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Going different directions

Posted November 08, 2007 10:00 pm

Hal Pilger

By Hal Pilger

Gatehouse News Service

The St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints have at least one thing in common this season. Each team started out 0-4.

The Saints, however, have won their last four games to even their record. The Rams have won nothing to finish the first half of the season 0-8.

So St. Louis fans praying their team will start the second half with a win on Sunday should know playing a rejuvenated club in its home dome isn't an easy task for any team, let alone the battered Rams.

After falling to Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, Tennessee and Carolina (by three points), the Saints reeled off victories over Seattle, Atlanta, San Francisco and Jacksonville (41-24 last Sunday as Drew Brees passed for 445 yards).

The recent wins have been pretty convincing, with the Saints outscoring their opponents by an average of almost 14 points per game during the streak. In the last two games, Brees has been MVP-like, completing 66 of 88 passes for 781 yards and tossing seven touchdowns without an interception.

The Rams, on the other hand, are just hoping to come back revitalized after their bye week.

"I think everybody definitely has a new focus, and (an eight-game season) has to be the only way we look at it," Rams coach Scott Linehan was quoted on stlouisrams.com. "There's no other way.

"I think a few guys feel a lot better (physically) than they did before we took the break, and that will definitely help, too."

n RAMS RIDDLE: In Week 3 at Tampa Bay, wide receiver Isaac Bruce eclipsed the 900-reception mark in his 186th game. Only two players in NFL history have reached that plateau in fewer games. Which two players did it quicker than Bruce? Answer below.

n ROSTER UPDATES: Running back Steven Jackson (back) was expected to be ready for New Orleans. It was hoped center Brett Romberg (ankle) would see action as well, although it could come down to a game-time decision.

But Pro Bowl defensive end Leonard Little is finished for the season, facing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left big toe. He was placed on injured reserve, and the Rams elevated offensive lineman Dustin Fry from the practice squad.

Rookie Fry, a fifth-round draft pick out of Clemson, was trimmed in the Rams' final roster shrinkage on Sept. 1 after what he called "a bad training camp." He had been on the practice squad since.

Wide receiver/return man Dante Hall (ankle) returned to practice after being sidelined for a month and was a possibility to play at New Orleans. Tight end Aaron Walker sprained his shoulder during Monday's practice and is out for this weekend.

Quarterback Marc Bulger said the time off helped his injured ribs and knee heal, but his right thumb, which he hit on a helmet in the last game against Cleveland, was still a little sore.

n KEEPIN' UP WITH JONES: Punter Donnie Jones, who in his first season with the Rams has been one of the team's few bright spots, enters Week 10 of the season tied with Oakland's Shane Lechler for the NFL lead in punting average at 50.3 yards per attempt.

Through 34 attempts, Jones has kicked for 1,711 yards, has dropped nine punts inside the 20 and has a long of 80 yards against Seattle on Oct. 21. That punt, out of his end zone was the third-longest punt in franchise history.

Fortunately, the Rams signed Jones - a restricted free agent for Miami - to a four-year contract during the offseason. He had been Seattle's seventh-round pick (No. 224 overall) in the 2004 NFL draft but didn't make the roster out of camp and bounced back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster, playing in six games and punting 26 times.

After being waived in 2005, Jones was claimed by Miami, where he had two solid seasons, averaging 43.5 and 42.8 yards per punt. But when the Dolphins failed to match the Rams' offer this year, he was headed for St. Louis.

"His performance speaks for itself," Linehan told stlouisrams.com. "Knowing that he is going to be here for an extended period of time really solves that revolving door thing that we have had at the punter spot here."

n SAINTS & ILLINOIS: Saints coach Sean Payton played quarterback at Eastern Illinois from 1982-86 (where he helped the Football Cardinals during training camps) and spent the 1996 season as an assistant for the University of Illinois. Greg McMahon, special teams coach, played defensive back for Eastern from 1978-81, coached there in 1982, at SIU in 1988 and at Illinois from 1992-2004.

Kicker Olindo Mare began his collegiate career as a soccer player at MacMurray College before transferring to Syracuse. Running back Aaron Stecker played his final two collegiate seasons at Western Illinois. Punter Steve Weatherford and running back Pierre Thomas each played at Illinois.

n RIDDLE RESULT: Only Marvin Harrison (149 games) and Jerry Rice (168) reached 900 receptions in fewer games than Bruce.

n END QUOTE: Offensive lineman Andy McCollum, quoted in the Post-Dispatch regarding the team's second-half approach: "I don't think anyone here has given up. More than anything in the world, this team needs a win. We get that and we'll see what happens from there."

Hal Pilger can be reached at (217) 788-1548 or hal.pilger@sj-r.com.

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