Saints 27 Rams 34 For the second time this season, the Saints lost to the Rams by yielding a trio of touchdowns in rapid succession. Wilkins' opening kickoff went out-of-bounds, but the field position was wasted when Irv Smith dropped a pass on 3rd & 5 from the NO 45. The Rams reached midfield before Moore fumbled during a run. Richard Harvey recovered at the St. Louis 47. Bobby Joe Hobert hit Andre Hastings for 16 on 1st down, but the drive went no farther, so Doug Brien came on and made a 49 yarder. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Mark Fields asked "Hey, Ironhead, what's with this thingy?". He was referring, of course, to the football that he had just ripped from the RB's hands and returned 22 yds for a TD. The PAT made it 10-0 Saints with less than six minutes gone in the first quarter. On 3rd & 3 from the Ram 31, Bruce caught a short throw and wove his way to the NO 31. The catch was for naught, though, as the drive ended with a missed 45 yd FG. Troy Davis ran for 20 yds on the next play, but the O didn't do much for the remainder of the possession. Mark Royals' punt was fair-caught at the 16. Banks then led his team on a 7-minute TD drive. He threw for three 1sts (to Heyward for 11 on 3rd & 1, to Lee for 14 on 3rd & 7, to Bruce for 20 on 2nd & 4) before scrambling for 16 on 3rd & 11 from the NO 22. On 3rd & goal from the 3, he hit Conwell with a 3 yd scoring toss. Smith experienced deja vu when he killed the ensuing drive by dropping a throw on 3rd & 3. The ball went back to the Saints when the Rams got greedy and tried a deep ball (Mickey Washington intercepted at the 13), but the favor was soon returned by Smith- he fumbled after making a catch at midfield. The Rams returned the fumble to the NO 15 and ended up settling for a 37 yd FG. Eric Guliford set up the O by returning the kickoff to the NO 42, and on 1st Hobert hit Randal Hill for 15. The team couldn't manage another 1st, but Brien was true from 53. The D got the ball back for the O by forcing a punt, but on the first play after the 2-minute warning Todd Lyght blitzed, knocked the ball out of Hobert's hand, and recovered the pigskin at the NO 35. St. Louis tied the game with a 34 yarder. Late in the half, Hobert put the team at the edge of Brien's range by hitting Hill for 9, Hastings for 9, and John Farquhar for 20, but his fourth throw was intercepted at the 16. Four scoreless possessions started the second half. During the second one, back-to-back 3rd down receptions by Torrance Small helped set up a 48 yd FG attempt, but Wilkins missed. A Guliford punt return, combined with a flag for a late hit, put the ball at the Ram 44. Hill caught a ball for 10 to move the chains, then on 3rd & 10 Hobert connected with Hastings for a 34 yd TD. St. Louis moved from the 27 to the 42 with a Heyward catch and a pair of Moore runs, then went back to the 27 via a sack, a delay of game penalty, a no-gain screen, and another sack. Guliford's punt return put the line of scrimmage at the Ram 44. On 1st down, a 36 yd strike to Hastings (coupled with a face mask call) put the team at the 4. On 1st & goal from the 1, a confidence-builder to Smith was good for a TD (but the TE very nearly dropped the easy throw). With 11:34 to go, it was 27-13 Saints. Just when it looked like the Saints had taken control, St. Louis got back into the game- the Rams returned the opening kickoff to the NO 41, got a 38 yd pass interference call against Eric Allen on the next play, then scored on a 3 yd Moore run on the play after that. In just 24 seconds, the visitors had cut the lead in half. A 27 yd throw to Hill moved the sticks on 3rd & 11, but the O couldn't manage a second 1st, and the punt was returned to within a yard of midfield. On 1st down Bruce caught a ball for 15, and two plays later he took in a perfect throw while crossing the goal line. The kick tied the game at 27 with 5:46 remaining. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Hobert tried to complete a throw while in the grasp of a Ram defender. The result was an interception by Lyght that was returned to the 11. On 3rd & goal from the 5, Banks found Bruce in the endzone. With 3:51 left, the Saints' fall from 14 up to 7 down was complete. The team reached the NO 45 via a defensive offside penalty and a 20 yd catch by Hastings, but couldn't get another 1st. The Rams ran most of the time off the clock and before long the game was over. stats & yardage histograms (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'.... b.j. Hobert 8- 20 r. Zellars 2- 11 4- 22 T. davis R. hill 5- 67 A. hastings 6-119-1 I. smith 2- 28-1 j. Farquhar 3- 35 12- 42 TOTAL 18-260-2 incomplete 22 intercepted 2 <--runs T Z ZT ZZ Z Z TZ Z T ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** Z I AFR AR ZRA A R A A RF F I <--passes ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'.... 3- 29 t. Banks m. Rypien 13- 40-1 j. Moore 1- 0 8- 23 c. Heyward 2- 26 9- 19 d. Thompson 1- 6 a. Lee 2- 18 I. bruce 9-145-2 e. Kennison 3- 27 t. Small 2- 32 E. conwell 2- 15-1 A. laing 1- 6 34-117-1 TOTAL 22-269-3 0- 0-0 incomplete 18 1 intercepted 1 0 B L T T T H H T MHTH H <--runs MHMMHHM T TTMMMMMMM MT B B ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** M ELIAII IS KI I I I K K IE LH S H <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * if Irv Smith wasn't already on Ditka's offseason bubble, he is now * if Ditka's inclined to replace Allen, he won't be able to promote from within * with Newman out and Fields missing the second half due to the reocurrence of his stinger, our lack of defensive depth was exposed * Hobert's clearly the best QB on the roster, for what it's worth ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu