1989 Los Angeles Rams season

1989 Los Angeles Rams season
Head coach John Robinson
Owner Georgia Frontiere
Home field Anaheim Stadium
Results
Record 11–5
Division place 2nd NFC West
Playoff finish Won Wild Card (Eagles) 21-7
Won Divisional Playoffs (Giants) 19-13
Lost NFC Championship Game (49ers) 3-30

The 1989 Los Angeles Rams season was the team’s 52nd year with the National Football League and the 44th season in Los Angeles. It constituted their last postseason appearance in Los Angeles before owner Georgia Frontiere, who would eventually move the team, sold many top players, and they were only stopped by a powerful 49ers team from reaching the Super Bowl. It also constituted their last winning season until 1999 in St. Louis, and last as the L.A. Rams until 2017.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Roster

1989 Los Angeles Rams roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Rookies in italics

Regular season

In week 16, Jerry Gray returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown. The victory over the New England Patriots clinched a playoff berth for the Rams.

Schedule

GameDateOpponentResultRams pointsOpponentsSummaryRecordAttendance
1Sept. 10at Atlanta FalconsWin3121Falcons rookie Deion Sanders gave the home crowd an early lift with a punt return TD (despite fumbling the ball twice), but Rams pulled away in the second half behind 128 yards rushing and two touchdowns by Greg Bell. Kevin Greene had three sacks.1–0
38,708
2Sept. 17Indianapolis ColtsWin3117Jim Everett and Henry Ellard hooked up for three scores as the Rams had another strong second half.2–0
63,995
3Sept. 24Green Bay PackersWin4138Rams rolled to a 38–7 halftime lead behind Bell's 221 rushing yards and 2 TD's and 2 more TD passes by Everett, but barely held off a furious comeback from the Packers behind Don Majkowski3–0
57,701
4Oct. 1at San Francisco 49ersWin1312Rams got early NFC West bragging rights in a tough road win. Everett hit Willie Anderson on a 65-yard TD bomb for the game's only TD.4–0
64,250
5Oct. 8Atlanta FalconsWin2614Everett passed for two touchdowns and Mike Lansford booted four field goals.5–0
52,182
6Oct. 16at Buffalo BillsLoss2023In a wild Monday night affair, Frank Reich, subbing for an injured Jim Kelly, tossed a pair of 4th quarter TD passes including the game winner to Andre Reed.5–1
76,231
7Oct. 22New Orleans SaintsLoss2140A 2–4 Saints team blew out the Rams on their home turf behind 3 TD passes by Bobby Hebert. Saints local product Dalton Hilliard from LSU had 3 TD's, two rushing and one receiving.5–2
57,567
8Oct. 29at Chicago BearsLoss1020Rams lost their third straight in the cold of Chicago as the Bear defense held Everett to 13 of 35 passing and intercepted him twice.5–3
65,506
9Nov. 5at Minnesota VikingsLoss2123In a highly unusual OT loss, the Rams kept the Vikings out of the end zone, but Vikings kicker Rich Karlis booted seven FG's. The winning score came when LB Mike Merriweather blocked a Dale Hatcher punt out of the end zone for a safety. The Vikings became the first NFL team ever to win in sudden death OT on a safety.5–4
59,600
10Nov. 12New York GiantsWin3110Rams got back to their winning ways behind two Everett TD passes and two Bell TD runs.6–4
65,127
11Nov. 19Phoenix CardinalsWin3714Rams rolled to a 24–0 halftime lead and cruised behind two more TD passes from Everett. Robert Delpino had a 32-yd TD run as well.7–4
53,176
12Nov. 26at New Orleans SaintsWin2017Saints were in control at the Superdome, leading 17–3 after 3. Everett, however, led the Rams back behind 454 passing yards, a record 336 of them receiving on 15 catches in a monster performance by Willie Anderson.8–4
64,274
13Dec. 3at Dallas CowboysWin3531Everett outdueled Dallas rookie Troy Aikman in a spirited performance by the 1–11 Cowboys. Both QB's had 4 TD's passing.9–4
46,100
14Dec. 11San Francisco 49ersLoss2730In a classic MNF performance, Joe Montana tossed three TD's, two of them for over 90 yards to John Taylor. Rams led 27-10 entering the final period when Montana hit Mike Wilson for a TD to cut it to 27-17. The Rams were driving to a TD when Everett fumbled a snap at the 49er 4, and on the very next play, Montana hit Taylor for a 96-yd TD to cut it to 27–23. The 49ers capped their amazing comeback a Roger Craig TD run after Ron Brown fumbled the ensuing kickoff.9–5
67,959
15Dec. 17New York JetsWin3814Back at home, the Rams took out their frustrations on the Jets by rolling to a 28–7 halftime lead and cruising behind two passing TD's from Everett and two rushing from Bell.10–5
53,063
16Dec. 24at New England PatriotsWin2420Bell ran for 210 yards and the winning score in the 4th as the Rams clinched a wild-card berth.11–5
27,940

[1]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(1) 14 2 0 .875 5–1 10–2 442 253 W5
Los Angeles Rams(5) 11 5 0 .688 4–2 8–4 426 344 W2
New Orleans Saints 9 7 0 .563 3–3 5–7 386 301 W3
Atlanta Falcons 3 13 0 .188 0–6 1–11 279 437 L7

Playoffs

NFC Wild Card Game

Los Angeles Rams 21, Philadelphia Eagles 7
1 2 34Total
Rams 14 0 0721
Eagles 0 0 077

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

NFC Divisional Playoff

Los Angeles Rams 19, New York Giants 13 (OT)
1 2 34OTTotal
Rams 0 7 06619
Giants 6 0 70013

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

The Rams upset the Giants with quarterback Jim Everett's 30-yard touchdown pass to Flipper Anderson with 1:06 gone in overtime. New York jumped to a 6–0 lead in the first quarter with two field goals by kicker Raul Allegre. With 17 seconds left in the first half, Anderson caught a 20-yard touchdown reception from Everett to take a 7–6 lead.

In the third quarter, Giants running back Ottis Anderson scored on a 2-yard touchdown. But in the fourth period, Los Angeles kicker Mike Lansford made two field goals to tie the game, the second one coming with 3:01 left in regulation. Rams receiver Henry Ellard had the best postseason performance of his career with 8 receptions for 125 yards.

NFC Championship Game

San Francisco 49ers 30, Los Angeles Rams 3
1 2 34Total
Rams 3 0 003
49ers 0 21 3630

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

The 49ers crushed the Rams with 442 total yards and held the ball for 39:48.

Awards and records

  • Flipper Anderson, NFL Game Record, Most Receiving Yards in One Game, 336 yards (vs. New Orleans Saints on November 26, 1989) [2]
  • Jerry Gray, NFC Pro Bowl Selection
  • Jerry Gray, Pro Bowl MVP

See also

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1989

References

  1. ↑ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/1989.htm
  2. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 98
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