Graded on the curve, 30-27 over the Big Dead in OT probably earned the Rams a "B" this week. Speaking of grades:
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LAST WEEK |
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| 1 |
9-2 |
(1) |
The Patriots survived a missed FG, a blocked FG, a blocked punt and three Tom Brady turnovers in beating Houston. But don't call a New England a lucky team. Remarkably, including overtimes, the Patriots have lost the coin toss 12 times out of 13 this season. I calculate the odds of that happening as 630-to-1. |
| 2 |
9-2 |
(2) |
The Titans are really hurting, with chances good that Jevon Kearse and yikes, Steve McNair, will be out injured Monday night. But Eddie George, who's getting good blocking from Robert Holcombe, cracked 100 yards against Atlanta's 31st-ranked run defense, and faces the #32 Jet run defense in the MNF tilt. |
| 3 |
10-1 |
(3) |
The NFL cracked down on Dick Vermeil for offering Morten Anderson an expensive bottle of wine after kicking the game-winning FG against Oakland. But Vermeil can't complain too much; that FG won the game after the Raiders settled for a tying FG because Philip Buchanon took his helmet off after a long punt return. Two straight years now the Chiefs have benefited from that knuckleheaded penalty. |
| 4 |
8-3 |
(4) |
The last three weeks, the Eggles have allowed 192 yards rushing to Ahman Green, 111 to Tiki Barber and 184 to Deuce McAllister. I think I might have an idea how teams may attack them come playoff time. |
| 5 |
9-2 |
(6) |
The Colts will probably need a big game out of Edgerrin James in Sunday's colossal matchup with New England, because Bill Belichick over the years has had Peyton Manning's number more often than not. Edge's 2 TDs and 108 yards against Buffalo were critical, since Manning had kind of an off day. |
| 6 |
8-3 |
(7) |
Fire meets gasoline Sunday in the Dome when Marc Bulger and his league-leading 17 interceptions go against the Vikings and their league-leading 22 interceptions. Mike Martz, I am begging you to hit Minnesota with a ton of Marshall Faulk. He doesn't have a lot of wear on him this season, he has 2 straight 100-yard games, and Minnesota's in the bottom quartile of the league in rushing defense. Run, run, run! |
| 7 |
8-3 |
(11) |
Congratulations to Jeff Robinson, who got his first catch of the season Sunday against Carolina. It was also his first TD of the season. Dallas also got a TD from former Ram Aveion Cason. |
| 8 |
7-4 |
(9) |
The Dolphins don't play on Thanksgiving often, but have memorable games when they do, like 1993 when Dallas' Leon Lett fumbled away a blocked FG, or 1977, when they thrashed the Big Dead 55-14.
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| 9 |
8-3 |
(5) |
The Panthers have gotten this far despite turnover plus-minus (-7) and takeaway (14) counts that put them near the bottom of the NFL. A fumbled kickoff and a deflected Jake Delhomme pass intercepted by Roy Williams and returned to the Panther 11 proved fatal Sunday. |
| 10 |
6-5 |
(14) |
Need a reason to like Brett Favre, Rams fans? #4 is now 10-1 lifetime against San Francisco. Need a reason to like Ahman Green? How about 154 yards rushing in the Pack's 20-10 win over the 49ers? Need a reason to like Antuan Edwards? He's the DB who picked up Terrell Owens and slammed him to the ground to stop a reverse for a 4-yard loss. You go, Packers! |
| 11 |
6-5 |
(15) |
Wasn't Carson Palmer supposed to be taking over at QB for the Bengals by now? Instead, Jon Kitna is in the top 10 in QB rating, with 19 TDs vs. only 9 INTs, and playoff tickets are going on sale in Cincinnati. |
| 12 |
6-5 |
(16) |
Mr. Inconsistency, Anthony Wright, threw for 319 yards against Seattle after throwing for 112 the week before. That was actually Baltimore's second 300-yard passing game this year, vs. 3 sub-100-yard games. |
| 13 |
7-4 |
(17) |
Mike Tice claims he's looking forward to playing the Rams next week, and says he likes the Vikings' matchups in the game. So how much did he like his matchups against the Lions? Detroit was within 10-7, inside 3:00 left, before Joey Harrington threw two picks returned for TDs. Not exactly a convincing win. |
| 14 |
7-4 |
(8) |
Seattle fans could be grumbling about Sunday's loss to Baltimore for a long time, after the officials failed to restart the clock after a reversed penalty call in the last minute of the game, which essentially gave Baltimore a 4th timeout and enough time to drive for the game-tying FG. But how in the heck do you give up 44 points to the offense-challenged Ravens in the first place? |
| 15 |
5-6 |
(20) |
Tampa got back to playing "Bucs football" Monday night. 38 rushes for 93 yards is far from spectacular, but they controlled the ball for 37½ minutes, and the defense notched 4 turnovers and 3 sacks. |
| 16 |
6-5 |
(10) |
I know the air in Mile High land is thin, but I didn't expect the Broncos to do the choking against Chicago. They let the Bears convert three fourth downs and got beat by Kordell freaking Stewart. They really needed to win that game, too, with the Chiefs, Colts and Packers looming in the last four weeks of their schedule. |
HALFTIME
Player of the week: Deuce McAllister of the Saints has looked like 1999-2001 Marshall Faulk the last couple of weeks, including ripping Philadelphia for 232 total yards Sunday. He scored 2 TDs and would have had a third if not for a blown exchange. Deuce now has 8 straight games over 100 yards rushing.
Ram of the week: Torry Holt caught 9 for 145 against the Big Dead and converted 3 huge first downs on the game-tying FG drive: a 3rd-and-7, a 3rd-and-15, and a 4th-and-7. "Big Game," indeed.
