| NEW ORLEANS — St. Louis S Kim Herring is going for a
Super Bowl repeat. Last season he was a member of the Super Bowl champion Ravens. This
season he will try to add a Super Bowl ring with the Rams.
Players often talk about trying to repeat after they have won a title, but in almost
all cases they mean with the same team.
When asked about playing in back-to-back Super Bowls with two different teams, Herring
said, "I’m not sure if it’s ironic. Now if you said I’d be in the
Super Bowl next year with a third team, now that would be ironic right there. It’s
going to be interesting. If we win this one, I’ll probably look back at this like,
‘Wow, I won two Super Bowls with two different teams.’ I would never have
thought that would ever happen, especially when I thought I could have been in Baltimore a
little longer. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, but now I have a great
opportunity to win another one with St. Louis. I’m in a very fortunate
situation."
When asked to compare the two Super Bowl experiences, Herring said, "That’s a
tough question. It was probably more satisfying last year because of just how we did it.
We didn’t expect to get to that point. But this season in St. Louis, the expectation
wasn’t just to make the playoffs. We have to win it because we had already won it in
1999. It was nothing new to get to the Super Bowl; it was just a matter of getting
back."
Perhaps the biggest difference between last year and this year is the amount of time
between the conference championship game and the Super Bowl.
"Last year when I was in Baltimore, we had two weeks between the championship game
and the Super Bowl," Herring said. "It took a lot of the pressure off. This year
we had one day. It was like, ‘OK, guys, we’re going to the Super Bowl and
we’re leaving tomorrow.’ You just have to try to make all of your arrangements
in a matter of two days. It’s a little different, but a lot of guys played on the
’99 team. They understand what’s going on, so it’s just a matter of getting
everyone else up to speed."
Another difference between the Baltimore and St. Louis experiences for Herring are the
defenses he played on. Although both were highly ranked, their styles were very different.
"The style and two schemes are a lot different," Herring said. "Here we
run a cover-2 scheme, and in Baltimore it was more of a zone blitz and blitzing,
aggressive style. This style is more about keeping everything in front of us, don’t
give up the big plays and basically let the underneath guys help you out."
If the Rams beat the Patriots, they will have two Super Bowl titles in three seasons,
and you can be sure that people will begin talking about whether or not they can become a
dynasty.
So why wait to begin the discussion? Here is Rams QB Kurt Warner’s take on whether
his team can be the next NFL dynasty:
"It’s tough to say whether you can be a dynasty in this day and age with free
agency. But I think we’re in a great position. We’ve got a lot of core guys who
have been signed for a while and can stay together. But the key is surrounding those core
guys with other talented players. You pick up a few key guys here and there who can
replace key guys that you lost. We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve lost a lot of
guys over the last couple years, but we’ve had a lot of young guys who have stepped
in and played so well. This year, (LB) Tommy Polley and (S) Adam Archuleta are the
examples. Without those two guys, we would have been a completely different team."
One quality of the Rams that could help them become a dynasty is if they can continue
to display the unselfishness and excellent attitude of this season’s team.
"We’ve got great veteran leadership," Warner said. "We’ve got
some of the best players in the league who work harder than anybody else. So when young
guys come in here, they don’t know any different than to work hard, because they see
those other guys doing it. We just have a great mix of guys. We have unbelievable
character, unselfishness. We have so many guys on offense who could be superstars (on
another team), but they’re all happy to play their role, because we’re
successful. And we’ve got a defense that’s rated No. 1 or 2 or 3 in the league,
and they don’t get the recognition they deserve because the offense is so good, but
they don’t complain. They just go out and play. That’s what makes this team so
special."
Much like their offense, the Rams’ defense is built on speed. That speed is a
strength, but the Patriots’ will probably try to turn it into a weakness at times
through the use of screen passes.
"It’s almost like a running play for us," Patriots C Damien Woody said.
"You’ve got to take advantage of teams’ weaknesses. One of the Rams’
strengths is their speed, but it can also get them in trouble. Because they’re so
aggressive, we can use those type of plays to get cheap yards off of them. Some of those
plays can break for long gains. That’s why we incorporate it into our offense a lot.
The reward is high, and the risk is minimal. It just depends on what the coaches see, what
player they might want to attack and throw the screen off of. Whoever they decide to go
at, that’s what we’ll do. Teams like the Rams that like to get upfield and like
to get after the quarterback, screens really help in that situation."
Another way to try to combat speed is with physical play. The Patriots’ offense
can’t win a track meet, but it might fare much better in a slugfest.
"It’s the speed," Woody said. "They’ve got great speed on
defense. The way you stop that is you get a body on a body and wear them down."
When asked what it will take to stop the Patriots’ offense, Rams LB London
Fletcher said, "The Patriots have a very good offensive line. I liked Damien Woody,
him and (Kevin) Mawae from the Jets. I thought those were two of the better centers we
faced this season. They’re a good football team. They like to run the ball. They pose
a lot of different challenges to us. They do some trick plays, some reverses. Troy Brown
is an excellent receiver for them, and (David) Patten is a great player for them as well.
We just have to go out there and play really good, disciplined defense."
Football players always talk about the need to stay in the present, but sometimes it is
impossible not to reflect on the past.
Rams WR Isaac Bruce was asked about replaying the big catch in the last Super Bowl the
Rams played in, and he said, "Any time I can think about it. I have a tape of the
game at home, and if there is nothing on television, I pop that tape in and fast-forward
past everything up to that catch. It was one of the best football moments of my football
career."
That said, Bruce does not want to simply be remembered for big catches. He also wants
to be remembered as a guy who makes catches all the time.
"Right, that is me," Bruce said. "I don’t want to be just a
big-game receiver, because there are a lot of games leading up to that big game. I feel
like I can make plays in any game — the first game of the season or the last game of
the season or preseason, as long as they keep me in. I believe I am that type of
receiver."
Dick Vermeil may not be the Rams’ head coach anymore, and there have been
significant personnel changes on defense since he departed, but his fingerprints can still
be seen on the Rams.
"Dick Vermeil still has an impact on this football team," Fletcher said.
"A lot of the offensive coaches that are here now, he brought here. A good deal of
the offensive side of the ball were here when he was here. Some of the things we do
practice-wise, with the structure, is still similar. Coach (Mike) Martz has added his
things and changed things. We still do some things that Vermeil did, and I’m sure
Coach Martz learned some things from him as a head coach."
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on MLB Tedy Bruschi’s development since New
England’s last Super Bowl appearance, which followed the 1996 regular season: "I
think as the year went on in ’96, Tedy progressively played more and more. Tedy is
just a real good football player. He’s kind of the Troy Brown of defense. He does a
lot of things well, no matter what we ask him to do. He has a good feel for the game, both
in the running game and the passing game. As a blitzer he knows where the ball is; he
knows where to hit on plays. He plays well for us in the kicking game on the punt team and
on the kickoff-return team. We ask him to do a lot, and he’s well-prepared. He’s
smart and a very instinctive player."
Rams rookie S Adam Archuleta on his progress throughout this season: "When I look
at myself on film, I’m a completely different player. I really don’t recognize
me. A lot of the things I was doing back then, now I look at them and I’m like,
‘Man, that’s terrible. That’s garbage.’ I’ve grown a lot. I think
this whole experience of playing the postseason, playing in the Super Bowl, will help me a
lot next season." |
