Rams Win Fourth in Row
See if this sounds familiar: A bad start to the NFL season takes a turn for the worse when the team’s Pro Bowl quarterback goes down with an injury. Suddenly, the offense is in the hands of an untested reserve. Then, to the surprise of everyone, that untested kid captures the imagination of a city and somehow revives the playoff hopes of a franchise left for dead.
Meet Marc Bulger, this season’s Tom Brady.
Six weeks ago, Bulger was the third-string quarterback for St. Louis. Sunday, he threw for 453 yards and led the Rams to a breathtaking 28-24 victory over San Diego with two touchdown passes to Isaac Bruce in the final 3:06.
Now, with Kurt Warner itching to return, Bulger faces the most difficult assignment of his young career -- a drop-back to the bench.
“If this was it, this was it,” he said softly. “If I have another week, I have another week. Our whole team is unselfish, and I’m not going to be the guy that switches that.”
If there is a quarterback controversy, the Rams aren’t letting on. Last week, Coach Mike Martz confirmed Warner will be the starter when he recovers fully from the broken pinkie on his throwing hand, and dubbed skeptics who doubt Warner’s effectiveness the “amnesia crowd.”
The Rams (4-5) would love to forget their 0-5 start. Warner started the first four games, staggering out of the gate with one touchdown and eight interceptions. Backup Jamie Martin took over for him early in a Week 4 game against Dallas, when Warner suffered the finger injury. Martin made one start, against San Francisco, before being knocked out with a knee injury. That opened the door for Bulger, a second-year pro who went undrafted out of West Virginia. But Bulger looked as good as any first-round pick Sunday, his 453 yards passing the fourth-best total in Ram history behind Norm Van Brocklin, Vince Ferragamo and Jim Everett. Before Sunday, the Rams had lost their last 21 games in which they trailed after three quarters. Bulger became the first St. Louis quarterback to reverse that trend since Tony Banks in 1998.
To the surprise of no one, Bulger got a massive bear hug from Warner after the game.
“Kurt’s been nothing but supportive the whole time,” he said. “He was supportive even when we were down by 10 points in the fourth quarter. He doesn’t change.”
For a moment, it looked as if Warner would be joined on the sideline by Marshall Faulk, who briefly went to the locker room in the first half because of an injury to his left foot. When he returned, he suffered an injury to his right ankle that had him hopping off the field in agony. He did not re-enter the game, but looked to be fine in the locker room.
“Marshall should be all right,” Martz said. “He assured me that he’d be all right. When Marshall says that, he’ll be OK.”
Less certain is the condition of the Chargers (6-3), who followed an embarrassing home loss to the Jets with a heartbreaker. They overcame a 7-0 deficit in the first quarter and took control by forcing and recovering four fumbles -- two of which were returned for touchdowns. Late in the fourth quarter, they had a 24-14 lead and St. Louis pinned almost to its goal line. That’s when Bulger took control, driving the Rams 94 yards in six plays, and finishing the job with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Bruce.
Bruce, who was having a miserable 30th birthday after fumbling twice, made a spectacular catch on the touchdown, one that belongs on the All-VCR team. With cornerback Quentin Jammer in his face, he tipped the ball with one hand, then snatched it out of the air as he fell backward into the end zone. That cut the Charger lead to 24-21 with 3:06 to play.
The crowd of 66,093 roared its approval and got even louder moments later when Dre’ Bly recovered an onside kick for the Rams. That set up another Bulger scoring drive, ending with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bruce with 1:14 remaining.
Bolstered by Ronney Jenkins’ 52-yard kickoff return, and a do-or-die completion by Drew Brees on fourth and 12, the Chargers threatened to make the ending even wilder.
But their bid for a fantastic finish fell short when cornerback Dexter McCleon intercepted a pass in the end zone with 18 seconds on the clock.
Twice in the fourth quarter, the Chargers opted to punt when they were within kicker Steve Christie’s field-goal range.
“At that point in time, my feeling was we were playing good defense,” Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “ ... I thought we were better served punting the ball.”
Another chance went awry in the fourth quarter when receiver Tim Dwight dropped a beautifully placed pass inside the Ram 10. At worst, San Diego could have polished off that drive with a chip-shot field goal.
Time after time, the Chargers put themselves in a hole with penalties. Left tackle Ed Ellis, unable to hear in the raucous dome, was flagged for three false starts and drew a 15-yard facemask penalty.
“It was pretty loud,” running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “When you can barely hear the play that the quarterback is calling, that’s loud.”
Still, Tomlinson, who had 120 yards in 24 carries, thought the Chargers could slam the door.
“We’re supposed to play four quarters. We played about 3 1/2,” he said.
The Chargers left feeling they could have shown more, could have proven more, could have finished the job.
Soon, Bulger might feel the same way.
