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1984 Los Angeles Rams season

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1984 Los Angeles Rams season
OwnerGeorgia Frontiere
Head coachJohn Robinson
Home fieldAnaheim Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place2nd NFC West
Playoff finishLost Wild Card (Giants) 7-10

The 1984 Los Angeles Rams season was the franchise’s 47th year with the National Football League and the 39th season in Los Angeles. The Rams looked to improve on their 9–7 record from 1983 and make the playoffs for the second consecutive season and 10th in the last 12. They improved on their record by one game, going 10–6, good enough for second place in the NFC West behind the 15–1 San Francisco 49ers. In the playoffs, the Rams lost a low-scoring game to the New York Giants at home, 16–13. During this season, second-year running back Eric Dickerson set the NFL record for most rushing yards in a season, with 2,105 yards.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Roster

1984 Los Angeles Rams roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}}

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Eric Dickerson

In his second season, Dickerson continued his onslaught of the NFL record book. As a rookie, Dickerson established rookie records for most rushing attempts (390), most rushing yards gained (1,808) and most touchdowns rushing (18), including another two receiving touchdowns.[1] His efforts earned him All-Pro, Pro Bowl, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors.[2]

Eleven times during the 1984 season, he gained more than 100 yards rushing, breaking the record of 100-yard games in a season held by O.J. Simpson. His 2,105 total yards rushing in the 1984 NFL season beat Simpson’s 1973 NFL season record of 2,003 yards rushing in a single season. To date, no one has rushed for more yards in a single NFL season. However, Simpson’s career high rushing total came in a 14-game season, whereas Dickerson’s mark was set during a 16-game season.[1] Dickerson broke OJ’s record with a 215-yard performance in a 27–16 Rams win over the Houston Oilers in Week 15.

Schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Rams points Opponents Record Summary Attendance
1 September 3, 1984 Dallas Cowboys L 13 20 0–1 In this Monday Night opener, Rams got off to 13–0 first quarter lead with Eric Dickerson running for a touchdown, but the Cowboys stormed back behind 343 passing yards by new QB Gary Hogeboom and a defense that held Vince Ferragamo to 11 pass completions in 33 attempts and just 84 yards, and intercepted 5 passes.
65,403
2 September 9, 1984 Cleveland Browns W 20 17 1–1 Mike Lansford kicked a late FG to win it. Dickerson had 102 yards rushing and CB Leroy Irvin returned a pickoff 81 yards for a touchdown.
43,043
3 September 16, 1984 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 14 24 1–2 Steelers defense held Dickerson to 49 yards and got 2 passing touchdowns from David Woodley. Ferragamo threw 2 more INT's, giving him eight in three games. He was injured in this game & replaced by Jeff Kemp, who would be the starter for the rest of the season.
58,104
4 September 23, 1984 at Cincinnati Bengals W 24 14 2–2 Dickerson ran for a touchdown and Kemp passed for another. Bengals scored late on a touchdown pass from Ken Anderson to Cris Collinsworth and tried an onside kick, but Mike Guman scooped it up and ran for the final touchdown.
45,406
5 September 30, 1984 New York Giants W 33 12 3–2 Rams’ defense tied an NFL-record by scoring three safeties. They also held the Giants to 8 yards rushing. Henry Ellard returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown, and Kemp continued to play mistake-free football, passing for another touchdown.
53,417
6 October 7, 1984 Atlanta Falcons L 28 30 3–3 The game lead changed six times in the second half. The Falcons won on three rushing touchdowns by Lynn Cain and a late FG by Mick Luckhurst
47,832
7 October 14, 1984 at New Orleans Saints W 28 10 4–3 Dickerson ran for 175 yards. Kemp completed only 8 passes, but three were for touchdowns. Nolan Cromwell had an interception return touchdown.
63,161
8 October 22, 1984 at Atlanta Falcons W 24 10 5–3 Rams got revenge on the road against the Falcons as Dickerson ran for 145 yards and a touchdown and Ellard caught a pass and returned another punt for touchdowns.
52,681
9 October 28, 1984 San Francisco 49ers L 0 33 5–4 The powerful 49ers got 376 yards passing and 3 touchdowns from Joe Montana. Dickerson was held to 38 rushing yards.
65,481
10 November 4, 1984 at St. Louis Cardinals W 16 13 6–4 Kemp only completed 5 of 14 passes with one touchdown to Ron Brown and Dickerson rushed for 208 yards; Dickerson accounted for almost all of the Rams' 261 yards of offense. Lansford kicked a FG late to win the game as the Rams defense sacked Neil Lomax six times, three by veteran Jack Youngblood 51,010
11 November 11, 1984 Chicago Bears W 29 13 7–4 Rams continued their playoff push by overcoming a 10–0 deficit behind 149 yards and 2 touchdowns by Dickerson.
62,021
12 November 18, 1984 at Green Bay Packers L 6 31 7–5 Eddie Lee Ivery ran for 3 touchdowns and Tim Lewis returned an interception 99 yards for another.
52,031
13 November 25, 1984 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34 33 8–5 In a wild affair at Tampa, the Rams overcame 322 yards passing by Steve DeBerg and scored 17 4th quarter points. The Rams rushed for 299 yards, 191 by Dickerson along with 3 touchdowns.
42,242
14 December 2, 1984 New Orleans Saints W 34 21 9–5 Rams built a 24–7 halftime lead and cruised behind 2 Kemp touchdown passes and 149 yards and a touchdown from Dickerson.
49,348
15 December 9, 1984 Houston Oilers W 27 16 10–5 The Rams clinched a wild-card playoff berth and Dickerson surpassed O.J. Simpson's NFL single-season rushing record by rushing for a season-high 215 yards.
49,092
16 December 14, 1984 at San Francisco 49ers L 16 19 10–6 The 49ers got two early touchdown passes from Montana and held off a late Ram charge for the win, culminating in a sack for a safety by Gary "Big Hands" Johnson. With this win, the 49ers became the first team in NFL history to win 15 games in an NFL regular season.
59,743
WC December 23, 1984 New York Giants L 13 16 10–7 Dickerson rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown.
67,037

Game summaries

Week 5

1 234Total
Giants 6 006 12
• Rams 0 17160 33
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 70 °F (21.1 °C); humidity 73%; wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)

The Rams become the most recent NFL team, and the only one since before 1940, to score three safeties in one game as they easily defeat Phil Simms and the Giants.[3]

Week 15

1 234Total
Oilers 3 1030 16
• Rams 17 307 27
  • Eric Dickerson 27 Rush, 215 Yds (set NFL single season rushing record)

[4]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(1) 15 1 0 .938 6–0 12–0 475 227 W9
Los Angeles Rams(4) 10 6 0 .625 3–3 7–5 346 316 L1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 298 361 W1
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 .250 2–4 3–9 281 382 W1

Awards and honors

Milestones

  • Eric Dickerson, NFL Record 2,105 Rushing Yards in a Single Season

See also

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1984

References

  1. ^ a b Eric's Days as a Ram, http://www.ericdickerson29.com/rams.htm
  2. ^ Eric Dickerson: Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?PLAYER_ID=55
  3. ^ New York Giants at Los Angeles Rams. Retrieved 2014-Oct-17.
  4. ^ Houston Oilers at Los Angeles Rams. Retrieved 2014-Oct-17.