Seeing is believing

Can Green Bay run with the Rams?

By Jeff Reynolds, Associate editor of special projects
Jan. 15, 2002

Darren Sharper

Green Bay FS Darren Sharper has never seen the St. Louis Rams’ offense in person, at least not all of it. But Sharper has heard enough about the 1999 Super Bowl champs that he feels like he knows them first-hand.

No, Sharper isn’t reading press clippings or tuning in to talk-radio banter. He got the goods on the Rams’ offense from a pretty reliable source: QB Kurt Warner.

"He’s a confident guy … as he should be. He’s a two-time MVP," said Sharper following Green Bay’s 25-15 wild-card playoff win over San Francisco Sunday.

Sharper and Warner co-conducted a Nike football camp at the College of William & Mary in the offseason. Heeding authority, and contracts with the shoe distributor, the athletes took time to teach and preach about the work ethic and habits needed to play in the league. And then took the opportunity to pick the other’s brain.

"I told him I’m excited to see what all the hype was about," Sharper said. "He told me there was no hype, and I believe that. They are for real."

Most agree the NFL’s No. 1 overall offense is for real. The Rams became the first team to ever score 500 points three consecutive seasons, had two 1,000-yard receivers in Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce and feature RB Marshall Faulk, who scored 21 touchdowns, led the team in receptions (83) and compiled 2,147 yards from scrimmage despite missing two games with a knee injury. All of that added up to 31.4 points per game and 42 offensive touchdowns.

"They are athletic, all of them," Sharper said. "We’re going to their home field and it will be us against the world. They have a balanced attack. They control all facets of the game. We have to bring our run defense and pass defense together and shut them down. That is the challenge."

It is a challenge only two of St. Louis’ 16 opponents were up to during the regular season. New Orleans knocked off the Rams in Week Seven thanks in large part to eight St. Louis turnovers (four interceptions, four fumbles), and Tampa Bay turned six turnovers into a 24-17 Monday night win in Week 11.

The Rams repaired their suit of armor in the offseason by rebuilding a defense that finished 23^rd overall and allowed 29.4 points a game. Head coach Mike Martz brought in Lovie Smith to be the team’s defensive coordinator, and Smith turned the Rams into the league’s No. 3 overall stop unit.

If Martz’s club has a weakness, it is a propensity to turn the ball over. The Rams’ 44 turnovers (3.6 per game) was by far the worst ratio in the NFL. Warner’s 22 interceptions tied Saints QB Aaron Brooks and Cincinnati QB Jon Kitna for third-highest in the league, but the risk-taking offense has been able to make up for its miscues.

"The numbers, the yards, that isn’t important," Packers defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. "It is who has the most points at the end of the game that is going to matter. That is where you are going to measure your defense. That’s our goal for (St. Louis). Our guys have shown the last four or five weeks that we have gotten good at winning football games."

As have the Rams, who ride a six-game winning streak into Sunday’s game at the Dome at America’s Center, and are 21-5 at home since 1999.

Favre-Warner I

It’s the kind of head-to-head matchup that gets the excitement meter moving north, an epic meeting of arguably the two best quarterbacks in the league. Unlike Elway-Montana or Marino-Kelly, this one might not come down to which team has the ball last. The site, of all things, could be the determining factor.

Much has been made of the struggles Packers QB Brett Favre has encountered playing indoors. Since 1991, Favre is 14-33 on artificial turf and is 12-17 indoors.

On the flipside, Kurt Warner’s career record as a starter at the Dome at America’s Center is 23-2. The Rams’ offense, built with speed at the skill positions, was shaped to play on the fast surface and away from the elements. Warner played in the UNI (University of Northern Iowa) Dome as a collegian and indoors as an Arena League quarterback. His success may stem as much from familiarity as anything else.

The gritty Favre improved to 31-0 at home when the temperature is below 34 degrees Sunday. He thrives in front of the home crowd, and the elements seem to simply add to the legend.

"I really enjoy the atmosphere," Warner said. "I like the fact that you don’t have to worry about the conditions outside — the wind, the rain, the snow. You can just go in and play football. But I played in a dome in college. I obviously played indoors in arena football and played indoors since I’ve been here, so I just got a comfort level on turf. I think it fits our team and the style that we have, the players that we have, the quickness. So I think all of those things play into the reason why we have been so successful, why I have been so successful inside."

Surface and conditions aside, the two strong-armed quarterbacks will have nothing to battle but opposing defenses when they square off for the first time Sunday for the right to play in the NFC championship game Jan. 27. The advantage, based solely on supporting cast, would seem to be in Warner’s favor.

"We want to go win a football game," Packers WR Antonio Freeman said. "It’s bigger than our receivers against their receivers. Sure, we’ll play a pivotal role in how the game ends up. But the game is much bigger than our WR corps and their WR corps. We can’t get caught up in that hype."

In Green Bay’s two annual indoor contests, at Detroit and Minnesota, the Packers had varying degrees of success. Thanksgiving Day at Detroit, the Packers were pushed to the limit by the 2-14 Lions. Minnesota hammered Favre and the Packers at the Metrodome Oct. 28, 35-13.

