Rams Feel Right at Home in Dome Opener : NFC: Brooks says team is on rise after it reverts to early season form and defeats Carolina, 28-17.
A new stadium brought out the St. Louis Rams of a few weeks ago.
The Rams forced six turnovers and scored their first defensive touchdown since their 4-0 start, and Isaac Bruce had his sixth consecutive 100-yard receiving game as the Rams opened the $280-million Trans World Dome with a 28-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
“We’re back,” cornerback Todd Lyght said. “We’re back and we’re here to stay.”
The Rams (6-4) ended the Panthers’ four-game winning streak as they ended their own three-game losing streak.
Before Sunday, the Rams had been compared with the Los Angeles Rams, who had four victories last year and five in 1993.
“Believe me, this is not 1994 or ‘93,” Coach Rich Brooks said. “I really believe, even though we’re young and still not as efficient or as proficient as we need to be, this is a team on the rise.”
Another positive for the Rams was that offensive tackle Jackie Slater, having recovered from elbow surgery, played in his first game of the year, marking his 20th NFL season.
Jerome Bettis, who sat out a game last week for the first time in his three-year career, because of a foot injury, gained a season-high 91 yards in 26 carries.
Rookie Kerry Collins threw two touchdown passes for Carolina (4-6), which already has set a record for victories by a first-year team. But he was intercepted four times and lost two fumbles--one that was returned for a touchdown.
The Panthers forced 15 turnovers and committed six during their winning streak.
“Obviously, I made some bad decisions,” Collins said. “I made some poor throws. I’m still a rookie. Sometimes these things happen.”
St. Louis took advantage of seven turnovers to beat the Panthers, 31-10, in the third game of the season.
The Rams scored on the first three turnovers in the rematch, including a 26-yard fumble recovery by Torin Dorn in the fourth quarter that made the score 28-10.
Bruce caught nine passes for 110 yards to set a team record with his sixth consecutive 100-yard game. In that span, he has caught 53 passes for 895 yards.
“Definitely he’s at the top,” Panther safety Bubba McDowell said. “He’s going to be in the class with Jerry Rice, he’s that good.”
Bruce also caught his ninth touchdown pass of the year, a 12-yarder from Chris Miller in the second quarter. Miller completed 19 of 32 passes for 216 yards.
A sellout crowd of 65,598 showed up for the dome opener. The Rams played their first four home games at Busch Stadium while the dome was being completed.
The new building can be quite a noisy place.
“When the crowd went berserk, you could feel it,” Ram defensive tackle D’Marco Farr said. “It got really loud.”