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TORRY HOLT IN THE TAMPA
GAME, BY LARRY MUELLER
(Jan 24)
I do not think that it has ever been more evident than this game
that the depth of the wide receivers is what makes this team so special. More than Kurt
Warner, more than Marshall Faulk, more than Issac Bruce.
After the initial interception, the team marched down the field in typical RAM
fashion on the 2nd possession. The RAMS went 74 yards on 16 plays only to miss out on a
touchdown on a dropped Issac Bruce pass. After this initial field goal, Tory Holt had to
leave the game because of bruised ribs. This moved Az Hakim and Ricky Proehl up into the
#2 and #3 slots. The team went away from the 4 wide receiver sets and the offense went
stale. What followed was the following:
# plays yds gain
3
9
8 34
3 -1
4 24
2 20
Five drives with very little
happening. Tampa Bay focused more attention on Issac Bruce and Marshall Faulk as the
combination of Ricky Proehl and Az Hakim did not create the deep threat scare as much as
the presence of Tory Holt would have.
In the second half, Tory Holt returns to the game and the Rams immediately go on 12 play
83 yard drive only to end the drive with an interception on a bad throw by Kurt Warner.
Holt gets reinjured and Az Hakim misses some plays from dehydration. What follows is more
stale offense with only Proehl and Issac Bruce as the only healthy receivers:
# plays yds gain
6 18
3 8
6 42 (Touchdown)
While everybody's focus is on
the hero from the NFC championship game, Ricky Proehl, I was wondering if anybody really
broke down that game and analyzed it. The RAMS had 12 possessions during the game,
including the one at the end of the first half and one at the end of the game. Only three
of the drives were successful. Yet when the whole package was there, (Issac, Tory, Az, and
Ricky), the RAMS moved the ball as they always do. When Torry and Az missed some plays,
the offense struggled.
I know you have to give the Tampa Bay defense some credit as this is the best one that the
RAMS have faced. The Rams were successful, however, when the entire package was available.
Wide receiver depth cannot be emphasized enough. It is what makes the RAMS the #1 offense
of the league. Torry Holt made a bigger impact on this team than any other player in the
NFL draft could have, especially considering the players the RAMS already had on offense.
More than Bailey, more than James, and even more then Kearse. You can play 4 wide
receivers at the same time. Kearse and Grant Winstrom would not have played at the same
time. We already had Marshall Faulk so what would James have offered that we couldn't get
from Faulk? Bailey is still finding his way in Washington and Bly has made big plays for
the RAMS.
Thank God for Torry...and thanks to Ricky for that sensational catch! |
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GREAT DEFENSE. WHAT
'S NEXT?
BY TOM RIVERS (Jan 24)
Great Defensive game.
I was not at all surprised about the kind of game that was played yesterday---it was a
typical Tampa Bay game. Tampa plays the best defense in professional football.
Monte Kiffen knew he would have to have some surprises for Warner. Warner is great
a making a pre-snap read of the coverage, which allows him to decide early where he wants
to go with the ball. Tampa, which has great defensive athletes, was showing Warner one
thing in the pre-snap and playing another pass defense after the snap. Warner didn't know
where he needed to go with the ball until he was about to set up and was already starting
the feel the pressure of the rush.
Herman Edwards, who coaches the pass defense for Tampa, played DB for DV in Philly. As a
player he was the best stem reader in pro football. This means he could read the early
part of the pass route and tell you ahead of time what the receiver was going to do. You
could see this in the Tampa Bay pass defenders---they played the thrown football like they
knew where it was going ahead of time. They learned from their coach how to take an early
read on the route and then how to position themselves to defend the pass that was about to
be thrown. Great defense is great athletes anticipating what is coming next and being
right most of the time.
The Rams also have an extremely well coached defense, but a little less talent to work
with in my opinion (compared to Tampa).
Can we beat the Titans? Probably---we were better than they were when we played them the
first time. I was there. I am sure our coaches will not put Miller in a position where he
has to pass protect against the Freak in open space. They will either put a tight end next
to him or chip the outside with a back.
