Saints 19 Rams 10 summary ....... The combination of 4 Doug Brien FGs and a strong running game added up to give the Saints a well-deserved win over the Rams. play-by-play ............ The Saints set out to establish the run early. Mario Bates picked up 8 yds on the game's first play from scrimmage. He got only 1 yd on the next play, but a dump pass to Lorenzo Neal moved the sticks. Bates got the ball on the next three plays and ran the Saints to a 1st at the NO 46. Two incompletions brought up 3rd & 10, but Jim Everett hit Quinn Early for 12 to keep the drive moving. Two plays later the QB found Michael Haynes for the needed yardage on 3rd & 8. However, back-to-back sacks pushed the home boys to the far side of the 50. The Rams took over at their own 14 after the punt. Though they were without Jerome Bettis, St. Louis also stuck to the ground early. Bailey ran the ball on the Rams' first 4 plays to gain a total of 16 yds. A 3rd & 6 pass fell incomplete, but an away-from-the-ball penalty on the play for hands-to-the-face gave the visitors a 1st. A catch by Bruce and two runs by Moss put the ball at the NO 45, but a holding penalty forced the Rams into a 3rd & 13. Poor coverage by Jimmy Spencer and/or Tyrone Hughes allowed Bruce to get wide open down the sideline for a 55 yd TD catch. The Saints started the ensuing drive from the 30. A 6 yd Irv Smith catch on 1st down was followed by a 22 yd run by Bates. The RB was stopped for no gain on the next play, but the play after that saw Everett hit Early at the Ram 25. As the second quarter began, the Saints went to a one-back offense (the one back being Ray Zellars). The FB took four consecutive handoffs to gain a total of 19 yds. On 3rd & 2 from the 6, Everett rolled out and tried to throw to Wesley Walls in the endzone, but the TE was held by a defender. The pass interference call gave the Saints a 1st at the 1, and Zellars slammed it into the endzone from there. Doug Brien's PAT tied the game at 7. The Ram offense started the next drive with a 9 yd run by Moss and an 11 yd catch by Bruce (who took advangtage of Spencer's large cushion). The Saint D toughened up, though, by stuffing two runs and forcing Chris Miller to intentionally ground the ball (thanks to pressure by Wayne Martin). After taking over at their own 18, the Saints picked up big chunks of yardage on the drive's first 4 plays- Walls 15 catch, Bates 11 run, Haynes 11 catch, Bates 13 run. A drop by Early and a 9 yd Zellars run set up 3rd & 1 from the Ram 23. Zellars seemed to be stopped in the backfield for a loss, but he kept his legs churning and picked up the 1st on sheer willpower. The drive stalled at the 17, but Brien came on and made a 35 yarder to put the Saints in the lead. The Rams picked up 11 yds on a Drayton catch to start the next possession, but a holding penalty and a sack by Martin forced a punt. Unfortunately, Hughes fumbled the ball during the runback. St. Louis took over at the NO 41 with 1:36 left before halftime. The Rams quickly moved to the 12 (thanks mostly to a catch and a run by Bailey). The D ended the threat when Eric Allen intercepted a 3rd & 10 pass in the endzone, thus allowing the Saints to go into the locker room still up by 3. The D forced a 3 & punt series to start the second half, and the O went back to work from their own 23- Bates 9 run, Bates 2 run, Smith 8 catch, Bates 10 10 run, Torrance Small 20 catch, Bates 5 run, Zellars 9 catch. A holding call against William Roaf killed the momentum, so the Saints settled for a 26 yd FG. The Rams began their next possession with yet another successful 1st down play (an 18 yd run by Moss), but two plays later Ernest Dixon nipped some St. Louis funny business in the bud by tackling Kinchen for a 5 yd loss on 3rd & 5. On the first play of the next possession, the Ram defense got to Everett and forced a fumble, which the visitors recovered at the NO 25. An 8 yd run by Moss and an 11 yd Bruce catch moved St. Louis inside the 10. A Ram receiver got caught pushing off in the endzone on 3rd & goal from the 4, so an apparent TD was negated. With :56 left in the third quarter, Biasucci kicked a 33 yd FG to cut the Saint lead to 3. Starting from the 25, the O moved the sticks a couple of times thanks to a 8 yd Walls catch on 2nd & 8 and a 15 yd Early catch on 3rd & 6. The drive stalled at the St. Louis 40. Klaus Wilmsmeyer did well to land his punt right at the goal line, but Tyrone Legette failed to prevent the ball from bouncing into the endzone. The Rams had more first-play-of-the-drive success with a 15 yd Bruce catch, but again the D prevented a second 1st. The Saints took over at their 25 and utilized their backs some more- Zellars gained 8 on a pass and Bates gained 4 (plus a 5 yd facemask) on the ground. A 12 yd Smith reception was followed by a 13 yd Bates run. An incomplete pass on 3rd & 6 from the 29 brought on Brien, who nailed a 47 yarder to give the Saints a 6 point lead with 5:08 remaining. On the ensuing kickoff, J.J. McCleskey knocked the ball loose from Kinchen, and Brian Jones recovered for the Saints at the 26. The O was unable to pick up a 1st, but Brien came on to nail a 43 yarder. Kinchen atoned somewhat for his miscue by returning the kickoff to midfield. Bruce caught a 25 yd pass on the drive's first play, and a throw into the endzone on the next play was nearly caught for a TD. A Martin sack pushed the Rams back to the 34. Facing 4th & 19 and needing two scores with about 2.5 minutes remaining, the Rams elected to go for a FG. Biasucci's 52 yard attempt doinked no good off the crossbar. Three runs by Zellars were good for a 1st down, which allowed the Saints to run out the clock and chalk up a win as satisfying as a big ol' Cartoon Planet sandwich. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 7:43 A >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 4:50 Zellars I >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 5:15 Brien N F :05 T E :15 S ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 6:24 Brien | F :08 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 5:06 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 4:16 Brien | >3 1:39 Brien | >>>>>E 2:25 | ....................................................gameover | 38:06 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G R >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 5:15 Bruce A >>>>>>P 3:06 M P<< 2:08 S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>I 1:23 | ....................................................halftime | >>P 1:45 | >>>>>>>>>P 2:46 | >>>>>>3 3:01 Biasucci | >>>>>>>>>P 1:26 | F :11 | >>>>>>>>M :53 | ....................................................gameover | 21:54 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...../...runnin'.... Everett Bates 22-106 Brown 1- 10 Zellars 2- 17 16- 50-1 Neal 1- 5 Walls 3- 34 Smith 3- 26 Haynes 2- 19 Early 3- 44 Small 2- 34 incomplete 8 intercepted 0 17-25-189-0-0 38-156-1 Rams: Bruce 8-135-1 notes ..... * this is the Saints team I wanted to see all year- Bates & Zellars running through defenses, Allen coming up with big INTs, FGs going between uprights * in the first 8 games the Saint O had 13 drives that lasted more than four minutes; today they had 6 * Andy McCollum & Craig Novitsky again made up the right side of the O line ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu