| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS -- Marshall Faulk was a no-go, and that slowed the
St. Louis Rams.
|  | | Steve Beuerlein had two touchdown passes for the Panthers to add to the Rams' woes. |
Coach Mike Martz, who played without his two biggest stars,
wasn't using Faulk's pregame knee injury as an excuse after the
Super Bowl champions were upset by the Carolina Panthers 27-24
Sunday night.
"We did miss him, but that's not why we lost," Martz said.
"They did a good job against our offensive line, and we just made
too many mistakes."
Faulk, after having his right knee drained before the game,
joined injured quarterback Kurt Warner on the sidelines. He was
scheduled to have loose cartilage removed early Monday, an
operation that team doctors said would sideline him for two to three weeks.
Missing Warner, the league most valuable player last year, and Faulk, one of the midseason favorites
for the award this season, was too much for the Rams to overcome.
Steve Beuerlein threw two touchdown passes, and Joe Nedney hit a
46-yard game-winning field goal with 40 seconds to go for the Panthers.
"Nobody gave us a chance to keep it close with these guys,"
Beuerlein said. "I have a lot of friends on that team, and I told
them we needed this thing a heck of a lot more than you did."
|
Two sacks help
White defend himself
|
|
ST. LOUIS -- Reggie White, described last week by St. Louis
Rams coach Mike Martz as a player "at the end of his career," had
two sacks in the Carolina Panthers' 27-24 upset Sunday night.
"The comments did fire some people up," White said. "But I
know Mike Martz and I don't think he meant anything."
The two spoke at midfield after the game and both patted each
other in parting.
Wednesday, Martz said White had been "very inconsistent."
"He at times will make some great plays," he said. "He's a
guy that is at the end of his career."
After his comments became public, Martz said he tried to
persuade White to sign with the Rams in the offseason. White, 38,
came out of retirement this season after taking a year off and has
5½ sacks.
"I have great respect for Mike Martz and I know he has respect
for me," White said. "I really don't think he meant anything at
all."
-- The Associated Press
|
The Panthers (4-5) handed the Rams (7-2) their second defeat in
three games and ended their 15-game winning streak in the Trans
World Dome.
"They made all the plays," Rams cornerback Dexter McCleon
said. "We were coming hard at them and they were able to get the
quick passes off."
Tshimanga Biakabutuka set up the game-winner with a 10-yard gain
on fourth-and-2 from the St. Louis 42. Nedney was perfect on four
field-goal attempts, also hitting from 35, 45 and 24 yards, and has
missed only once in 17 attempts this season.
"What a wonderful weapon," coach George Seifert said.
Beuerlein said he lobbied Seifert to go for it on the
fourth-down play.
"I could tell he was burning up inside," Beuerlein said. "He
didn't want to punt it."
Martz, the architect of the NFL's No. 1-ranked offense, went
conservative before the Panthers' winning drive. On fourth-and-6
from the Panthers 35 with 6:31 to go, he elected to punt, and
rookie John Baker shanked an 8-yarder.
"I thought our defense would hold them," Martz said. "I
thought if we could pin them inside the 20, we could get into a
situation to kick a field goal.
"We just couldn't stop them."
Faulk, who leads the NFL with 1,326 yards from scrimmage, has
been playing with a sore knee most of the season. An MRI on Monday
revealed floating cartilage, torn scar tissue and an enlarged
bruise, but he decided to postpone surgery until the offseason
before the knee locked up on him during pregame warmups.
Warner broke the little finger of his throwing hand in the first
half of a 54-34 defeat at Kansas City on Oct. 23 and will miss at
least two more games.
But his backup, Trent Green, was 29-for-42 for 431 yards and two
touchdowns. Faulk's backup, Justin Watson, scored on a 3-yard run
for St. Louis.
But Watson finished with just 12 yards on 12 carries, and the
Rams ran for only 31 yards overall as their NFL-record string of 14
consecutive 30-point plus games came to an end.
The Rams' 12-game winning streak against NFC West opponents also
is history, and their division lead is down to one game over the
New Orleans Saints. The rematch against the Panthers is Dec. 3 in
Charlotte, N.C.
The Rams took a 24-16 lead in the third quarter when McCleon
intercepted Beuerlein's pass on the Panthers' first play after
Green's 4-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce. Watson scored five
plays later on a 3-yard run.
Carolina tied it on a 13-yard pass from Beuerlein to Donald
Hayes, and Beuerlein ran it in for a two-point conversion with 10:43
to go. The score came only two plays after Doug Evans recovered his
second fumble of the game, this time after Bruce coughed up the
ball at the St. Louis 26.
"It's all in the athletic ability, it's all I can say,"
Beuerlein said of his conversion run. "I think it was divine
intervention."
Game notes
Opponents have scored first in eight of the Rams' nine
games. The exception was San Diego, a 57-31 loser in Week 5. ...
Pete Stoyanovich, the Rams' replacement kicker for the injured Jeff
Wilkins (quadriceps), missed badly from 50 and 37 yards in the
second quarter. Wilkins, who has missed three games, is expected
back next week. ... The Panthers allowed only four touchdown passes
their first eight games.
| |
ALSO SEE
Carolina Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
Faulk expected to miss three weeks after surgery
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Steve Beuerlein is happy that Carolina finally played to its potential.
wav: 166 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