Both coaching staffs will have learned from the first game. Tennessee looks better to me
now then they did when we played them in Nashville. The Titans had a great defensive game
plan in game one--- they will probably try and repeat the things that worked the first
time. When they blitzed, they covered Bruce who was in the slot with an inside outside
double---Bruce would sight adjust and run right into coverage. So Warner didn't know early
in the game where to go with the ball when being blitz. Our advantage is that our players
and coaches have had time to study and be ready for some of their best stuff.
The Ram offense is more creative and more talented than Tennessee's. The Ram defense is
just as talented as Tennessee's and just as well coached. I know Jeff Fisher only by
reputation, but I like the toughness his teams play with---his defense have some of that
reckless quality that his mentor Buddy Ryan used to give his teams.
We are going to see two very well coached teams that will show up ready to lay it on the
line for 60 minutes. Both coaches know that once 6:30 PM EST next Sunday rolls around it
is just another football game and you better come down the tunnel focused on football and
ready to kick butt and take names. |
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THE BATTLE OF WILLS
BY RAMMED FOR LIFE (Jan 24)
I think the TB D is GREAT at being disciplined and narrowing your
window of opportunity. HOWEVER, I don't think they are a great attacking D that can TAKE
THAT OPPORTUNITY AWAY like Buddy Ryan's Bears D was.
To an extent, I disagree that TB came out and did what they said they would do. Okay I
mean, that sounds silly. They held our O to 9 points. Right? But here is where in my view
the game turned.
Drive 2, the "scripted" drive, the Rams did PRECISELY what we knew our O could
do---patiently take the underneath stuff and drive for a long, slow score. But Ike dropped
the TD!
That was a major, major moment. It put serious doubt in our minds and gave the TB D a huge
boost of self-confidence. The game of will power turned in their favor right there.
I am speculating here. But I think the "inexperience" issue was not annihilated
as Madden pronounced it to be last week. I think the Rams were not ready mentally
for the pressure of this game. They were not ready for a simple reason--they couldn't
imagine what it would feel like.
They came out offensively just a bit tight. Then the disastrous, out of the blue opening
INT tightens the screws a bit. Then Ike lets himself down on the TD drop. I think that
with all his competitivesness---he let that pass and the situation get to him some. At
that point, the battle of wills surged to the Buc side of the field and stayed there a
long time.
Another factor. Holt getting banged up.
You might notice that Holt was having a HUGE game early. When Holt went out, that changed
the dynamic. TB could roll up the D toward Ike much more decisively. (They eventually paid
with Ricky!)
I don't mean to make excuses or to take anything away from TB. That is their game---shrink
the window of opportunity and make you EXECUTE to beat them. They did that. On the
other hand, we let them do it. We yielded the battle of wills for a long time.
I believe the pressure of this NFC title game was a part of that. We had never felt that
before. Last week was a joke.
In that game, we demonstrated the ability to move the ball and make plays on TB. Far
better than their O did! We just took 3 quarters to break through the barrier enough to
make the big, scoring play. I can imagine us playing them next week and scoring 25.
See, here's the thing: WE WON THE GAME! We endured. Survived. Moved on. This game is
EXACTLY the sort of game that people blamed us all year for not winning. We only had 2,
and we dropped both of those.
This was a great game, looked at objectively. It is the sort of game the Bucs wanted. For
them, it was beautiful, until the end. Looked at from our point of view, it was an ugly
game. No Ram fan is likely to turn to this game and watch tapes over and over for fun. It
was an ordeal. It tried us to the quick. But championship teams go through this sort of
game and become great teams by doing it. It is the mental game. And now our lads
know what that is all about!
We WILL become stronger because of that game. We will grow mentally and understand the
level of effort and execution needed. That game was a trial by fire. Every great team must
go through this initiation into soul-searing pressure.
WHAT A GREAT DEFENSE TAMPA
HAS
BY SACTORAM (Jan 24)
Can't say enough about the Bucs D. They played the *best offense in the
league* and they spit it out like bad gum except for one pass play (THANK GOD). They
*dictated* to the Rams what they wanted them to do. They snuffed Faulk, both running
and receiving. They made Bruce inconsequential. They have A GREAT DEFENSE.
