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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The St. Louis Rams squeaked into the playoffs
on a rookie's 54-yard field goal more than 1,000 miles away.
|  | | Marshall Faulk ran for two TDs and caught another Sunday to give him a record-setting 26-touchdown season. |
That didn't keep at least some of them from considering the team
the favorite to win the NFL title again.
"We're the world champs and everyone needs to recognize that,"
safety Keith Lyle said after the Rams beat the New Orleans Saints
26-21 on Sunday.
"The Super Bowl goes through St. Louis."
That wouldn't be the case if it weren't for Chicago Bears kicker
Paul Edinger, who hit a field goal with two seconds left for a
stunning 23-20 upset of the Detroit Lions.
With the Rams' victory and Edinger's kick, St. Louis got a
chance to defend its championship and the Lions were sent home. But
St. Louis might have to begin the playoffs without quarterback Kurt
Warner, who was knocked out of the game in the third quarter with a
concussion.
The Rams (10-6) showed on Sunday what it hadn't all year --
defense to go with their record-setting offense.
The record this week was set by Marshall Faulk, who scored three
touchdowns to reach 26 for the season and ran for a career-high 220
yards. Emmitt Smith scored 25 touchdowns for Dallas in 1995.
St. Louis, the sixth-seeded NFC playoff team, returns next week
to face third-seeded New Orleans, which also finished 10-6 but won
the West because they were 7-1 in the division to 5-3 for the Rams.
Lyle might be right about his team being the favorite if the
defense plays as it did Sunday.
The defense allowed 450 points in the first 15 games, an average
of 30. But it held the Saints to 134 yards and no offensive
touchdowns in three quarters.
In fact, it barely let New Orleans over midfield in the first
half, and got topflight performances from Todd Lyght and Kevin
Carter, two defensive standouts who had been less than stellar this
year.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Question on the Rams: Are the Rams the most dangerous team in the NFC?
Donahoe: There are a lot of playoff teams that are disappointed that the Rams got in. They're a scary football team. They've played better defensively in recent weeks and if they are able to get even a decent effort from that unit they will be a difficult team to beat in the playoffs. The offense is still the most explosive in the league. They'll have to play the Saints next week in the first round. Back-to-back games against the Rams might not be a great prospect for New Orleans.
Question on the Saints: Should the Saints be worried about Aaron Brooks' bad game?
Donahoe: Brooks is a young quarterback. Because of that he's going to have his ups and downs. Today you saw some of that. Bud Carson is a master strategist and he probably did some things that confused Brooks and made it difficult for him. But when you have a young quarterback you have to live with that. There will be good games and bad ones and even within the same games there will be an ebb and flow from play to play. But that's all part of the process of developing as an NFL quarterback.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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Still, they realized afterward that their fate was really
decided by a rookie kicker who rocketed the ball over the crossbar
at the Pontiac Silverdome.
"The whole Chicago Bears organization can come to my house for
dinner tonight," defensive tackle D'Marco Farr said. "I'll put
Edinger, the kicker, at the head of the table."
The Rams, who lost 31-24 earlier in the season in St. Louis,
controlled this game from the start, although the Saints tied it in
the second quarter on a 41-yard interception return by linebacker
Darrin Smith.
Even when Warner went out with a concussion, Trent Green
continued to move the Rams, particularly with Faulk on his game.
"It usually takes me three or four carries to find out if it's
your time," said Faulk, who touched the ball just 10 times in the
first meeting with the Saints. "I knew today would be my day. When
Kurt went out, the offensive line and I knew we would have to carry
the team."
After replacing Warner, Green led the Rams on a 73-yard drive
capped by Faulk's record-tying second TD, a 9-yard run, to make it
19-7. (Faulk scored his first TD on a 13-yard pass from Warner in
the first quarter).
The Saints finally came alive in the final quarter, twice
cutting the lead to five points, once on a 28-yard pass from Aaron
Brooks to Willie Jackson. Faulk's third TD made it 26-14, but the
Saints came right back on a 22-yard TD pass from Brooks to Joe
Horn.
Faulk, however, sealed the game with a 39-yard run after the
Saints had taken their final time out.
New Orleans, which has lost eight starters to injury this
season, held up as best it could.
Brooks, in just his fifth start, had the worst game of his
career, finishing 16-of-31 for 208 yards and the two touchdowns.
But both scores and most of the yards came when the Rams were in a
semi-prevent defense.
"The offense has to execute," Brooks said. "We didn't do that
until the fourth quarter. We kept our defense on the field too
long, we didn't convert when we had to and it hurt us."
Now it's on to next week and the third meeting between the teams
-- players and coaches on both teams already are talking about how
hard it is to beat a team twice in a season.
One factor will be Warner, who was taken to the hospital after
the game with what was described as a "moderate" concussion. He
missed five games earlier this season and the Rams went 2-3 with
Green at quarterback.
"This is the best team in the NFC," Saints coach Jim Haslett
said of the Rams. "You are going to have to get by this team to go
anywhere you want to go. I guess you are getting just what you
want."
Game notes
La'Roi Glover's third-quarter sack gave him 17 for the
year, and tied him for the Saints' single-season record set by Pat
Swilling in 1991. The Saints had six sacks against the Rams in the
first meeting of the season, only three on Sunday. ... St. Louis'
474 yards on Sunday gave them 7,075 for the season and broke the
record for most yards in a season. The old mark was set by the 1984
Dolphins (6,936 yards). ... Isaac Bruce hasn't had a 100-yard
receiving game in eight weeks. ... Injuries: Rams_QB Kurt Warner,
concussion. Saints: none.
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ALSO SEE
St. Louis Clubhouse
New Orleans Clubhouse
Clayton: Defensive coordinators beware, Rams still alive
Faulk enjoys another dream game
Marshall Faulk breaks NFL single-season TD record
Warner suffers mild concussion, leaves Saints game
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Martz and the Rams get into the playoffs thanks to a little help from Bears kicker Paul Edinger.
RealVideo: | 28.8
A Christmas gift from the Bears has St. Louis in the playoffs, eyeing a repeat.
avi: 1720 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 The Rams are in and Kurt Warner knows repeating will be difficult, but not impossible.
wav: 81 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Ricky Williams Official Site
Jeff Blake Official Site
Kyle Turley Official Site
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