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THE GAME.   In my time watching football I can scarcely recall an offense being more explosive, more dominating---and so thoroughly destroying 4 teams in a row.

Outside of a very sore throat I think the most salient point about my reaction is a state of stunned joy.  I thought they would win but have been down this street so many times with the 49ers that I was afraid to say it out loud.

I thought the team was  clearly wired for the game and their adrenalin was reflected in the season high penalty total.

I truly believe the following statement....

The Rams are as serious a Super Bowl contender in this season as there is in the League.

So there

THE CROWD. There were at least two illegal procedure penalities on the 49ers that were due to the crowd noise I thought. I have never seen the fans stick around as much as they did this game. The fans by the Rams tunnel all stayed and cheered until Warner was finally able to get off the field.

WARNER. I think Warner has this amazing ability to throw long with a feathery light touch...he hardly ever seems to really zip the ball but the ball arrives with plenty of velocity and steam....it's just thrown so well that you can pluck it out of the air.

He is actually improving every game. In the Ravens game he was not leading a lot of his receivers---who were so wide open that it did not matter. Now he is leading them right in stride almost every time. The two passes that impressed me the most were the 3rd Bruce TD where he put it in a perfect spot for Bruce to run with after the catch, and the TD pass to Jeff Robinson. That pass to Robinson was just like dropping a ball into a barrel down the field about 20 yards.

THE OFFENSE. I think what happened to the Vikings is that you can't play pitch and catch forever and just throw it up and wait for the tall rookie to make a play without someone figuring out a way to stop it...like playing a cover 2 and dropping both safeties back deep and waiting. To me Billick last year was in the right place at the right time and his offense was not going to be as good this year no matter who the coordinator was...especially if they did not change up some.

The beauty of the Rams offense imho is that it works best when the other team blitzes and/or zone blitzes. The Coryell/Turner/Martz offense seems to me to be the perfect offensive antidote to the blitz happy defenses of the 90's...it puts too many people in the patterns and uses so much motion and late movement that it forces the defense to either play honestly or let a slot guy like Faulk or Holcombe run free.

Bernie Miklasz kept telling me all preseason that they were holding back and that there was a lot more shifting and motion than they were showing in the fake games. The Rams are forcing teams to either match up on defense or pay the price. If you blitz or zone blitz the Rams it basically means that one of the 5 guys in the pattern has no one or just one guy on them. So you see a lot of this late shifting into a 4-5 Wideout formation on 3rd down. Someone is going to be wide open if the defense does not man up and drop back. Bernie's exact words to me the night before the Ravens game was that "no one will be able to cover all these guys."

I would not be surprised to see this offense more in vogue next year and someone like John Ramsdell get a coordinator job with a struggling team that wants an answer.

BRUCE. The mastery of Isaac. He does one thing like no one I have ever seen and that includes Mr. Rice. On deep balls he will run with the cornerback until the ball starts its down trajectory and then accelerate into the ball. He will never throw his hands up until the last split second to take the ball in and so prevents the cornerback from ever knowing where the ball is or when it is coming close. He is rarely if ever stripped on long balls and completely fools the defender on what is going on.

On the 3rd TD ball he gave Walker a shoulder move and made Walker fan on a jam up close to the line...a simply amazing move at the start to escape the jam. He then found a seam in a rolled up zone and split the 2 defenders after the catch.

RUNNING GAME. As far as the running game goes I have a couple of thoughts.

* When Faulk is in there I would like to see them just zone block and fire out straight ahead and let him pick the hole---he is not in synch with the blocking,  and I think that is most of the problem as opposed to the blocking...he is cutting too late and sometimes too early. There was one play where I thought he had a big hole if he would have cut back but he was too close to the blocking and could not see the lane.

* I am part of the Anti-Conwell's hands contingent but his run blocking is missed on the edge right now. I still think that Faulk and the running game will eventually come around. The toss sweeps and off tackle plays especially would benefit from Ernie getting back in there.

* But Holcombe is really bringing a load when he gets a handoff and has vastly improved his running style---it's still straight ahead but he is really pounding the pile.

The Rams used a play yesterday to Robert Holcombe that totally faked me out and the 49ers as well. It was the last drive before Taje's interception and they put Faulk in motion to the  right and then came back with a line buck to Holcombe to the left for big yardage. I was totally focused on Faulk and so were the 49ers.

* How in the world did anyone in this league miss Justin Watson?

OFFENSIVE LINE. Miller gets way too deep on his setup when he is pass blocking and gets off balance sometimes....but he is more than holding his own on run blocking.

Timmerman is one of the very best I have seen in a while at getting downfield and staying with a play.

Pace has been hitting one guy and then chipping another and keeping Warner safe. IMHO Pace has easily joined Tony Boselli this year as the two best left tackles in the game. Pace has really matured this year and is just flat out destroying people on pass blocking. I have seen him just destroy two of the best pass rushers in the game this year already in Smith and Haley.  He flattened Chuck Smith and at one point he took Haley and shoved him 5 yards sideways. Haley then got up and talked to the rest of the defensive line....next play he was on Fred Miller.

DEFENSE. Collins is just what they needed---a linebacker who can anchor, play with strength,  and is impossible to push out of the way. They are doing a much better job of penetrating on the back side of running plays and sealing off the cut back lane.

Give more credit to Mike Jones for stopping the tight end. He is locking up with them most of the time and instead of trying to bang away he is using his speed to turn and run just like a safety...Jones made an incredibly athletic play on his pick. I had just told my wife and brother-in-law that the only thing we had not seen was a pick.

The 49ers did a really good job of cutting Wistrom I thought. Early on the pass rush was there. Wistrom and Carter both got good rushes on Garcia early when the game was still in doubt. I kept waiting for them to really tee off and blitz...I kept calling for that nickel back blitz by Todd Lyght and they never called it....Farr did not get a big rush all day long....but I think the pass rush has been there the rest of the year.

They are doing a couple of different things with Keith Lyle and Billy Jenkins. When someone goes into the slot and the Rams are in their regular defense it is Lyle that walks up to the line of scrimmage and Jenkins that stays back and plays centerfield. I assume that is for better response on play action and to force Billy to stay back. And for the most part I think that Billy is much more disciplined this year....I'd like to see them blitz him out of that stack they used last year.

On Allen's INT. Taje jumped that pattern like few CBs I have ever seen, that was easily the best play I have ever seen him make.

The interception by Bly was evidence that you can call that underneath slant one too many times in a game.

And lost in all the offensive high lights today was the fine fine job that Ray Agnew did.

OFFICIATING. There was one obivous holding sequence early on in the second quarter and Wistrom and Carter both were talking to the referees without avail.

EX-RAMS. Gandy is well on his way to being a salary cap casualty.

Speaking of Gandy and our ex-problems. Did all of you see Old  Hall of Fame try and defend that fade route in the Browns-Bengals game? First it wasn't that great of a route and it was even a worse throw---terribly underthrown and not even on the right angle (Akili watch the film and learn a bit, that ball would have been intercepted by 29 other teams---don't crow so much)....but Ryan did not disappoint me and blew the play. I am curious to see if Sure Fire Hall of Famers can play in the World League.

LOOKING AHEAD. The teams that can give this offense trouble are teams like a healthy Falcons team that could and did get pressure from only 4 down linemen. Last year the Falcons rarely blitzed. This year injuies to Hall and Smith have taken their toll.

The Titans game is going to be interesting in that the Titans like to use a bastard offspring of the Buddy Ryan 46 defense. I could see Az and Faulk both owing the middle of the field on those plays.