Saints 13 Rams 14 summary ^^^^^^^ The Rams used touchdown drives of 48 and 33 yds to complete the NFC West's 1996 sweep of the Saints. play-by-play ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Eric Allen showed a flash of his old self on the third play from scrimmage by stepping in front of a pass and returning the ball to the St. Louis 1. Mario Bates scored on the next play to put the Saints up seven only 66 seconds into the game. The Ram punt team took the field after Greg Jackson whacked a scrambling Banks a half-yard short of the marker on 3rd down, but those sneaky hornheads snapped the ball to the upback for a 2 yd gain. The D again forced the punt team onto the field, but the drive continued when William Strong roughed the kicker. A third consecutive 3 & out sequence finally gave the ball back to the visitors. The first four plays of the ensuing drive were handoffs to Bates for 6, 11, 7, and 17. The next play was a 17 yd catch by Paul Green. Andy McCollum recovered a Bates fumble on the next play, and the drive soon stalled. Doug Brien came on and made a 43 yd FG. The Rams earned a single 1st before booting the ball back to the Saints. Tyrone Hughes' invalid fair catch signal put the team at the 9, but three runs by Earnest Hunter and a 19 yd catch by Michael Haynes got the team out of the hole before a punt was needed. Four unimportant series followed. Taking control at their 29 with 2:27 to go before halftime, St. Louis tried some razzle-dazzle with a end-around pass thrown by Bruce. Pressure from Darren Mickell allowed Anthony Newman to easily intercept the ball and return it to the 31. The field position was wasted, though, because two plays later Hunter fumbled. For the second week in a row, there was just enough time remaining for the opponents' QB to get hurt (Banks injured his elbow during a scramble). The O moved to midfield during the opening possession of the second half but couldn't convert on 3rd & 7. Jamie Martin QBed his team to a 1st before another punt was needed- the Ram special teamers downed the ball at the NO 2. A Torrance Small catch came up inches short on 3rd & 4, so St. Louis soon took over at the NO 48. Moore caught a ball for 5 on 3rd & 2, then on the next play Bruce caught a ball for 13. One play later the WR was wide open for a 22 yd TD. Haynes made a great adjustment to an off-the-mark Everett throw to pick up 27 yds to the Ram 36 on 3rd & 7. The WR caught a ball for 10 two plays later to move the sticks again. Brien made a 35 yd FG on the second play of the fourth quarter when the drive stalled. Bruce made a 21 yd reception on the first play of the ensuing drive, and one play later Kennison took a pass to the NO 47. The D stuffed Moore for no gain on 3rd & 1 from the 38, but on 4th Phillips caught an 8 yd play action pass. The ball went back to the O two plays later when Mickell hit Martin as he threw and thus allowed Mark McMillan to make a pick at the 3. The O couldn't gain a 1st, so Kennison was able to set up the home team at the NO 33 with a punt return. A shovel pass to Green on 3rd & 6 gained 8, and two plays later Kennison caught a 15 yd TD on 3rd & 4. The PAT put St. Louis up 1 with 5:30 left. Hughes gave the O good field position by returning the ensuing kickoff to the 50. On 4rd & 10 from the 39 with under 4 minutes remaining, Venturi elected to punt. Klaus Wilmsmeyer's kick went into the endzone for a touchback. The D did their job by forcing a 3 & punt series, but a clip on the return put the O all the way back at the 19. Catches by Ricky Whittle and Small gave the team a 1st at the 34 at the 2-minute warning, but on the next play a good pickup by Haynes was negated by a holding call on Craig Novitsky. A sack occurred on the next play, and before long the team ran out of downs. Two kneels ended the season. stats (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^ ....runnin'....../......throwin' & catchin'.... 1- 1 Jim everett 21-69-1 mario Bates 1- 3 2- 8 lorenzo Neal 7-17 Earnest hunter 2- 8 1-(2) ricky Whittle 4- 23 michael Haynes 4- 65 torrance Small 4- 35 1- 3 lee deRamus 1- 6 Paul green 1- 17 incompletions 9 interceptions 0 33-96-1 17-26-157-0-0 yardage histogram (player marks are as in stats above- B=Bates, etc.) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ J ER BE BE BB EBB <--runs EBBB EN B WBBBBNBBBB EBB B ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** EB R WHH P H H W W SS W S <--passes S E comments ^^^^^^^^ * in the second half, Bates gained 7 yds on 9 carries * the Saints had 3 INTs in the first twelve games and 9 in the final four ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu