1983 Los Angeles Rams season

The 1983 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 46th year with the National Football League and the 38th season in the city of Los Angeles. The franchise drafted a future Hall of Fame Running Back in Eric Dickerson. The season saw the team attempt to improve on its 2–7 record from 1982. The team started out 5–2 before splitting their next 4 games and then lost at home to Washington to sit at 7–5. They would split their last 4 games to finish 9–7 and make the playoffs for the first time since 1980 after a 2-year absence. In the playoffs, they defeated the Cowboys 24–17 in Dallas to advance to the divisional round. However, in the game, the Rams were annihilated 51–7 by the Redskins, who would move on to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the other Los Angeles NFL team, the Los Angeles Raiders, 38–9.

1983 Los Angeles Rams season
Owner	Georgia Frontiere
Head coach	John Robinson
Home stadium	Anaheim Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoffs	Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Cowboys) 24–17 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Redskins) 7–51
← 1982 Rams seasons 1984 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1983 NFL draft

1983 Los Angeles Rams draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Eric Dickerson * †	Running back	Southern Methodist
2	32	Henry Ellard *	Wide receiver	Fresno State
2	36	Mike Wilcher	Linebacker	North Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

1983 Los Angeles Rams staff

Front office Owner/President – Georgia Frontiere Administrator of Football Operations – Jack Faulkner Director of player personnel – John Math Head coaches Head coach – John Robinson Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Jimmy Raye Quarterbacks – Bob Baker Running Backs – Bruce Snyder Offensive Line – Hudson Houck

Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Marv Goux Assistant Defensive Line – Larry Brooks Inside Linebackers – Fritz Shurmur Outside Linebackers – Fred Whittingham Defensive Backs – Steve Shafer Special teams coaches Special Teams – Gil Haskell

^[2]

Roster

1983 Los Angeles Rams roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Vince Ferragamo  4 Steve Fuller  9 Jeff Kemp Running backs (RB) 29 Eric Dickerson 44 Mike Guman 24 A. J. Jones 30 Barry Redden Wide receivers (WR) 88 Preston Dennard 80 Henry Ellard 84 George Farmer 82 Otis Grant Tight ends (TE) 86 Mike Barber 81 David Hill 83 James McDonald

Offensive linemen (OL) 62 Bill Bain T 73 Russ Bolinger G 60 Dennis Harrah G 72 Kent Hill G 68 Gary Kowalski T 64 Joe Shearin G 78 Jackie Slater T 56 Doug Smith C Defensive linemen (DL) 96 Doug Barnett DE 70 Charles DeJurnett NT 71 Reggie Doss DE 77 Gary Jeter DE 67 Myron Lapka NT 69 Greg Meisner NT 85 Jack Youngblood DE

Linebackers (LB) 52 George Andrews OLB 54 Howard Carson ILB 50 Jim Collins ILB 55 Carl Ekern ILB 59 Mark Jerue ILB 51 Dave Lewis OLB 58 Mel Owens OLB 94 Mike Wilcher OLB 66 Eric Williams ILB 53 Jim Youngblood ILB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Nolan Cromwell SS 26 Eric Harris CB 47 LeRoy Irvin CB 20 Johnnie Johnson FS 22 Vince Newsome FS 37 Ivory Sully SS 28 Mike Williams Special teams (ST)  1 Mike Lansford K  6 John Misko P 13 Chuck Nelson K

Reserve 31 Robert Alexander RB (IR) 42 Kirk Collins CB (NF-Ill.) 85 Drew Hill WR (IR) 25 Gordon Jones WR (IR) 75 Irv Pankey T (IR) 93 Doug Reed DE (IR) 57 Mike Reilly LB (Susp.) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Eric Dickerson

