Not So Super for the Rams
Last gasp.
Now the St. Louis Rams’ last grasp on a playoff berth has all but slipped through their fingers.
Their rollicking rematch of last season’s NFC championship game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended in a 38-35 loss Monday after a wild final minute.
With 48 seconds left, Tampa Bay scored the go-ahead touchdown on Warrick Dunn’s one-yard dive.
With 25 seconds left, the Rams’ fate was sealed when John Lynch picked off a pass by Kurt Warner, his third interception of the game.
And now the Super Bowl champions’ fate is this:
To make the playoffs, the Rams (9-6) not only have to beat New Orleans Sunday.
Far more unlikely, they also need Chicago (4-11) to upset a Detroit team trying to clinch a playoff spot at the Silverdome.
The stony silence of the Ram locker room at Raymond James Stadium--site of the Super Bowl Jan. 28--told the story.
They are on the verge of becoming only the 10th Super Bowl champion not to make the playoffs. (The most recent was Denver last season.)
“Everybody is going to have to deal with this in their own way,” defensive tackle D’Marco Farr said.
“We had every opportunity to take control of this season,” said Mike Jones, the linebacker who made the final tackle to win the Super Bowl. “This is a rough one right now.”
Rough for the Rams, incredible for Tampa Bay. (Not bad for New Orleans either: The Saints clinched the NFC West, by virtue of the Ram loss.)
The offensively challenged Buccaneers (10-5) clinched a playoff spot by beating the Rams in a shootout--and with a tremendous final drive.
On second and 10 in his own territory, Dunn was hemmed in for a big loss, then pitched to quarterback Shaun King, who ran 29 yards to the 50.
“We thought we had him,” said Jones, who was penalized 15 yards for a late hit at the end of King’s scramble, giving Tampa Bay a first down at the Ram 35.
“I thought he was coming at me. I didn’t realize he was that close to the sideline.”
King later scrambled six yards for a first down on fourth-and-four with 1:16 left, then connected with Reidel Anthony for a 22-yard gain to the one-yard line with 56 seconds left to set up Dunn’s touchdown.
The Rams didn’t realize they were this close to the end.
Less than five minutes earlier, they had taken their first lead of the game on a play that was vintage Rams.
Dexter McCleon made an interception in the end zone, and the quick-strike Rams turned the game upside down.
Fifty-five seconds later, the Rams led, 35-31, after Warner hit Torry Holt in stride with a pass around the 40-yard line, the first defender missed the tackle, and Holt turned it into a 72-yard touchdown.
“I thought we had this thing won,” Ram Coach Mike Martz said.
The Rams scored 35 points.
And the Rams lost.
Who would have believed it?
“No, you couldn’t have told me that,” Farr said.
The Rams were supposedly back after beating Minnesota last week.
Far from it, and this time the Buccaneers--still smarting from last season’s 11-6 loss in the NFC title game--ran roughshod over the Rams.
Dunn ran for 145 yards and three touchdowns, including a 52-yard run on the final play of the third quarter that answered a Rams’ touchdown by Marshall Faulk only 20 seconds earlier.
Faulk--who set an NFL record by scoring four touchdowns in a game for the third time in a season--scored on a 27-yard catch-and-run play as the Rams cut the Tampa Bay lead to 24-21 late in the third.
But Tampa Bay always had an answer.
If it wasn’t Dunn, it was King, who completed only 18 of 38 passes but threw for 256 yards and two touchdownsand rushed for another 58.
And if it wasn’t them, it was that long missing figure--Keyshawn Johnson.
Johnson--who had only one 100-yard receiving game this season before Monday night--caught seven passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns, both in the first half as the Buccaneers took a 24-14 lead.
“When they scored, we had to answer the call,” Johnson said. “This is why I came here, for games like this. To get in the playoffs and help us win championships.”
The Buccaneers were supposed to be known for their defense--and they did pick off three Warner passes.
But they won with their offense--despite some notable gaffes.
Tampa Bay had a three-point lead and a first-and-goal at the Ram one-yard line in the fourth quarter--but failed to score.
Tight end Dave Moore dropped a touchdown pass on first down, Dunn was stopped short on second, and the Buccaneers tried to pass again on third down, going for Johnson in the end zone.
Johnson and cornerback Dre Bly went up for the ball, the ball was deflected, and the Rams’ McCleon, coming to Bly’s aid, caught it for an interception and a touchback.
That set up Holt’s touchdown, but the game was far and over.
Next time the Buccaneers got that close, the ball went to Dunn on second down, and he made good on it.
NFL PLAYOFF PICTURE
DIVISION LEADERS
Central * Tennessee (12-3)
Next Monday vs. Dallas
West * Oakland (11-4)
Next Sunday vs. Carolina
East Miami (10-5)
Next Sunday at New England
WILD-CARD RACE
* Baltimore (11-4)
Next Sunday vs. New York Jets
* Denver (10-5)
Next Saturday vs. San Francisco
New York Jets (9-6)
Next Sunday at Baltimore
Indianapolis (9-6)
Next Sunday vs. Minnesota
Pittsburgh (8-7)
Next Sunday at San Diego
DIVISION LEADERS
East * New York Giants (11-4)
Next Saturday vs. Jacksonville
Central * Minnesota (11-4)
Next Sunday at Indianapolis
West * New Orleans (10-5)
Next Sunday vs. St. Louis
WILD-CARD RACE
* Philadelphia (10-5)
Next Sunday vs. Cincinnati
* Tampa Bay (10-5)
Next Sunday at Green Bay
Detroit (9-6)
Next Sunday vs. Chicago
St. Louis (9-6)
Next Sunday at New Orleans
Green Bay (8-7)
Next Sunday vs. Tampa Bay
* clinched playoff berth.
*
MORE COVERAGE
T.J. SIMERS D2
NFL REPORT D6
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Quite a Run
Tampa Bay’s Warrick Dunn and St. Louis’ Marshall Faulk have been on a three-game tear. Their yardage and touchdown numbers:
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Rushing Receiving Total Touchdowns Warrick Dunn 414 148 562 5 Marshall Faulk 308 130 438 8
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