Where have these Rams been all year?
November 12th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
By
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
NEW ORLEANS — Can we see some IDs?
We’ll need to verify this with two forms of identification.
Who were these people in the Rams uniform?
Sunday at the Louisiana Superdome, the Rams produced a blast from the past, a
three-hour reprisal of the “Greatest Show” era. It was reminiscent of a time
when the coach called daring plays, a Pro Bowl quarterback zipped precision
passes to graceful receivers, and an undersized defense buzzed with energy.
For the first time during this tortuous season, the Rams were all of those
things, and more. Rams coaches had the smartest strategy and clearly won the
battle of the game plans. The brash Rams players played with an air of
confidence, overwhelmed their stunned opponent and silenced a disbelieving
crowd.
For the visiting team in New Orleans, it was Fat Tuesday on a Sunday afternoon.
In a sharp, stinging performance, the Rams slapped the Saints around in a 37-29
victory. Forget the misleading final score; this was no contest.
The Rams led 34-7 before the Saints realized they’d been duped by an apparent
case of identity theft.
After all, the Saints were expecting the 0-8 Lambs.
Instead, the Saints walked into a scene from the “Black Sheep,” a quirky 2006
horror film about a bunch of genetically mutated sheep that turn into vicious
beasts.
“That 0-8 team was hungry,” Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said.
What are we to make of this unexpected feeding frenzy?
Depends on your perspective.
Cynics will scoff and fret that the Rams — 1-8 and poised to make it 2-8 when
they visit San Francisco — will screw up their draft position for 2008. And
indeed, winless Miami now has the inside track for the first overall pick. And
the haters will stress over this reality: The Rams are only two or three happy
Sundays from saving coach Scott Linehan’s job for next season. Linehan needs
only three or four victories to be removed from the list of endangered coaches.
Dick Vermeil went 9-23 in his first two seasons (1997-98) as Rams coach.
Linehan (9-16) matched Vermeil’s two-season total with Sunday’s surprise, and
Linehan still has seven games left on the schedule.
Then again, Rams president John Shaw could be wondering: Where has this been
all season?
This ramrod at New Orleans dismissed all of the excuses about how it’s
impossible to win with a badly wounded offensive line. The Rams had multiple
mystery guests manning the O-line against the Saints and still rolled up 409
yards, 37 points and a 62 percent third-down conversion rate while controlling
the clock.
The attitude certainly was different. The Rams came out in full-attack mode on
both sides of the ball.
“No question,” Linehan said. “There’s probably a lot to be said about playing
loose, even though you’ve got to be pretty tight mentally. Arthur Ashe once
said the greatest competitor is physically loose and mentally tight. I think
that’s the way we played.”
Fiery defensive coordinator Jim Haslett exacted revenge on the team that fired
him by confounding the Saints with a special blitz package. On some passing
downs the Mad Haz shifted middle linebacker Will Witherspoon to the edge to
rush quarterback Drew Brees. Haslett was brilliant in this one. I just wish we
had seen this more aggressive side of Haslett sooner, and I hope he stays with
it. The defensive players thrived on the Haslett bravado.
Likewise, the Rams turned it loose on offense. Linehan called some deeper
patterns; wideouts Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt ran free and wild and appeared to
be five years younger. Charged-up quarterback Marc Bulger was quick to deliver
his decisive throws.
Bulger sizzled, connecting on 27 of 33 passes.
Must be his improved health.
“I think it was just improved play,” Linehan said.
By an entire team.
The Rams played at a higher emotional level than we’ve seen all season. By
winning, they proved that they should be better than 1-8. Even with all of the
injuries, the Rams should be hanging around at 4-5, 5-4. This result, while
undoubtedly a welcome relief for the coaches and players, raised even more
questions about this strange Rams season.
