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9-2 AND GETTING GOOD
BY RAMMED FOR LIFE (Nov 29)

St. Louis Rams Torry Holt (88) clears the end zone marker to score against the New Orleans Saints during the first half in St.Louis Sunday, Nov. 28, 1999. Holt scored on a pass from Rams quarterback Kurt Warner caught between the Saints Willie Clay (42) and Ashley Ambrose (43). The pass play covered 25 yards. (AP Photo/James A. Finley)

THE UPSHOT. 9-2. I like it! Winning season! About to clinch some home playoff games. Kind of ALL RIGHT! Actually, I was pleased by the game. Last week [in SF] was an ugly win. This week--I  like!

Look, N O is a tough, solid team. They have no special talent outside of Ricky, but they are much more solid than S F. Their lines are much better, and so is their D.

DEFENSE. NO played a virtually perfect 1st half on O. They made plays under a lot of duress. And what did it add up to?

The Aints came out and played hard. Offensively, they took what the could underneath. They also made some very tough plays with heavy pressure on the QB and on the receivers. We contained them and eventually shut them down. The picks were nice and came off of pressure. Remember--the Aints have a fine OL and we got pretty good pressure--with some starters hobbled a bit!

12 points. They execute their asses off and get 12 points.

I understand the feeling some have expressed concerning the D. It can be frustrating. Especially on 3rd and long, which we generally play too soft.

But the more you watch this team the more you see the decision made in the pre-season by Giunta and Bunting. They do NOT want to give up the long ball, so they have backed off some in the secondary. They attack the QB, but they keep the other team underneath. When that team takes what we give them, they move the chains some. But most teams haven't made much actual point production off of that.

There are still concerns about this D against superb pass Os. But, I saw nothing scary today. NO made an enormous effort to get some field goals. Inside our 40, they showed little and only once made it inside the 10.

OFFENSE. On O, I thought the thing was very simple. When you score quickly against a tough but limited opponent, then go into a lull, but limit the damage, then answer as soon as you lose the lead, then completely dominate the second half--that is not winning ugly!

That is the way champions play against lesser competition.

2 1st half issues:

1. Martz gets squirrely at times. In this game, not much--but we did waste a couple of potential scoring series with goofy calls on 1st down. Still, 85% of the game calling was really good!

2. Warner's passing radar was jammed in the 1st half. I honestly had the sense that NO was not stopping us. We were missing open receivers.  And, he still locks on some. Also, we had some guys slip down. Warner had to take a sack on a short 3rd down play because an open Ike slipped down. Hey--it happens.

But here is my fundamental take on the  game: we blew them away in the second half. TOTALLY! The O stepped up and executed their asses off. KW got on target and everything kicked in.  So. For the first time since the Tenn game, the O stained excellent play for a solid 2 quarters today. They had lost the taste of that. They got it  back

In the 2nd half, 4 possessions--4 TDs. That's rather nice!

I really feel we saw a breakthrough in the second half. For a month, these guys were lethargic. But that 2nd half was a return to high octane--and against a very solid D. And what was so great was the way we hit on EVERYTHING! Passes, inside runs, outside runs.

Here's what we did in the 2nd half today! Think of it! We ...

* Ran faulk inside

* Ran Faulk outside

* Ran Holc up the middle

* Had a breakout game from Torry

* Had the usual great effort from Bruce

* Had a couple key receptions from Az

* We ran with power in the red zone, not only scoring the TD on the ground in a power formation, but also getting the 2 extra points with Holc pounding Faulk scored inside and later so did Hodgins

We did WHATEVER we wanted to do in that game! NO could take nothing away from us. Only our own blunders cost us early. And we STILL scored on the first drive!

As the week goes on, that second half is going to resonate with us more and more! Cooking with gas, baby

PLAYOFFS? In my view, NOT A LIVING HUMAN BEING has a clear read on how we will do in the playoffs. The evidence is too wild--poor competition, great numbers, some spotty play, some worries here and there.

Of course, the playoffs are always a crap shoot. Look at the Vikings last year. There was NO REASON to see that coming--except for their playoff history under Green.

I see question marks on D: dealing with elite QB/WR combos; stopping brilliant runners (we haven't faced any!). And our O tends to make mistakes. But there is a lot to like here. We are going a long way this year, no matter what.

I think we have a superb chance of going to the big dance--I really do, though it is not the lock that is sometimes assumed. I even think we have a decent chance to win the big one.

But if we are a year away--isn't that OK? We are building some very special stuff here.