While he considered going to the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League, Dickerson decided to go into the National Football League at the advice of his mother because the NFL had been around longer. He was selected second overall in the 1983 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams. An immediate pro success, he established rookie records for most rushing attempts (390), most rushing yards gained (1,808) and most touchdowns rushing (18), including another two receiving touchdowns.^[3] His efforts earned him All-Pro, Pro Bowl, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors.^[4]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 4	at New York Giants	W 16–6	1–0	Giants Stadium	75,281
2	September 11	New Orleans Saints	W 30–27	2–0	Anaheim Stadium	45,572
3	September 18	at Green Bay Packers	L 24–27	2–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	54,037
4	September 25	at New York Jets	L 24–27	2–2	Shea Stadium	52,070
5	October 2	Detroit Lions	W 21–10	3–2	Anaheim Stadium	49,403
6	October 9	at San Francisco 49ers	W 10–7	4–2	Candlestick Park	59,118
7	October 16	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–21	5–2	Anaheim Stadium	50,404
8	October 23	San Francisco 49ers	L 35–45	5–3	Anaheim Stadium	66,070
9	October 30	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–30	5–4	Miami Orange Bowl	72,175
10	November 6	Chicago Bears	W 21–14	6–4	Anaheim Stadium	53,010
11	November 14	at Atlanta Falcons	W 36–13	7–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	31,202
12	November 20	Washington Redskins	L 20–42	7–5	Anaheim Stadium	63,031
13	November 27	Buffalo Bills	W 41–17	8–5	Anaheim Stadium	48,246
14	December 4	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 9–13	8–6	Veterans Stadium	32,867
15	December 11	New England Patriots	L 7–21	8–7	Anaheim Stadium	46,503
16	December 18	at New Orleans Saints	W 26–24	9–7	Louisiana Superdome	70,148
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

September 25, 1983

Week 4: Los Angeles Rams 24, New York Jets 27

Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Rams	14	0	3	7	0	24
Jets	7	7	7	3	3	27

at Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Playoffs

Main article: 1983–84 NFL playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Wildcard	December 26	at Dallas Cowboys (4)	W 24–17	1–0	Texas Stadium	43,521
Divisional	January 1, 1984	at Washington Redskins (1)	L 7–51	1–1	RFK Stadium	55,363

December 26, 1983

NFC: Los Angeles Rams 24, Dallas Cowboys 17

Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	7	10	24
Cowboys	0	7	3	7	17

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
• Game weather: 27 °F (−3 °C), mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 62,118
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Game information
Scoring LA – D. Hill 18 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) RAMS 7–0 DAL – T. Hill 14 pass from White (Septien kick) 7–7 DAL – field goal Septien 41 DAL 10–7 LA – Dennard 16 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) RAMS 14–10 LA – Farmer 8 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) RAMS 21–10 LA – field goal Lansford 20 RAMS 24–10 DAL – Cosbie 2 pass from White (Septien kick) RAMS 24–17

January 1, 1984

NFC: Washington Redskins 51, Los Angeles Rams 7

Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	7	0	0	7
Redskins	17	21	6	7	51

at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C), mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 54,440
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Game information

Scoring WAS – Riggins 3 run (Moseley kick)WAS 7–0 WAS – Monk 40 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick) 14–0 WAS – field goal Moseley 42 WAS 17–0 WAS – Riggins 1 run (Moseley kick) WAS 24–0 LA – Dennard 32 pass from Ferragamo (Lansford kick) WAS 24–7 WAS – Monk 21 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick) WAS 31–7 WAS – Riggins 1 run (Moseley kick) WAS 38–7 WAS – field goal Moseley 36 WAS 41–7 WAS – field goal Moseley 41 WAS 44–7 WAS – Green 72 interception return (Moseley kick) WAS 51–7

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers(2)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	432	293	W3
Los Angeles Rams(5)	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	361	344	W1
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	2–4	7–5	319	337	L1
Atlanta Falcons	7	9	0	.438	1–5	4–8	370	389	W1

Awards and honors

• Eric Dickerson, NFC Pro Bowl selection
• Eric Dickerson, All-Pro selection
• Eric Dickerson, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
• Eric Dickerson, UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year
• Eric Dickerson, UPI NFC Player of the Year

See also

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1983

• California Angels (Anaheim Stadium)
  • 1983 California Angels season