Not So Ram Tough at Home Anymore
The St. Louis Rams’ aura of invincibility is long gone. They can’t even win at home anymore.
The defending Super Bowl champions have lost four of six games after a 6-0 start, dropping their third in a row at the Trans World Dome to the injury-riddled-but-resilient New Orleans Saints, 31-24, on Sunday.
The Rams had won 14 in a row at home, most of them blowouts, before the current skid, which includes setbacks to the Panthers and Redskins.
“Once again, it was just another frustrating home game,” said quarterback Trent Green, a St. Louis native who has been at the controls for all three losses.
St. Louis couldn’t overcome numerous mistakes, including two fumbles lost by Green inside the Saint 20.
New Orleans (8-4) was a 13 1/2-point underdog without injured quarterback Jeff Blake and running back Ricky Williams, but silenced a sellout crowd by recovering an onside kick to open the game and then controlling play for most of it. The Saints, with the victory, moved into a tie for first place in the NFC West with the Rams. The teams play again in the regular-season finale on Dec. 24 in New Orleans.
“Just looking at us on paper, it might not look like we have a lot of talent,” said Jerald Moore, a Ram castoff who scored a second-quarter touchdown. “But we really do.”
Aaron Brooks, making his first career start at quarterback, was 19 for 27 for 190 yards and a touchdown with one interception. He also had two short rushing touchdowns.
“Aaron is a great talent,” New Orleans Coach Jim Haslett said. “I’ve said all week that people always worry about putting the backup quarterback in. The guy’s really calm and cool.”
After the Rams tied the score at 24-24 with 11 minutes left in the game, Brooks led the Saints on an 11-play, seven-minute, 85-yard drive that he capped with a touchdown dive.
The Saints opened the door for a possible Ram comeback when Doug Brien was wide right on a 44-yard field goal with 2:21 left. Two plays later, however, Chris Oldham intercepted Green. The Rams got the ball back one more time, but Green was sacked as time ran out.
Green, in probably his final start, was 20 for 41 for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, sidelined since breaking the little finger of his throwing hand in the Rams’ first loss of the season at Kansas City on Oct. 22, is expected back for next Sunday’s game at Carolina.
New Orleans won despite a team-record 17 penalties for 116 yards. The previous high was 14, on three occasions. The Rams had 14 penalties for 132 yards.