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**jimmyram** · 10-09-2006, 09:12 AM

Favre fumbles, Rams win as history repeats itself

Cornerback Jerametrius Butler (23) covers the Brett Favre fumble late in the fourth quarter that sealed the Rams' 23-20 win over the Packers Sunday in Green Bay.
(Mike Roemer/AP)

GREEN BAY, WIS. — Much to the dismay of defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, Leonard Little and the rest of the St. Louis defense couldn't get close to Brett Favre on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

"Haslett got on me on the sideline," Little said. "He said, 'When are you going to do something?' So I tried to do something."

Little did something, all right, and just in the nick of time. Favre was on the verge of pulling out his 36th comeback victory for Green Bay, when Little came racing around the edge on the pass rush.

Little used a "rip" move with his right arm to get around Green Bay offensive tackle Mark Tauscher.

"I saw the ball at the last second," Little said. "(Favre) was about to throw the ball, so I slapped it out of his hand."

If Little hadn't got there, defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy would have. Working a stunt with teammate La'Roi Glover, Kennedy was in the process of sacking Favre just as Little poked the ball out.

"I just wrapped around Glover and Favre was right there," Kennedy said.

And then the ball popped out.

"The ball hit me first, and it rolled," Little said. "It seemed like it took forever. It seemed like the ball was going in slow motion. I was just hoping someone would jump on it."

Well, Green Bay guard Daryn Colledge tried to flop on it, but it squirted loose. And there was cornerback Jerametrius Butler. Remember him? Inactive the first four games, and in uniform only because of an injury to Fakhir Brown, Butler fell on the football on the Rams' 13 with 36 seconds to play.

Just like that, the Rams had survived yet another narrow escape, holding off Green Bay 23-20 to win their third consecutive game.

"We've had some emotional roller-coaster type games," coach Scott Linehan said. "They're all like that in this league."

Well, they're all like that for the Rams. All five of their games have been one-possession contests -- decided by eight points or less. In all five games, the trailing team has had a chance to tie or win in the closing minutes.

The Rams have managed to win all but one of those five. At 4-1, they are in sole possession of first place in the NFC West. Yes, the Greatest Show on Turf is dead.

"That was '99," quarterback Marc Bulger said. "We're almost a decade away. We have a new coach. A lot of new players."

But a new kind of moxie.

"We're the second coming of the Cardiac Kids right now," cornerback Ron Bartell said. "We're getting lucky, but I'd rather be lucky than unlucky any day. Hey, we've seen the alternative last year."

The alternative was 6-10, leading to wholesale roster changes and contributing to the departure of Mike Martz.

But as wide receiver Torry Holt noted, there was nothing lucky about Little's play at the end.

"That was just hustle," Holt said. "That was just will -- something that Coach speaks about. We knew it was going to come down to who was going to be strong-willed late in the game."

Little says that's what separates the '06 Rams from their recent predecessors.

"This team always fights," Little said in the locker room, after taking three IVs for dehydration. "That's the difference between this team and the teams of the past. We're fighting till the very end. Today is another example of that. Arizona was an example of that. Last week (Detroit) was an example of that."

Why is it different? "Different coaching. Different personnel," Little said. "Even though we have players here from the past, this team is totally different. We don't stop playing till the last second goes off the clock."

Plagued by penalties, and outplayed in the first half, the Rams still managed a 14-13 halftime lead on the strength of Bulger touchdown passes to Holt and Kevin Curtis.

The Rams settled down in the second half, but they sputtered in the red zone. They reached the Green Bay 7, 8, and 1 on three consecutive possessions in the third and fourth quarters -- but had to settle for Jeff Wilkins field goals each time. That 23-13 lead shrank in a hurry when Favre beat rookie cornerback Tye Hill -- making his first NFL start -- with a 46-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings with 6 minutes 42 seconds left to play.

Green Bay got the ball back at its 21, down by 3, with 2:46 to play. With Favre wheeling and dealing, the Packers worked the ball to the Rams' 11 with 44 seconds to play.

"It's always a treat to watch Favre like that," Holt said.

Even when he's threatening to beat you?

"Yeah, even when he's trying to beat us," Holt said. "I hate to say that. But he's got so much in his bag. He can pull a trick from anywhere."

But Little, Kennedy and Butler put an end to those tricks. The ball popped out, and Butler plopped on it in a sequence that was reminiscent of Kurt Warner and Arizona two weeks ago.

"Again! That's all I said," Bartell said. "Again! How many times can that possibly happen this year?"

"They're driving, and that ball pops out," center Richie Incognito said. "That's divine intervention."

Divine intervention?

"Whatever you want to call it, that's amazing," Incognito said.

**jimmyram** · 10-09-2006, 09:14 AM

Opportunity arises, and Butler pounces

GREEN BAY, WIS. — Veteran cornerback Jerametrius Butler hadn't suited up in the regular season, and he wasn't supposed to play Sunday, either. Yet Butler not only wound up on the field, but his fumble recovery in the final seconds saved a 23-20 Rams victory.

Fate, Butler agreed, is unpredictable. "Yeah, it's funny," Butler said. "Anything can happen."

Because of injuries, the Rams were forced to shuffle, and reshuffle, their secondary against Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. They were short-handed from the outset, with right cornerback Fahkir Brown sidelined with an ankle injury. That led to these moves:

— Rookie Tye Hill started in Brown's spot, and Butler — among the inactives for the first four games — was moved up to the 45-man roster.

— Safety Jerome Carter assumed Hill's role as the fifth defensive back in passing situations.

— Safety Corey Chavous slid inside to cover the slot receiver in the nickel alignment. "It's been awhile," said Chavous, a cornerback when he entered the league nine years ago.

