Gateway showdown Rams win
By Rams Nation's Oscar F Lopez
The St. Louis Rams came out with more fire and energy, especially after the
one point loss to the Seattle Seahawks last week. With Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner out of the picture. As i had addressed last week. Mike Martz came in
to the contest by implementing a good solid balanced attack.
With Lamar Gordon leading the way. Gordon just played ala Faulk. Gordon finished
the contest 21 for 81 yards and capped it off with a 3 yard rush for a first
drive touchdown.Good solid runs and the offensive line held it's own allowing
Lamar to burst and gain extra yardage. Granted these are the Arizona Cardinals
we are talking about in this contest.
Marc Bulger contributed by finishing 28 for 41 and 272 yards with excellent
pass protection and a total of 3 touchdowns. One of those was his own run to
the endzone. Marc stated," We were able to run the ball and pretty much
do what we wanted."
The Rams held the Cardinals to 161 offensive yards. A good outing for the defensive
unit. The likes of Leonard Liitle and Pisa Tinoisamoa forcing fumbles and sacks.
The Rams defense was able to pass rush and blitz all day.Besides the Josh Sorbey
100 yard return in the 3rd quarter and the Emmitt Smith touchdown in the 2nd
quarter the Cardinals really got out played. Emmitt Smith summed it up by stating,"If
you don't do things that you're capable of doing, you get your behind torn up
like we did today."
The Rams led at the half 20-7. Mike Martz had a solid plan by involving everyone
in the gameplan. From former NFLE star Dane Looker and Arlen Harris to Brandon Manumaleuna. With Lamar leading the way and Marc having pass protection, the
Rams had total control from the start with a 83-36 play difference and the end
result 37-13.
Coach McGinnis acknowledged the frustration with his club's play by saying."They
converted third downs at all, we blitzed, they converted. We covered, they converted."With
Jeff Blake a non factor 10 for 17 and 88 yards. The Cardinals' quarterback knew
that the time of possession was the deciding factor. He stated," We didn't
have the ball to make anything happen."
As Jeff Wilkins continued his impressive field goal conversions, his longest
going 53 yards. So did the offensive line. With Pace,Turley, Wohlabaugh, and
Timmerman, Marc Bulger had all day to view all the quick slant gaps to take
advantage of the Cards secondary. Torry Holt was also a big factor with 12 for
133 yards a career best. It is starting to seem that this unit will be even
better the weeks go by.
Before we go I can't forget the accomplishment of Isaac Bruce. Bruce now is
the all time franchise leader with 9,790 career yards. Bruce surpasses his wide
receivers coach, the great Henry Ellard. Bruce was 4 for 58 yards. He is still
a deadly threat. No big hoopla in the dome when this happened. It is a shame
that this milestone was left uncelebrated. So here in The Field Goal column
I congratulate Isaac Bruce on his record setting date.
We are now seeing the best wide receiver in Rams history. Hopefully when it
is all said and done he will be placed in the wall of fame and Canton. As for
the bye week. Well, I will leave my thoughts until the real week starts again
versus the Falcons on Monday Night. As for next week who knows.
PS Oh by the way. Coach Martz has something to say before we go. "I was
a little concerned, but we practiced extremely well." Don't worry Mike
I forgive. Good job this week. After all these are the Cardinals. Congratulations
again to Isaac Bruce.