"That is what they pay me to do; put it on my shoulders," Favre said. "I love to do it. I’m not saying I’m going to win it every time, but I’ll give you my best effort every week."

RB Ahman Green had a team-high 62 receptions, leading the team for the second consecutive season. Sixth-year WR Bill Schroeder led the Packers’ receivers in catches with 53, and touchdowns, nine. TE Bubba Franks had nine scores as well.

Catch-28

The Packers may have logged a moral victory in the first round of the postseason by limiting the San Francisco 49ers’ No. 2 rushing attack in the NFL to 71 yards on 21 carries.

Moral or otherwise, the Packers face the NFL’s No. 1 ground game Sunday, and stopping it will probably be the difference between winning and losing.

"Marshall Faulk is one of the best players to ever play football," said Packers SS Billy Jenkins, who was a member of the Super Bowl-champion Rams. "He has speed, agility, all of it. That just adds to the challenge for us and makes it that much more exciting."

Though Donatell said the team isn’t sure how it will go about stopping Faulk & Company, head coach Mike Sherman knows it won’t be a question of preparation.

"We’ll be ready, I know that," Sherman said. "The Rams are a great football team. I thought we took a step (vs. San Francisco) in doing what we had to do against another very good football team."

Faulk finished the season on a tear, scoring seven touchdowns in the final three games vs. Carolina, Indianapolis and Atlanta. He averaged 153.4 yards from scrimmage in 14 games.

"The key is not going to be studying individuals, but knowing their scheme," Jenkins added.

Prior to Sunday’s effort against San Francisco, the Packers had allowed 170 rushing yards per game in the final four games of the regular season.

Defense?

With an abundance of star power to be found on either offense, this game might come down to defense.

Green Bay’s defense stoned the Niners Sunday, but ranked 12^th in the league overall, though it ranked as high as second in the early stages of the season.

A lack of defense was part of the reason the Rams feel they didn’t repeat last season.

"The defense stopped us from winning the Super Bowl last year," said Smith, who was the LB coach at Tampa Bay before coming to St. Louis. "I’ve heard that from old ladies, young kids, everybody."

The Rams withstood injuries to DE Grant Wistrom, SS Adam Archuleta, LB Mark Fields, CB Aeneas Williams, FS Kim Herring, DT Ryan Pickett and DT Damione Lewis to make vast improvements defensively, as seen in the chart below:

Smith’s defense didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher all season, and gave up no more than 88 yards (on 20 carries to Giants RB Ron Dayne Oct. 21) to any back. St. Louis faced 1,000-yard rushers in seven of its 16 games and fared admirably — Niners RB Garrison Hearst (4 carries, 10 yards and 11-39), Saints RB Ricky Williams (17-77 and 14-57), Jets RB Curtis Martin (14-63), Patriots RB Antowain Smith (15-36) and Colts RB Dominic Rhodes (20-83). The argument could be made that a team must be ahead to hand the ball to its back enough times to amass 100 yards, but this stat speaks volumes of the consistency of the St. Louis defense.

Led by Sharper’s six interceptions, the Packers tied with the Jets and Buccaneers for second in the league with 39 takeaways (19 fumbles, 20 interceptions) and need more of the same to top St. Louis. In NFL playoff history, the team that wins the turnover battle has won just under 80 percent of its games.

And while the Packers’ defense may be taking a few knocks in the media, some argue the jabs aren’t justified.

"The defense has been playing well all along," Franks said. "A lot of times it is because the offense is struggling and they (the defense) end up on the field way too long. That is when things start breaking down. I’ll ride it out with this defense."

Can they do it?

The Rams opened as nine-point favorites and the Packers are currently 10-point underdogs. Why? It isn’t about what the Packers don’t have, but what the Rams do have, and that is the best offense in the league, strongly supported by the No. 3 defense.

"Yeah, we are definitely underdogs. St. Louis is already penciled in as NFC champions," Packers MLB Bernardo Harris said. "It’s just a matter of whether we want to keep playing or not."

While the Packers prepared for a first-round meeting with San Francisco, Martz gave his club the week off. Whether rest turns to rust remains to be seen, but no matter how St. Louis perceives Sunday’s NFC semifinal, Green Bay isn’t taking the challenge lightly.

"We want to build from this (win over the 49ers)," Packers ORG Marco Rivera said. "We’re going to play the Rams; they are 14-2, they are the No. 1 seed, they are all these things. We have to go to their place, go win a game on turf. It’s going to be a huge challenge.

"We haven’t been to the playoffs since 1998. It’s just another step. We’re three games out; let’s see what happens next week. We’ve got a legitimate shot, and we’re going to take it. We’re not done; not nearly done. We’ll celebrate once we take care of our goal, which is to win the Super Bowl. We took a baby step. The next step is the Rams."

A front-office member of one NFC West team summed up the divisional playoffs prior to Sunday’s opening-round action by saying, "Whichever team wins (at Green Bay) isn’t going to win in St. Louis."

Stopping the Rams altogether is too large a task to expect from the Packers, but who says they can’t score with them?

"There are still games to be played," Green said as a reminder to the heavy favorites. "You have to remember that before you pencil anybody in for that big game in New Orleans."

The Archives
2001 - 2002 Season