— Seldom-used Ron Bartell took over at left corner when first-teamer Travis Fisher went out midway through the second quarter with a groin injury.

— Butler got his chance when Bartell left with a strained calf late in the third period.

"I felt comfortable," said Butler, a starter in 2003 and 2004 before a knee injury cost him the entire '05 season. "Favre's still the guy. If you give him time, he'll kill you. We did a pretty good job. We didn't have any interceptions, but we had a key turnover toward the end."

It occurred in the final minute, with Favre guiding the Packers toward the end zone and victory, or at least a field goal that would have brought on overtime.

But on second-and-10 at the Rams' 11-yard line, defensive end Leonard Little stripped the ball from Favre's grasp, and it bounded away. Packers guard Daryn Colledge had a clear shot at the recovery, but as he plopped on it, the ball spurted out.

"He kind of dove on it with all his weight, but as you know, offensive linemen, they don't usually have good hands," Butler said. "I hopped on it and covered up the best I could. Guys were trying to take it out and punch me in the ribs, but I held on to it."

One kneel-down by quarterback Marc Bulger and the NFC West-leading Rams had stunned the Packers and the second-largest crowd (70,804) in the storied history of Lambeau Field.

"You've got to feel good for" Butler, running back Steven Jackson said. "He's been in the doghouse, and you don't ever know how a guy's going to respond. For him to come in and make a big play like that, I'm just so happy for him."

Butler noted the contributions of others who also filled in. "We have a lot of guys that can play a lot of positions," he said. "If somebody goes down, anybody can step up."

Said Bartell: "We're a cohesive unit, and we've got veterans like Corey who have brought a lot of leadership."

Hill, the team's first-round draft choice, was far from satisfied after his first NFL start. Favre targeted him, and Hill was victimized several times, most notably on a 46-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Jennings with 6:42 remaining that pulled Green Bay to three points back.

"It was a good team win, and I'm glad about that," Hill said. "But I'm disappointed in the way I played. I need to re-evaluate myself, really."

**jimmyram** · 10-09-2006, 09:15 AM

Victory eases frustration of failures in red zone
GREEN BAY, WIS. — Scoreboard operators around the NFL no longer quake at the sight of the Rams' offense taking the field. Yet quarterback Marc Bulger and his mates seem to squeeze out just enough.

"We might not be where we want to be; we all love to score points," running back Steven Jackson said. "But we're moving the ball effectively, through the air and on the ground. And I have no complaints once you have a 'W' on the board."

The perfectly balanced attack that coach Scott Linehan dialed up -- 30 pass plays, 30 runs -- amassed 327 yards and two touchdowns Sunday in a 23-20 victory at Lambeau Field. But the Rams squandered three other opportunities inside the Green Bay 10-yard line, and only a late fumble by Packers quarterback Brett Favre spared them a wrenching defeat.

"We had great field position," Bulger said. "But it didn't work out, and we've got to get better at that."

The Rams got into the end zone on two of their first four possessions. Bulger connected with wide receiver Torry Holt for a 6-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Then Bulger found wideout Kevin Curtis for a 3-yard TD that gave the visitors a 14-10 halftime lead.

"It's always good to get in the end zone," said Curtis, who hadn't scored this season. "But as long as we've got more points at the end of the game, whatever it is, it's enough."

Still, the Rams could have put away the Packers and avoided the tense moments at the end, had they been more efficient near the goal line. Kicker Jeff Wilkins provided all their second-half scoring on field goals of 31, 26 and 20 yards.

Wilkins was called on when promising drives stalled after reaching the Green Bay 9, 8 and 1-yard lines. It's been a season-long theme, save for last week's 41-point outburst vs. Detroit.

"We're getting it done," said wideout Shaun McDonald, who contributed two catches for 30 yards and a 28-yard punt return. "All that matters is the 'W.' We've got four right now, and we're trying to get this next one and go into the bye 5-1."

The Seattle Seahawks, two-time defending NFC West champs, stand in the way of that aspiration: They will visit the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday, and center Richie Incognito noted that unless the Rams stop wasting chances, their luck could come to an abrupt halt.

"When we play the better teams, like Seattle, we're not going to get away with stuff like that," he said. "No field goals; we've got to put up six."

**DHNF** · 10-09-2006, 09:17 AM

Do we really need a new thread for every Rams article that comes out?

**jimmyram** · 10-09-2006, 09:18 AM

Bulger sets team record

GREEN BAY, WIS. — In his typical self-effacing fashion, quarterback Marc Bulger was unaware that he had broken a longstanding Rams record Sunday at Lambeau Field.

But his incomplete pass on the first play of the fourth quarter gave him 207 consecutive passes without an interception, breaking the record set by Roman Gabriel in 1968-69.

"You're going to have to be fortunate to do it," Bulger said. "Obviously, you can throw good balls and have a good streak. But I could've had a couple interceptions here and there. I don't want to start worrying about not throwing interceptions, because I'll lose that aggressiveness."

In fact, the streak almost ended on pass No. 206, which tied the record, but Green Bay cornerback Al Harris dropped what looked like a sure interception at the end of the third quarter. Advertisement

By game's end, the streak was at 214 passes. It spans all five games this year and dates to Bulger's final two games of 2005 before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.

"Yeah, who would've thought that three or four years ago, when I was up in the 20s," Bulger said.

Bulger threw a career-high 22 interceptions in 2003, his first full season as a starter. Obviously, he has embraced coach Scott Linehan's mantra of protecting the football.

"Marc's playing smart," Linehan said. "He's been good with the ball. He's directing our running game. He's managing the clock. I'm just really happy with him."