| | | | | | | | Monday, November 18, 2002
Are the Rams destined for failure?
By Mike Diegnan
ABC Sports Online
Marc Bulger's honeymoon with America is due to end soon. Whether it's Kurt Warner taking over the reigns next week or a loss that signals his departure, the Rams' latest wunderkind is likely to find time on the bench sometime in the near future.
But what about the Rams? Now riding a four-game winning streak, are they really over the hump or just setting themselves up for a major fall? A win on Monday night against the hapless Bears would bring them back to .500 before they set on the road for three straight weeks to Washington, Philadelphia and Kansas City.
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NFC Standings
|
| Team |
Record |
| Green Bay* |
8-2 |
| Tampa Bay* |
8-2 |
| San Francisco* |
7-3 |
| Philadelphia* |
7-3 |
| New Orleans |
7-3 |
| Atlanta |
6-3-1 |
| New York Giants |
6-4 |
| St. Louis |
4-5 |
| Washington |
4-6 |
| Arizona |
4-6 |
| Dallas |
3-7 |
| Detroit |
3-7 |
| Seattle |
3-7 |
| Minnesota |
3-7 |
| Chicago |
2-7 |
| *Division leaders |
However, when taking a look at the NFC, it's not clear if there is room for them in the postseason. The Packers are a virtual lock in the NFC North, the 49ers are in control in the NFC West, the NFC East is up for grabs with the Eagles the favorite there even without Donovan McNabb, and in the NFC South, the Bucs and Saints look playoff-bound, although the Falcons are making a move to vault them..
Heading into Monday night, the Ramsare two games behind Atlanta for the final playoff spot, a postseason berth they also must contend for with the 6-4 Giants. Having lost to the Giants during their slump, they'd lose the tiebreaker to them.
"We have to win every game," said Bulger. "We started out 0-5 and it seems like we have been winning for so long and we are still not .500. We felt like that when we were 0-5 that we could turn it around and if there was one team in the NFL that could do it, it was us. It was a hard thing to say at the time, but I think everyone in the locker room believed it."
It's easy to point to why St. Louis has won its last four games. The Rams are getting production from their big guns. They're handing the ball off to Marshall Faulk more, and he's running it effectively. Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt each had one of their more productive games of the season last week against San Diego.
More importantly, since Bulger took over for Warner, the offense is doing a better job of holding onto the ball. The Rams, who turned the ball over 15 times in their first five games, did the best they could to stop their charge by fumbling it four times against the Chargers (two of which were returned for touchdowns). In fact, since the Super Bowl last year when Ty Law's interception return for a touchdown, it seems the Rams are only vulnerable when they can't maintain control.
|  | | The Rams defense is beginning to clamp down on opponents. |
Everyone wants to talk about Bulger and the recharged Rams offense, but the real key to their rise the past four weeks is the unit long forgotten by many, a defense that was the catalyst to St. Louis' dominance last season. The Rams were helpless on both sides of the ball during their five losses, but the defense has shut down opponents the past four weeks.
During their winning streak, the defense has surrendered just four touchdowns. The offense and special teams have allowed the same (two fumbles, one interception, one kickoff return). In fact, the winning streak can be pointed to a key defensive series in the first quarter against Oakland when Tommy Polley stopped Zack Crockett on a fourth-and-1 inside the Rams' 5. What could have been the final nail in the coffin if Crockett got in the end zone and the Rams dropped to 0-6 actually awakened a sleeping giant. Starting on their own 3, the Rams went on a season-saving nine-play, 97-yard drive and have not looked back again.
The key to continuing their drive to success will be how Mike Martz handles the Bulger-Warner situation. Unlike when Tom Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe last season, the Rams are not disputing that Warner should get his job back when he is healthy. But what Martz must do is maintain an offensive balance that has given Faulk the ability to take games over.
Nonetheless, with the playoff race so tight and a lot of ground still needed to be made up, the Rams enter Monday night in a must-win situation. With at least a 10-6 record likely needed to qualify and a schedule that includes a trip to Philadelphia and closes out on Monday night against San Francisco, St. Louis must win any game it has.
Otherwise, comparing Bulger with Brady will have one major difference: how it ended.
MNF record
Chicago: 16-29-0 (0-1 in 2002)
St. Louis: 20-24-0 (0-1 in 2002)
Season record
Chicago: 2-7 (Tied 3rd, NFC North)
St. Louis: 4-5 (Tied 2nd, NFC West)
Head-to-head
Chicago leads the all-time series 47-32-3 (the teams have split their two postseason meetings).
The Rams have won the last two meetings.
The Rams are 3-1 against the Bears on MNF. The last meeting was on Dec. 5, 1988 when the Rams were still in Anaheim.
Notes
Chicago's seven-game losing streak is its longest since 1997.
Bears WR Marty Booker is tied for the NFL lead with Plaxico Burress with 14 catches of 20 yards or more. He has a touchdown catch or pass in four of the past five games, and has led the club in receiving yards in nine of the past 12.
