ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two against one doesn't seem quite fair. Except when the one is Marshall Faulk.

In Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a nice running back rotation. Alstott is the 250-pound battering ram, and Dunn is the speedy outside guy.

All the St. Louis Rams have is Faulk. All, as in, he does it all.

Faulk was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, setting a record with 2,429 yards of total offense. He became just the second player to gain 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving.

So two against one doesn't seem to be a problem for St. Louis for Sunday's NFC championship game.

"Having a guy like Marshall who can do everything is something a lot of teams wish they had," said league Most Valuable Player Kurt Warner. "We've been getting some big plays and getting deep, but a lot of our best plays have been just dumping it to Marshall and having him go with it."

When Faulk gets the ball against the Bucs, he can expect to draw lots of attention.

"It will take all 11 of us to keep him under control," said defensive tackle Warren Sapp, the Defensive Player of the Year. "If we eliminate the big plays, we will be fine."

The best way to limit Faulk's contributions is to not let the St. Louis offense, which led the league, onto the field. And the best way to do that, of course, is for Alstott and Dunn to have big days.

Alstott, like Faulk an All-Pro, has become as much a feature back as a fullback. He gets most of his yardage inside, but has displayed an ability to adjust on the run.

"Tampa Bay is known for pounding the ball with Alstott and mixing it up with Dunn," Rams cornerback Dre' Bly said. "If we can stop the running game, that has to be any team's game plan against the Bucs. Stop the running game and force Shaun King to throw. He's a rookie back there, so we want to try to mix it up on defense and put him in unfamiliar situations.

"The thing to watch for is like what Alstott did last week (against Washington). If he can't get anywhere inside, he can bounce it outside and get something."

Alstott got 942 yards rushing this season and played far more in running situations than Dunn. But Dunn led the team with 64 receptions and was particularly important to the offense once the inexperienced King took over at quarterback with five games to go.

"We changed our scheme a little bit," Dunn said. "I was more involved in the passing game and I think it has helped this team and we are in the NFC championship game."

They are there with a rather vanilla offense that tries not to make errors. The Bucs prefer for their third-ranked defense to control games.

"I don't think anyone is concerned about what is being said about our offense," Dunn said. "I don't think anyone is going to worry about the skeptics."

If there were any skeptics concerning the Rams offense, they were silenced long ago -- greatly due to Faulk, who was acquired last April for a second-round and a fifth-round pick. That might have been the NFL steal of the 20th century. And the 21st.

Faulk fits perfectly with coordinator Mike Martz's attack-first offense. His versatility, speed and elusiveness make him the ideal back for the Rams.

So much so that Faulk touched the ball 340 times this season and the other backs combined for 158 touches. In fact, Faulk probably would have had the ball much more often if the Rams weren't blowing out opponents practically every week.

"He's the most elusive back in a long time," Rams safety Keith Lyle said. "I can't think of one back who can run and catch and do as many things as he can."

Or two backs, either.

TAMPA BAY Season schedule and results

ST. LOUIS Season schedule and results

September 12 NY Giants L 13-17 September 19 @Philadelphia W 19-5 September 26 Denver W 13-10 October 3 @Minnesota L 14-21 October 10 @Green Bay L 23-26 October 24 Chicago W 6-3 October 31 @Detroit L 3-20 November 7 @New Orleans W 31-16 November 14 Kansas City W 17-10 November 21 Atlanta W 19-10 November 28 @Seattle W 16-3 December 6 Minnesota W 24-17 December 12 Detroit W 23-16 December 19 @Oakland L 0-45 December 26 Green Bay W 29-10 January 2 @Chicago W 20-6 January 15 Washington W 14-13 January 23 @St. Louis 4:15pm ET

September 12 Baltimore W 27-10 September 26 Atlanta W 35-7 October 3 @Cincinnati W 38-10 October 10 San Francisco W 42-20 October 17 @Atlanta W 41-13 October 24 Cleveland W 34-3 October 31 @Tennessee L 21-24 November 7 @Detroit L 27-31 November 14 Carolina W 35-10 November 21 @San Francisco W 23-7 November 28 New Orleans W 43-12 December 5 @Carolina W 34-21 December 12 @New Orleans W 30-14 December 19 NY Giants W 31-10 December 26 Chicago W 34-12 January 2 @Philadelphia L 31-38 January 16 Minnesota W 49-37 January 23 Tampa Bay 4:15pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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