Rams let Favre, Packers make themselves at home
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">St. Louis, long regarded as one of the more hospitable cities in the Midwest, went out of its way to make the Green Bay Packers feel welcomed over the weekend.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">When the Pack pulled into town on Saturday, it must have seemed a lot like Green Bay, Wis., what with all the snowing and blowing and frosty temperatures they encountered on the Frozen Tarmac of Lambert Field. It was the fourth-snowiest December day on record in the Gateway City.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">And on Sunday, even though the comparatively cozy confines of the Edward Jones Dome can't compare to the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field, the St. Louis Rams made sure their green-and-gold-clad visitors from the north felt right at home before the Packers returned home with a 33-14 win.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">At the start of the game, it appeared the 3-11 Rams were heeding the advice of the U.S. Postal Service, which predicts today to be the busiest day of the year. Yielding a quick and easy Packers touchdown in the opening minutes, the Rams seemed determined to mail this one in early. Ryan Grant's 1-yard run capped a nine-play, 52-yard drive to make it 7-0.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">To their credit, the Rams rebounded with a fumble recovery and scoring drive of their own to make it 7-all before the first quarter ended as Marc Bulger hit Torry Holt with a 4-yard TD.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">But then, thanks to typically putrid kick return coverage and defense with more holes than Swiss cheese, the Rams watched the Packers race down the field again. This time they needed only four plays, including a 4-yard pass from legendary Brett Favre to Donald Lee, to move 45 yards for another touchdown.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">On the strength of Steven Jackson's 46-yard scoring run, the Rams sprang back to life on a seven-play, 84-yard drive and tied the score again, 14-all.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">When the Rams kept the Packers out of the end zone on their next drive, it resulted in Mason Crosby's 44-yard field goal and Green Bay's slender 17-14 lead. That appeared in serious jeopardy until a Bulger pass went through the hands of a wide-open Drew Bennett and into the hands of Packers safety Atari Bigby.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">At least the Rams returned the favor with O.J. Atogwe's pick of a Favre pass a few moments later. And with that, one of the worst teams in the NFC entered halftime only three points behind one of the best teams in the NFC.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Wow. Could these Rams possibly pull off the huge, nationally televised upset at home?
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Nah.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">They still had to deal with the problem that's plagued them more than anything else all season.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">The second half.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">- Another interception, this time off Holt's hand to Bigby, set up another Crosby field goal. The 50-yarder made it 20-14 early in the third quarter.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">- After a dumb 15-yard facemask penalty, a sack of Bulger and one of several shanked punts by Donnie Jones, the Packers took over on the Rams' 44. On third-and-10, Favre beat the blitz by lofting the ball over everyone, 44 yards to Greg Jennings, making it 27-14. The throw left Favre 2 yards from breaking Dan Marino's all-time NFL passing yardage record.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">- An early fourth-quarter field goal try of 48 yards by Jeff Wilkins came up short, thwarting the Rams' longest drive of the game.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">- Favre, after passing Marino's yardage mark of 61,361 yards with a 7-yard completion to Donald Driver, drove the Pack back into field goal range with the help of three more Rams penalties, and Crosby added a 25-yarder to make it 30-14.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"I wanted to get it to Donald," Favre said of the record-breaking pass. "That was actually a run play; I wanted to give him a shot."
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Crosby's 46-yard field goal gave Green Bay 19 unanswered points -- 16 in the second half -- and the NFC North champion Packers had secured a 12-2 record and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">For the Rams, another competitive game disintegrated into a second half of cheese and Packers.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"We were driving a long field the whole game," said Rams coach Scott Linehan. "We had the ball 36 minutes and only scored 14 points. If you've got to drive the length of the field most of the day, you can't be backing up at all. And we backed up a couple times in the second half with a couple untimely penalties and a couple sacks."
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">This season, Rams fans have grown accustomed to watching a wounded quarterback take the field in an attempt to make something good happen. Bulger, after missing nearly three games because of a concussion, wasn't bad on Sunday, completing 20 of 39 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown despite numerous drops, four sacks and the two tainted interceptions.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">His numbers weren't too far off those of Favre. Making his record 251st consecutive start -- 271st including playoff games -- the NFL iron man was 19-for-30 for 227 yards, two TDs and two interceptions, both by Atogwe.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">But what ageless warrior Favre really provided for the potent Packers on Sunday was a sense of success. Again this season, as he has so many times during his Hall of Fame career, the fabulous Favre has shaken off injuries that would sideline most men and has performed at a lofty level that would make most healthy quarterbacks quake.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">"Overall, the guys played well," the all-time passing leader assessed, downplaying his vital role in the victory. "We obviously won the game -- the most important thing."
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">No doubt, the thousands of Cheese Heads in attendance on Sunday had a blast watching their team roll to another victory as Favre established more records.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">But there's nothing cheesy about Favre and these Packers.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY">Hal Pilger can be reached at 788-1548 or hal.pilger@sj-r.com.