The Bears are tied for third in NFL with 11 fumble takeaways.
The Rams are seeking their fifth consecutive game with 27 or more points after posting none in their first five.
If he plays, Marshall Faulk needs only 62 yards to become the second player in NFL history with 5,000 yards rushing with two different teams (Eric Dickerson, Colts and Rams). He has 16,131 career yards from scrimmage and needs 163 to pass Tony Dorsett (16,293) for seventh all-time.
Isaac Bruce has 586 career receptions and needs eight to pass Henry Ellard (593) for the Rams team record.
| Chicago vs. St. Louis |
| |
 |
 |
| OFFENSE |
| Points/G (rank) |
20.2 (21) |
21.6 (19) |
| Rushing/G (rank) |
82.2 (31) |
114.8 (14) |
| Passing/G (rank) |
204.9 (18) |
269.1 (3) |
| Total Offense/G (rank) |
287.1 (30) |
383.9 (2) |
| 1st downs/G (rank) |
16.7 (28) |
20.8 (10) |
| 3rd down eff. (rank) |
44-118, 37.3% (26) |
42-109, 38.5% (24) |
| 4th down eff. (rank) |
4-9, 44.4% (19) |
4-6, 66.7% (15) |
| DEFENSE |
| Points/G (rank) |
25.8 (26) |
21.8 (19) |
| Rushing/G (rank) |
122.3 (20) |
97.3 (6) |
| Passing/G (rank) |
236.1 (24) |
212.2 (15) |
| Total Defense/G (rank) |
358.4 (26) |
309.6 (7) |
| Sacks (rank) |
18 (22) |
21 (13) |
| MISC. |
| Takeaways (rank) |
16 (14) |
17 (10) |
| Giveaways (rank) |
18 (23) |
24 (31) |
| Turnover ratio (rank) |
-2 (20) |
-7 (29) |
| Penalties (rank) |
58 (14) |
67 (24) |
| Penalty yards (rank) |
505 (19) |
504 (18) |
Passing
|
BEARS |
CMP |
ATT |
YDS |
CMP% |
LNG |
TD |
INT |
SACK |
RAT |
|
Jim Miller
|
131 |
231 |
1494 |
56.7 |
54 |
11 |
7 |
10 |
79.5 |
|
Chris Chandler
|
37 |
60 |
379 |
61.7 |
40 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
77.0 |
|
RAMS |
CMP |
ATT |
YDS |
CMP% |
LNG |
TD |
INT |
SACK |
RAT |
|
Marc Bulger
|
92 |
138 |
1149 |
66.7 |
52 |
10 |
3 |
6 |
107.4 |
|
Kurt Warner
|
89 |
127 |
899 |
70.1 |
43 |
1 |
8 |
9 |
66.4 |
Rushing
Receiving
Returns
| Kickoffs | |
Punts |
| BEARS |
ATT |
YDS |
FC |
AVG |
LNG |
TD |
|
ATT |
YDS |
FC |
AVG |
LNG |
TD |
|
Leon Johnson |
17 |
320 |
0 |
18.8 |
35 |
0 |
|
18 |
171 |
7 |
9.5 |
30 |
0
|
|
Ahmad Merritt |
17 |
381 |
0 |
22.4 |
63 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0
|
| RAMS |
ATT |
YDS |
FC |
AVG |
LNG |
TD |
|
ATT |
YDS |
FC |
AVG |
LNG |
TD |
|
Terrence Wilkins |
30 |
708 |
0 |
23.6 |
42 |
0 |
|
17 |
110 |
8 |
6.5 |
55 |
0
|
Kicking
| BEARS |
1-20 |
20-29 |
30-39 |
40-49 |
50+ |
TOT |
PCT |
AVG |
LNG |
XPM/A |
PTS |
|
Paul Edinger |
0/0 |
3/3 |
4/4 |
5/6 |
2/4 |
14/17 |
82.4 |
38.0 |
53 |
20/20 |
62 |
| RAMS |
1-20 |
20-29 |
30-39 |
40-49 |
50+ |
TOT |
PCT |
AVG |
LNG |
XPM/A |
PTS |
|
Jeff Wilkins |
0/0 |
2/2 |
4/6 |
5/7 |
0/0 |
11/15 |
73.3 |
37.0 |
47 |
23/23 |
56 |
Punting
| BEARS |
PUNTS |
YDS |
AVG |
LNG |
TB |
IN20 |
NET |
|
Brad Maynard |
46 |
1892 |
41.1 |
55 |
1 |
12 |
35.9 |
| RAMS |
PUNTS |
YDS |
AVG |
LNG |
TB |
IN20 |
NET |
|
Mitch Berger |
38 |
1625 |
42.8 |
61 |
7 |
18 |
38.2 |
Mike Diegnan is the Editor of ABC Sports Online and can be reached at michael.diegnan@abc.com.
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