston defense is really stoked though they're angry they did not feel that that ball was possessed by the los angeles rams time out with three minutes and 49 seconds left the rams trailing by three 20-17 to the houston oilers [Music] frank corral he could be a very key figure in these final minutes denver still leading oakland in the fourth quarter 9-7 at buffalo steamrolling the jets 31-nothing in the fourth funnel recovery and jeff rutledge just back up quarterback to hayden on first down to dinar tackle at the houston 47 very close to a first down preston dinard set in motion from the outside forcing a change in the secondary but watch him he cuts up before he hits the line of scrimmage before he goes across the center and finds an open spot and that ball is just ripped to him greg bingham quickly in to get a piece of the tackle but they've given him the first down rams on the ball again kramer houston 46. plenty of time oh my wendell tyler at the 35. rutlands with half the afternoon to find an open man tyler was free and went right through his hands a case of having too much time i'm sure tyler waiting for that ball rutledge realizing he could throw it with a little bit less than full zip and tyler anxiously waiting for it trying to run before he got it locked away three minutes two seconds left in the fourth quarter the rams need a field goal at a time reminder that corral has made last year only made two out of 12 outside the 40-yard line again great protection first down at the 25 yard line to billy what is good protection from his offensive line watch this catch in traffic great concentration took it right out of the midst of carter hartwig who thought he had an interception the time was called because of the problem with the equipment the rams rather than furry a play and make a mistake with 236 left spend one of their time out i think that's a wise move they realize they've got a young quarterback in there he'd lost his shoe he was hurrying they didn't want him to hurry into a poor play or a bad throw they call the timeout they'll talk it over they'll send him back in with a play ratley just three for four 70 yards since replacing dave here in the second half let's just set the situation for you as eddie biles talks with robert brazil the ball at the 25 should the rams not gain a yard that would be a 42-yard field goal that's in the range of corral although as we said he hit only two of 12 outside the 40 last year and he's still nursing a groin injury that has limited his ability to kick and his ability to practice corral has a powerful leg but he has not been kicking off has not kicked that many field goals in practice they account for the fact that he missed that short one here earlier in this quarter in fact he was talking a couple of weeks ago merlin of kicking off left footed as a soccer player as is fresh he says that i have just as powerful a leg left footed and then i might just go to that technique on kickoff he did not first down los angeles at the houston 25 236 left wadi and dinard to the right willie miller split out of your picture to the left a draw out of paul bryant no sir a loss of a yard brazil from up top but it was bingham down low made the tackle a good call on first and ten grams have been passing on that down but the draw fooled no one there's someone interested from the sideline he's watching the clock board watching that clock tick down and another tony frisch saying i wonder if the old viennese melodies are ringing back in the homes to the country he's a cool customer two minutes remaining in the game well the opener in anaheim has been a dramatic one and the rams at least in a position for a field goal tie back at anaheim stadium two minutes left at cambrigg and merlin olsen where please are with us here on nbc sports for our football doubleheader on opening day some upsets around the nfl and houston oilers trying to add to that list as they have the rams down 20 to 17 but los angeles in position at the houston 27 second down and 12. jeff rutledge number eight in relief of pat hayden who threw two touchdown passes but also was guilty of three interceptions again great protection down the middle incomplete at the six yard line carter hartwick 36 reinfeld 37 wilson 33 bingham 54 as drew hill drew a crowd three wide receivers in the game for the rams and i've got to believe that a more experienced quarterback would have gone to a an outlet receiver in that situation and picked up four or five yards rutledge going with the original philosophy of the play trying to get deep threw into a crowd almost got it intercepted bernard and waddy wright willie miller is on the left side three wide receivers being used by the rams on third and twelve over the middle again and open is wadi at the 19 but that's going to be short of the first down and sarah coming down field to help out with a block on brazil so here comes corral with a second chance ball at the 19. it's fourth down and three this will be a 36-yard attempt he missed from 29. with one and a half left the rams go for a tie hoping to force overtime cromwell a great athlete to hold cromwell has run for a touchdown out of field goal take 36 yards away from a tie [Applause] it's good it just did hook inside [Applause] relishing that opportunity to get himself out of the bed racist of his coaches out of the role of goat successfully putting that one through the uprights let's watch it from the end zone it looked just like the other one merlin but it stayed inside that's a little close that's a little good time isn't it so at your armstrong fumble jeff rutledge with a couple of long completions got the rams close enough that corral could connect on a 36-yard field goal and with one minute nine seconds left it's buckled up houston in a 20-20 kenny stadler a great two-minute quarterback although he has not had a great deal of time to work on the two-minute offense and i'm sure there have been some changes in that two-minute offense that may hurt them here in this last part of the fourth quarter although if he