TAMPA, Fla. -- Marshall Faulk might have ended any debates about the league's Most
Valuable Player on Monday night. Yes, the Rams were on the short end of a 38-35 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
|  | | Warrick Dunn ran for 145 yards on 22 carries to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the second time. |
But for the third time this season, Faulk scored four touchdowns in a game, breaking the record he shared previously with Jim Brown. Faulk has 23 touchdowns and 142 points scored this season. Yet for the moment, he wishes he were in the same position as Warrick Dunn, the Bucs running back.
By scoring three rushing touchdowns, Dunn secured a playoff berth for the Bucs and left the Rams on the outside looking in. Suddenly,
the Super Bowl champs, with all those statistical achievements, must defeat the Saints and need the Lions to lose to the Chicago Bears to make the playoffs.
"I am disappointed," said Faulk, who rushed for 79 yards on 22 carries and caught four passes for 53 yards. "It was right there to take
and we didn't finish the deal. It is frustrating knowing that going into the last week, even if we win, we won't control our own destiny. Up to this point, we did."
On Faulk's record-setting night, Dunn was the star. Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber called Dunn their most valuable player. Dunn rushed for 145 yards on 22 carries. He scored three touchdowns on the ground, including a 52-yard lateral in which he slipped past three would-be tacklers and sprinted down the sideline.
His best play, though, came with 1:48 left in the game. Trapped along the sideline behind the line of scrimmage, Dunn had nowhere to go. Quarterback Shaun King yelled for the ball. Dunn pitched it to him and King turned a certain loss into a 15-yard gain that ended up being 30 yards because of a late hit by linebacker Mike
Jones.
"Right now, I'm in a rhythm. I'm comfortable," Dunn said. "When you are comfortable, you are better able to see things happen. You have more communication with yourself and the offensive line."
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Well Dunn
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Warrick Dunn is the biggest reason the Buccaneers have rattled off four straight wins. He has topped 100 yards in three of four games over that stretch after failing to reach 100 yards in any of the Bucs' first 11 games. Dunn has also been getting into the end zone on a regular basis after scoring just one touchdown in the first 11 games.
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First 11 games
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Last 4 games
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Rush YPG
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52.1
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130.0
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100-yd gms
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0
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3
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Rush TD
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1
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7*
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Yds per rush
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4.1
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5.7
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*Career-high 3 TD Monday
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Over the past four games, Dunn has rushed for 520 yards on 92 carries and scored seven touchdowns.
"Had Mike Alstott not gotten hurt, they wouldn't have given me the chances," Dunn said.
Alstott, the NFC's Pro Bowl fullback, returned from a knee injury, but it didn't change Dunn's new role. He was the feature back, and Alstott had only three meaningless carries. Dunn not only handled the regular running plays, but he was the short-yardage back and the back used near the goal line.
"It seems like the more opportunities he gets, the more he does,"
coach Tony Dungy said. "He can make things happen for this team."
Dunn took advantage of the Rams' lack of speed to the outside and blistered their defense with screen and swing passes and runs in which he broke to the outside.
"He's very similar to Marshall," Rams coach Mike Martz said. "He can do the same things Marshall can. Faulk is the MVP of this league."
Near the goal line, Rams quarterback Kurt Warner didn't even have to think of scoring with a pass. He'd hand off to Faulk and watch him score. Faulk has eight touchdowns in the past two games, while Warner has thrown for just one touchdown pass.
But the game was on the line with 3:33 left and the Rams ahead 35-31. The Rams were at the Bucs' 41. Martz called three Faulk running plays, and the Bucs' defense stopped him for a total of five yards. The Rams called a timeout on the series, so when the Bucs got the ball back, they had 2:22 remaining on the clock.
Quarterback Shaun King drove the Bucs 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown dive by Dunn.
"I don't think any ball given to Faulk is considered a conservative play," defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "It's tough to tackle him. He can go 80 yards for a touchdown."
After the game, Faulk came over to Sapp and each congratulated the other. Faulk then said, "See you when I see
you. I've got some business left to do." He meant trying to find a way into the playoffs.
As far as the Bucs were concerned, the playoffs were a Dunn deal thanks to the running of Warrick.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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VIDEO
  ABC's Melissa Stark catches up with Warrick Dunn after the Bucs' fourth-quarter win over the Rams. wav: 227 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Warrick Dunn goes over the top for the game-winning score. wav: 160 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Marshall Faulk goes 16 yards for a Rams touchdown. wav: 419 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 |