The Bucs and their DC basically did what they said: SCREW the motion, the
misdirection, the draws and the screens. We are going to to play our zone. You can wigwag
this way, wigwag that way, but we are going to be looking straight at your belly button.
We're not going to "bite" on anything. Then we're going to smash you.
Tampa Bay SNUFFED the Rams running game. They DE-MOLISHED it. I think also that
the Bucs wanted to make sure that Faulk didn't bounce it outside. Except for ONE run in
the first half, they didn't allow him to do that. On that one run the DE didn't maintain
his his discipline, took an inside rush, and Faulk bounced to the outside for
a good gain. Except for that one play they had great discipline and didn't allow cutbacks
by Faulk. And as we all know, if they snuff the running game, that puts that much more
pressure on your qb and your receivers.
I think Warner was "stopped" purely because the O line was outplayed by the
defensive front 4 of Tampa Bay and because the tremendous TB linebackers stopped Faulk
from catching those short passes in the middle of the field. IMO Tampa's front 4 and the
linebackers took the Rams out of their game.
Warner did virtually nothing but 2 or 3 step drops the whole 1st half. The longest
*attempt* was a 28 yard pass to Bruce in which the ball was tipped and he got hammered.
This was at the very end of the half though when the Bucs had a distinct advantage because
of time. The longest completion was that 18 yarder up the middle to the TE.
Could we have scored more points if *everything* broke just right? Yes. But the thing
about a great defense it that put such *great pressure* on you to do *everything* just
right. If you noticed, there was always defensive players *CLOSE*---close to Warner, close
to Faulk, close to Holt, and at the very end, close to Proehl. If you arn't *right on the
money*, you don't succeed with your offensive play.
And If anybody wants to know why great linebackers are key to a great defense and why DV
loves great linebackers, just replay that game and watch the Bucs linebackers.
The Bucs have the best defense in the NFL, bar none.
MARTZ. So were the Rams conservative? I would have thrown a few bombs in there. But after
seeing Martz this year with his offensive play-calling, I really have to give him at
least some benefit of the doubt.
It will be interesting to hear what Martz has to say about this game.I know one thing:
Lyght had nothing but praises for the TB linebackers, and I have to give them and their D
more credit and discount the idea that it was a lack of guts on Martz's part.
Martz has show me more balls this year than any offensive coordinator I've
ever seen.
THE RUNNING GAME. After going over the tape, it just seems to me that the Rams would
have been better off to smash it up the middle. I thought that the O line got a
pretty good push. On one play in fact, it was 3rd and 1 and the Bucs had 8 men in the box.
On a run to the left, Sapp come through unblocked (it looked like Miller missed),
but Holcombe picked him up, then Nutten and Pace made great blocks to spring Faulk for
6 yards. That was WITH 8 men in the box!
On another play at the beginning of the first half, the Rams made a huge hole to the
right. In fact, Holcombe went through the hole and he didn't have anybody to block for 5
yards. For some unfathomable reason, Faulk took the ball to the LEFT for NO GAIN.
My *impression* is that Faulk has made gains against other less disciplined teams in a
similar fashion. But in this game, he had to HIT THE HOLE, not bounce it out. He and the
OC had to take his 3 yards, 5 yards, or 8 yards UP THE GUT and *get smashed*, if need be.
The other stuff didn't work.
*So far* my conclusion is that the Rams running game could have and should have had more
of a power run game between the tackles. That would negate the Bucs speed on defense, that
would bring the safeties up. That is when you throw for long gains. Because the Rams did
not play it that way, Tampa's safeties were content to look out for the pass.
WARNER. I give Warner total credit for hanging in there. The mark of a great player is to
be able to keep his poise at the end of the game and throw a strike. That's what he did.
Thank God for the poise of Kurt Warner and the *clutch* catch of Proehl. This game could
easily gone the other way, especially when you look at the replay of the
"missed" catch at the end of the game.
So as far as this game is concerned, we were good enough to win it,...and we we were good
enough to lose it. THANK GOD WE WON!!