can get in range for tony frisch tony has a powerful leg might be the deciding factor in this ball game you think of the 33-yard line forces a 40-yard placement or a 50-yard field goal so 33 is about the magic spot that houston would like to drive to to give fish at least a long chance but we're getting ahead of ourselves tulas and roaches are deep corral high and fairly deep tullis at the sixth five yard line he breaks into the clear all the way at the 40. he is rookie an eighth round draft pick from troy state willie thomas 95 yard touchdown kicking that ball away from karl roaches they felt that he was the most dangerous return man but willie tell us give them something else to worry about tremendous speed mike guma number 44 can't get to him chance right there for our last man to get in front no chance on into the end zone let's see if they can get the extra point well one of the new faces making himself nationally known frisch tacks on the extra point and now it's the rams with 57 seconds left trailing by a touchdown willie tullis troy state how do you do you don't have to add much to that kind of play it tells the story visually leroy irving number 47 the man who has the last shot at him we welcome the oakland denver audience on nbc just seeing a denver bronco upset and you're about to see another here at anaheim stadium that is willie tullis an eighth-round draft pick of the houston oilers in a 2020 tie telus has just taken a kickoff after corella tied the game on a field goal taking the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and houston leads 27-20 with 57 seconds left and look at the smiles on the houston sidelines leon gray 74. and now it's the rams turn and they have a dangerous return man drew hill who returned one on opening day last year 98 yards for a touchdown against the lions he's deep but is not even to the 20-yard line well covered and look who made the tackle dave casper on the special team and all throw tied in on the special teams and he was hurt on that tackle let's see the 217th draft pick somebody knew something will he tell us tell us it impressed these coaches with his desire to play and his speed he'll leave a lasting impression on the los angeles rams with this play carter hartwig was the man who threw the block last block downfield rutledge completes [Applause] the rams had to use a timeout earlier in this quarter when rutledge lost his shoe they didn't want to hurry into the play another clock working against him they have two timeouts left down to 34 33 they don't use one fretledge in the hurry up offense down the middle intercepted by the houston oilers and that will just about do it and appear to be and they're carrying him off the field j.c wilson has had his troubles in the first part of this camp her first part of the season training camp comes back makes a big play here to ice this victory for eddie biles and his first regular season start as a head coach and you can just feel the enthusiasm and excitement from that oiler match and willie tullis was the man who ignited that emotional spark what a story you know there are many games reporters say when it's all over what are we going to write about well you could write for a week on this game the developments before and during and now the effect hayden benched for the reserve rutledge stabler and only 10 days of work playing magnificently in the second half a rookie from nowhere troy state and no listen to you folks that have gone to that fine institution i mean not a lot of folks know about you and he is now the star as he gives the orders the win 27-20 here at anaheim stadium a disappointed anaheim stadium crowd but a joyous band of oilers with another nfl upset almost like watching two different games the first half convincingly dominated by the rams the second half though totally dominated by the oilers lots of upsets today kansas city beats pittsburgh baltimore and upset over new england miami now they were figured although a tough one at st louis cincinnati had to come from behind philadelphia won easily so did dallas atlanta a big win against new orleans final detroit the touchdown win over san francisco green bay wins so does denver an upset over the world champion raiders buffalo breezing against the jets and here in anaheim will they tell us a 95-yard kickoff return in the final minute to win it for houston now stay tuned for disney's wonderful world the barefoot executive scene in its entirety except in the west coast most mountain time zones where it will be seen at its regularly scheduled time that's the story from anaheim stadium dick enberg with merlin olsen thank you for being with us the houston oilers have beaten the los angeles rams 27 to 20. a promotional fee 12 ken stabler of the houston oilers [Music] now known mainly as a ball control passer stabler is the only quarterback with a career completion percentage of over 60 percent [Music] before stabler came to houston from oakland the snake was known for his long-range bombs which makes his career completion percentage all the more remarkable [Music] last week kenny stabler completed 65 percent of his passes against the rams this week harry the rams back pat hayden also has super bowl aspirations the only time los angeles was there he was injured against the oilers the much maligned hayden got his team off to a running start hayden threw two touchdown passes in the first half as the rams offense picked up where it left off last season of course vince ferragamo was the quarterback in 1980 a point los angeles fans have not allowed hayden to forget but at the end of the first half against houston it was los angeles 17 and the oilers 6. [Music] the oilers have a quarterback who's not only been to the super bowl but who's led his team to victory there ken stabler 12 days out of retirement calmly brought houston back into the game throwing two touchdown passes in the third quarter

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Length: 141min 18sec (8478 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 28 2020