Game of the week: Ravens 44, Seahawks 41 in OT. This game was nuttier than Liza Minnelli's last marriage. Matt Hasselbeck threw for 333 yards and 5 TDs against the same defense Marc Bulger was lucky to complete 5 passes against, but he was matched by Anthony freaking Wright, who threw for 319 and 4 TDs. The Ravens scored 38 in the second half, including a 17-point 4th quarter comeback keyed by Ed Reed's blocked punt and recovery for a TD and bad clock management (by the referees).
Special teams player of the week: Ramon Walker of the Texans, who blocked a punt and a field goal attempt against New England. If you're keeping score, the Rams do have a blocked FG this season.
Ex-Ram lateral pass runner-up: Against Carolina, Richie Anderson of the Cowboys took a handoff and pitched back to former Ram Aveion Cason, who sprinted for a 16-yard TD.
Ex-Ram lateral pass of the week: After stripping Minnesota's Michael Bennett of the ball, Dre Bly scampered about 40 yards, slowed down to sucker in the last defender, Daunte Culpepper, and quickly flipped the ball across to Corey Harris, who ran it back the rest of the way for Detroit's only TD.
Gambling conspiracy rumor of the week: The Giants trailed Tampa 17-13 Monday night at the two-minute warning, facing a 4th-and-19 deep in their own territory. After letting his offense take the field, Jim Fassel curiously used the team's final timeout without the clock ever starting, and sent the punting unit out to take an intentional safety. As a result of that safety, Tampa covered the 4.5-point spread. Hmm……
Special teams coach candidate of the week, because the Rams have to do SOMETHING: The Ram special teams were decent this week; should I cut Bobby April some slack? Nah, I'll nominate CBS analyst Steve Tasker, who may be the best special teams cover man of all time. He was such a great special teams player, he's among the 25 candidates still under consideration for entry to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. He obviously knows something about covering kicks, but would a special-teams coaching gig pay him more than CBS does?
Hey, it's getting to be that time of the year, so the first Rams-related Christmas gift of the week is the official locker room robe (http://news.stlouisrams.com/catalog/product|35869). 100% heavy plush velour terry cloth cotton with oversized front pockets and shawl collar, one size fits all, $79.95. While I'd hate to question the official-ness of said robe, I also can't see, say, Ryan Pickett pulling the thing on when he wants to kick back and relax after a game.
In honor of Thanksgiving, the second half is all turkeys, all the time:
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LAST WEEK |
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| 17 |
5-6 |
(12) |
The 49ers are 0-5 on the road, and with trips to Baltimore, Cincinnati and Philadelphia on the way, they're looking at 0-8. |
| 18 |
5-6 |
(13) |
The Saints were minus-3 in the turnover category in Philadelphia, which kept their 466 yards of total offense from mattering much. |
| 19 |
4-7 |
(22) |
You think Marc Bulger wins ugly? Tommy Maddox was 9-for-24 for 73 yards in Pittsburgh's 13-6 win over Cleveland. |
| 20 |
4-7 |
(25) |
Chad Pennington has more TD passes (10) in 4 weeks than Donovan McNabb has for the season (8). |
| 21 |
4-7 |
(31) |
As has happened often during his career, Chris Chandler helped the Bears most Sunday by getting injured. |
| 22 |
4-7 |
(18) |
Hasn't been a month to remember for RB William Green - arrested for DUI, busted for pot, stabbed by girlfriend… well, at least he'll be home in January to regroup. |
| 23 |
4-7 |
(19) |
For the first time in team history, the Texans are favored to win a game, by 3 over Atlanta next week. |
| 24 |
4-7 |
(21) |
Steve Spurrier has conceded the Redskins won't make the playoffs, after losing six of their last seven. |
| 25 |
3-8 |
(23) |
Bill Callahan ripped his special teams this week, which are awful even though they practice STs 80 minutes a day, more than any other team. So much for the Rams' problem being they don't practice enough. |
| 26 |
4-7 |
(24) |
It's getting more and more annoying that the Rams actually lost to this team. |
| 27 |
4-7 |
(26) |
Drew Bledsoe's on a pace to throw 9 TDs this year after throwing 24 last year. |
| 28 |
2-9 |
(27) |
Along with the Falcons and Jagwires, the Chargers are already officially out of contention for the playoffs. |
| 29 |
2-9 |
(28) |
Bad enough the Falcons have played without Michael Vick all year; they've now lost Warrick Dunn for the season, and he had just set the franchise record for most rushing yards in back-to-back games. |
| 30 |
3-8 |
(29) |
Congratulations to Detroit on replacing St. Louis as America's most dangerous city. The safest place in Detroit this year is the other team's endzone. HEY! I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress. |
| 31 |
2-9 |
(30) |
After pressuring Chad Pennington effectively all game, the Jagwires rushed only 3 and dropped 8 for the Jets' entire 11-play winning TD drive. What does the prevent defense prevent? Winning, that's what! |
| 32 |
3-8 |
(32) |
Dave McGinnis is complaining about pass interference by the Rams on one of Sunday's key plays. Not surprisingly, no mention of pass interference on every Big Dead defensive play, though. |
FINAL CREDITS
E-acknowledgements: nfl.com, google.com, theredzone.com, stlouisrams.com, stltoday.com, wikipedia.org, bengals.enquirer.com, ohio.com, eastvalleytribune.com, bayarea.com, timesdispatch.com, nytimes.com, insultmonger.com, journalnow.com, profootballweekly.com, profootballhof.com, patriots.com
Saint Patrick gets all the hype, but November 30th is the Feast of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, among other places. Ram receivers might consider reciting the royal motto of Scotland to daft referees who wouldn't know pass interference even if it walked up and kicked them in the erse: "No one injures me with impunity."
Enjoy the games
Mike
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