HOLT. Holt is going to be better than Bruce...same fluidity and quickness. Better ability
to break tackles after the catch.
THE SUPERBOWL. What'sNeeded to Win Super Bowl? I think most agree that we have to be more
aggressive with the long ball against Tenn than TB. We didn't throw one pass past 28 yards
in the first half, and that was at *the very end of the half* (incomplete to Bruce).
I've got to tell you though, that *even with* the lack of a long ball, the Rams could
easily have scored 21 points on TB if Warner had not had a mediocre game and if Martz
hadn't outfaked himself on a couple of key calls (like the draw at the goal line). But to
my mind, a few long balls is a *pressure releaser*, which Warner & Co. could have
used.
I sure would like to get a running game going as well. Warner is Superman, but when you
ask him to throw that much against a swarming defense with at least *pressure* every time
he throws the ball, I think you're asking too much. I really think that the fact that 90%
of the offense rested on his shoulders is what led to his his interceptions, more than
anything else. As many have noted, the frustration and pressure seemed to get to him in
the second half. They need to make the SS and linebackers more concerned about the Rams
tight ends. Throw them the ball more so they can't key as much on stopping the run.
Miller just absolutely killed us in the last game. He hurt us more because of his
penalties than the inability to block Kearse. I want the Rams to be aware of Kearse, but I
don't want them to become *obsessed* with him. It will take away from the aggressiveness
of our offense. Just mix it up with Miller blocking him man on man sometimes, and help at
other times. Don't let Kearse know what is coming next. Sometimes use Conwell to block
down on him (I wouldn't mind a 2 te offense sometimes), sometimes Faulk chipping him, or
Holcombe. Get him thinking. And above all else, *Miller must not get illegal procedure
calls*. It's like waving a white flag to the Tenn. defense. It gives them confidence and
takes away from the confidence of our O. I also think that Hannifan better give a lot of
thought to who should replace Miller if he doesn't do the job. This is no time to be
*patient* with Miller: if he gets 2 illegal procedure calls, I'd get him out of there -
PRONTO.
UPS AND DOWNS
BY PA RAM (Jan 23)
It was the best of days and the worst of days. Certainly not the emotional high I'd hoped
for but that's the way life plays itself out sometimes. It doesn't always adjust itself to
fit our needs.
My ten-year old son the Bucs bravely sat among three anxious Ram fans wearing his Warren
Sapp jersey and gaining confidence as the Bucs hung in there. He didn't sweat it when the
score was 6-5 because he KNEW his team was going to win. Something happened, however, near
the end of the game. He got quiet as the Rams got close on their final drive. He closed
his eyes and laid his head on the arm of a sofa.
He couldn't look.
I watched him...I watched the Rams.
To be honest...I suddenly didn't know which team I was really rooting for.
Then the Rams scored on the pass to Prohel. I jumped up screaming, the loudest Ram fan in
the room. My son looked once, closed his eyes, and I could see the sudden strain on his
face.
He suddenly didn't know if the Bucs could win.
The Bucs marched down the field and as they got closer to the endzone his eyes clenched
tighter and tighter.
Then there was the horrible call and the Bucs were done. The Ram fans congratulated each
other.
He couldn't help it. He cried.
So there I am...the Rams headed to the Superbowl, and not feeling as great as I wanted to.
I tried to explain to him about how the Bucs had played a great game, how they could hold
their heads high, how they had a great season.
Somehow it didn't matter to him. And maybe I should have known that because if the Rams
had lost it wouldn't matter to me.
He settled down a little while later...realized it wasn't the end of the world, and felt a
little better when I downloaded a Bucs picture to the printer.
He is learning the harsh lessons of emotionally attaching yourself to a football team. And
so am I.
Next week, as the smoke clears and I drift through the fog of doubters who will tell me
how Tampa was robbed, I will perk up and get ready for the Superbowl.
The Rams are playing the Titans...a team I have absoultely NO attatchment to. I can enjoy
it without restraint, and I will.
Just one thing--after putting me through all this the Rams had BETTER win.
I'm emotionally spent tonight.
The Rams are headed to the Superbowl!!!! |
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WHAT HAPPENED?
