Ram Defense Appears More on the Ball

The St. Louis Rams’ maligned defense kept them in the game. Their prolific offense won it.

Isaac Bruce had receptions of 20 and 27 yards on the final drive, and Jeff Wilkins kicked a 26-yard field goal with 7:08 left in overtime, lifting St. Louis to a 20-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

“To be able to come into this environment, a playoff environment against a team that went deep last year . . . and come out with a win, that’s pretty dramatic,” Ram Coach Mike Martz said.

St. Louis, which allowed a league-worst 471 points (29 per game) last season, overhauled its defense, starting eight new players. The Rams also have a new defensive coordinator in Lovie Smith, whose defensive philosophy is patterned after Tampa Bay’s bend-but-don’t-break approach.

The Rams did that for most of Sunday’s game against the Eagles.

Donovan McNabb, the NFL’s runner-up for most valuable player last season, had 312 yards passing but couldn’t get the Eagles into the end zone until the fourth quarter.

McNabb threw two touchdown passes to Cecil Martin in the final 11 minutes, the first score--a one-yard play on fourth-and-one--coming on a reversed call by replacement officials. Martin was stopped short of the end zone. But referee Al Hynes ruled the ball touched the goal plane after watching the replay.

McNabb’s eight-yard touchdown pass to Martin tied it at 17 with 3:59 left. Na Brown kept the drive going with an 18-yard reception on third-and-five.

“Not to take anything away from the Rams, but we had opportunities and we just didn’t take advantage,” McNabb said.

Aveion Cason fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but at least three Eagles failed to fall on the ball, allowing St. Louis to recover at the five.

“It was like dominoes out there. That’s just wrong,” Eagle Coach Andy Reid said.

Damon Moore intercepted Kurt Warner on a deep pass, giving the Eagles a chance to win it in regulation.

But McNabb was sacked at midfield on the final play.

The Eagles got the kickoff to start the overtime, but St. Louis forced a punt, giving the Rams the ball at their 36.

Bruce, who had two catches before the last drive, got the ball past midfield with his 20-yard reception, then made his 27-yard reception on second-and-20 to put Rams in field-goal range.