Thursday, October 28 Rams making it look very easy By R.B. Fallstrom Associated Press |
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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Those searching for a weakness, any perceived crack in the armor of the unbeaten St. Louis Rams, have been saying that no one knows how they'll react to crunch time.
"Who wants to play in those kinds of games?" running back Marshall Faulk said. "I've been involved in those. How do you want us to win? Who wants to know? However it is for us to win the game, I'm with it." The Rams (6-0) entered the season with 99 losses during the 1990s, the most by any NFL team in the decade. This season, they're giving it back to their tormentors, winning by an average score of 36-11. Their season-opening 27-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens was the Rams' closest. They've scored on their opening drive in four of six games, and led the Cleveland Browns 14-0 in Sunday's 34-3 victory before Tim Couch took the field for the first time. They've trailed only once, 3-0 to the Bengals in Week 3 in a 38-10 victory, and have led by an average of 17 points at halftime. They've scored at least 34 points in five consecutive games for the first time in team history. Quarterback Kurt Warner leads the NFL with 18 touchdown passes, an average of three per game, and is on pace to tie Dan Marino's NFL record of 48. And he won't downplay his chances. "I've got great guys around me, and if we continue to play well like this, who knows what can happen?" Warner said.
What's happening is a huge change for the nine players remaining from coach Dick Vermeil's first season in 1997. So far, they've played zero meaningful fourth quarters. "I've done enough of that," said defensive tackle D'Marco Farr, who's been with the team since 1994. "I'm happy with the way it's going now." The Rams ended a 17-game losing streak against the San Francisco 49ers, but skeptics noted that Steve Young was out with a concussion. They've twice beaten the Atlanta Falcons after their Super Bowl season, but there was no Jamal Anderson to stop. So Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans (5-1), the co-leaders in the AFC Central, could be the first real challenge. Not that the players feel there's anything left to show the rest of the NFL. "I know one thing: We won't be proving anything to ourselves," wide receiver Isaac Bruce said. "If we're proving something to somebody, it'll be somebody who doesn't believe we can win games the way we're winning them." Vermeil isn't the least bit curious about how his team will respond when, inevitably, the time comes. "I like the situation as it is," he said. "We haven't been in that fourth-quarter fight where we have to come from behind, but I think we have the tools to do it." Right now, the entire second half has been cruise time for the Rams, who have scored 143 points in the first half and 74 in the second half with a large dose of reserves getting heavy play. "I think the players would be excited about that kind of challenge," Vermeil said. "I think they sense sometimes that we back off, and they'd like to keep attacking. I know how they'll respond." |
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