BY OLD HACKER
(Jan 25)
IMO, Warner was off his game.
He was throwing the ball late in pre-game, behind the WRs in warm up.
Then in the game, due to the speed of TB's defense, our WRs were even quicker than
normal. Warner did not adjust. And he was throwing high---why would he purposely throw
high---do we have 6' WRs?
He was nervous prior to the game. The last time I saw Warner look bad in warm up was at
Tenn. I'm thinking he'll not be so nervous in the SB.
Go Rams !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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RAMS OFFENSIVE
BRILLIANCE?
BY D. DELANEY
(Jan 25)After thinking about the game
and reading all of the articles in both the Post and the Tampa Tribune, I've concluded
that not only does the conservative offensive strategy the Rams used make sense, it won
them the game! It may have even been brilliant. Here's the real story IMO:
Martz was trumped in this game for a higher strategy controlled by Vermeil. DV has
been there, and won the NFC championship before and has had 20 years to dwell on why he
lost the Super Bowl and he knows why.
Pre-game hype sold the game as the best offense against the best defense---which it was.
But it was also a mediocre TB offense against a pretty solid Rams defense which is the
part of the game that doesn't get anyone too excited.
Tampa Bay won all year with defense holding the opposition to minimal points. They rely on
turnovers, special teams, and grinding the opposing defenses down in the second half
by hammering them relentlessly with Mike Alstott and occasional big plays by King and
Dunn. In low scoring games, TB makes "high-powered" offenses panic and play into
their hands creating interceptions. Interceptions--- which with their speed usually result
in scores or at a minimum big yardage and great field position. Do you want Isaac Bruce,
Marshall Faulk, Tory Holt, Kurt Warner, or the offensive line trying to tackle these guys?
The Rams blew TB away in time of possession, a critical stat in this game again not
emphasized by the media. This would not have been the case had the Rams played their usual
attack, big play offensive style. Minnesota blew us away in this stat and nearly every
other stat last week. If they tried big plays against Tampa, at best the Rams would have
scored some but also would have given up more turnovers for big yardage or even points.
But for CERTAIN the defense would not have been near as fresh as they were in the fourth
quarter where Alstott, Dunn and company would have gone to work like they have all year.
The Rams would have lost!
So that's where the game was won---the Rams fresh defense against TBs inept offense,
which was forced to abandon their grinding style. The Rams made Tampa play THEIR game in
the final minutes!
The Rams usual "non-conservative" style would have eliminated that.
So IMO it comes down to this. DV knew TB had a much better chance of winning the game with
their defense. I gave this game (ie. their defense against our offense) a tie even though
the Rams did get the necessary one big play. DV knew he could win big in the game between
his D and TB's O as long as he kept his D fresh. And in the end, that IS where the game
was won. It would have been playing into TBs hands to continuously go for the big play and
ultimately lose. Instead they took the 1st downs and possession and kept the D off the
field.
As for the score, I agree the Rams thought they would score more than 11 but I bet they
also thought the Bucs would score more than 6.
Granted, Tennessee is different from TB. But in the superbowl all we have to do is play
them like we played them the final 3 quarters in Nashville (with the exception of Fred
Miller's miscues). Oh and we can't spot them 21 points in the 1st quarter! But I just
don't see that happening. I see Fred Miller not stopping but containing Kearse. As for
George he'll definitely win a few battles but Fletcher will win the war. Fletcher, Farr,
and Agnew will also stop McNair up the middle when he can't get outside of Carter and
Wistrom.
You can't contain Faulk with a 46 D. It just invites the screen pass and the draw. Martz
had that figured out after the 1st quarter of the previous meaning. And after Sunday
Warner knows he can finish the job.
The Titans needed a miracle to get by Buffalo. Indianapolis was too green to get the job
done. Jax was a typical intra-divisional game minus Boselli, with an injured Brunell and
an overrated defense.
Fisher is relying too much on divine intervention to give the "team of destiny"
its first championship. If the Rams hold on to the football...
Final Score:
RAMS 35 - Titans 24 |
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~Superbowl XXXIV~ 
