RAMS MAKE HISTORY
The Rams and Seahawks were teams going in different directions in 1979.
The Seahawks had won 3 out of their last 4 games. In those three wins, Seattle averaged 33 points and 350 yards a game. The previous Monday night, the Seahawks had scored their biggest victory. The Seahawks came from behind to beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-28.
The Rams had lost three straight games and would be playing before a hostile crowd in Seattle's Superdome.
But the Rams came to play.
The Ram offense was awesome, rushing for over 300 yards. They had the ball for over 45 minutes and rolled up 500 yards.
Ram QB Pat Haden was having his best game of the season, throwing 2 TD's and completed his last 13 passes in a row when he broke his ring finger and was replaced by rookie Jeff Rutledge.
The Ram defense was even better.
Coach Malavasi designed a defensive scheme called "delay-bim". That truly befuddled the Seahawks.
When the first half ended, the explosive Seattle offense had no first down and zero yards.
The Seahawks' first play of the second half was a completed pass from Jim Zorn to Steve Largent, the play gained 11 yards, good for a first down.
For Seattle, that was as good as it got. The Seahawks never earned another first down. And they never got closer to the goal line than that, eight yards shy of midfield.
The Seahawks at one time got their offensive total up to 23 yards, but the Rams kept sacking (8 times) Jim Zorn for losses.
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For the last quarter of the game, the only suspense was whether the Seahawks could raise their net yardage into the black. They couldn't.
When time ran out the Rams had a 24-0 victory and held the Seahawks to minus-seven yards. An NFL record that still stands.
2000 GAME
Two games of handing the ball off to Marshall Faulk makes St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger think his teammate belongs in the Hall of Fame right now.
"They should put him in already, the first active player," Bulger said after Faulk ran for 183 yards and scored four touchdowns in the Rams' 37-20 victory against the Seattle Seahawks. "He's like Superman out there. I'm just glad he's on our side."
The Rams reached the 30-point mark for the first time this season behind Faulk's fifth career four-touchdown game, as well as another consistent performance from Bulger, who started the season as St. Louis' third-stringer.
"Too much Marshall Faulk today," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "He got off to a good start, and we had a heck of a time slowing him down."
The defending NFC champions (2-5) have won their past two games after an 0-5 start. Bulger, elevated to the starting job by injuries to Kurt Warner (broken finger) and Jamie Martin (knee), was 22 of 40 for 265 yards and one interception.
Bulger was tough on himself, however, giving himself a B-minus.
"I didn't win the game for us, by any means, but at the same time I didn't lose it for us," Bulger said. "I didn't make any big mistakes, and I think I got us in position to make big plays, and that was my goal."
Rams cornerback Aeneas Williams probably was lost for the season after breaking his leg and badly spraining his left ankle late in the game.
The Seahawks (1-5), who had three key turnovers, are off to their worst start since 1992, when they began the season 1-10 and finished 2-14. It's also the worst career start for Holmgren.
"We're going through a bit of a learning curve," Holmgren said. "When you get knocked down, you've got to get back up. When it all clicks, it'll be a wonderful thing."
The Rams averaged 31 points last season, but they had averaged 17 points over their first six games. They scored 28 last week, when Faulk ran for 158 yards in a surprising victory against the Raiders.
Against Seattle, he matched his career high for attempts and touches (39), adding seven receptions for 52 yards.
"You've got to make adjustments in this business," said Faulk, who became the 15th NFL player with 10,000 yards rushing. "The teams that make the adjustments the quickest succeed, and they have success a lot longer."
The Rams also got another strong game from their defense, which allowed two huge plays but little else. The Seahawks scored in the first half on a 79-yard pass from Trent Dilfer to Koren Robinson, when St. Louis got caught in a blitz, and Robinson had an 80-yarder off a quick slant in the fourth quarter.
But Robinson was run down at the 2 by rookie cornerback Travis Fisher, and Kim Herring perhaps clinched the victory when he intercepted an underthrown pass from Dilfer in the end zone three plays later.
"I should have scored," Robinson said. "I've never gotten caught from behind, ever. I did today, and I'm mad at myself."
Robinson finished with three catches for 166 yards.
Maurice Morris returned a kickoff 97 yards for a TD with 16 seconds left in the first half to give Seattle a 14-13 lead.
Dilfer was 8 for 25 for 232 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and left after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Adam Archuleta on a 2-point conversion attempt that followed a recovered fumble for a touchdown by Chad Eaton with 3:28 to go. Matt Hasselbeck finished the game for Seattle.
"There is nothing broken like my pride is," Dilfer said. "I got banged around pretty good, but that is how it goes."
Shaun Alexander, the team's best offensive threat, was held to 30 yards on 12 carries.
Faulk scored the Rams' first touchdown on a 6-yard catch in the first quarter. Benefitting from All-Pro offensive tackle Orlando Pace's return from a partially torn calf muscle, Faulk scored on runs of 3, 2 and 1 yards in the second half as the Rams put the game away.
The Rams also got lucky -- twice -- when Jeff Wilkins bounced field goals of 45 and 47 yards over the crossbar.
Want more Ram memories.
RAM PICTURES TELL A STORY
GREATEST RAM COMEBACK
SEATTLE — We want the Patriots. A group of fans began a soulful chant during halftime at raucous Qwest Field on Sunday. They were toasting their beloved Seattle Seahawks.
Rams wide receiver Shaun McDonald celebrates after scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime against Seattle. St. Louis won 33-27.
And why not? The Seahawks were up 24-7, and with the NFL's No. 1-ranked defense in tow seemed assured of an 11th consecutive home victory.
But a funny thing happened on the way to that projected battle of unbeatens next Sunday at Foxboro, Mass.
The St. Louis Rams rallied from a 17-point deficit in the final six minutes of regulation and then upset the Seahawks 33-27 in overtime. (Related item: Box score)
When it ended on Marc Bulger's 52-yard pass to Shaun McDonald with 3:02 elapsed in overtime, some shocked fans hurled trash on the field.
New England, and its NFL-record 19-game winning streak, can wait.
"That's a tough way to lose a football game," said Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, whose defense allowed 441 yards. "Give the Rams credit. They hung in there."
Bulger was especially deadly in the clutch. He converted seven of his final eight third-down passes for 155 yards in the second half, when he fired three touchdown passes.
"I was just amazed at Marc's composure," said Rams coach Mike Martz, whose team improved to 3-2.
The Seahawks, though, were just as stunned by their own collapse.
"We pretty much self-destructed," defensive end Grant Wistrom said.
Suddenly, the race in the wild NFC West — which had both of its intra-divisional matchups decided in overtime Sunday — is on again. The winless San Francisco 49ers rallied from 16 points down with five minutes remaining to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 31-28.
Seattle (3-1) was the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the division and contend for a Super Bowl berth. A win Sunday would have given the Seahawks the first 4-0 start in franchise history and a 2 1/2-game division lead.
"People who handed us the division don't know a lot about the Rams, because they are a very, very good football team," said Wistrom, who left St. Louis as a free agent this year after six seasons. "They showed they are still a team to be reckoned with."
Bulger leads the way
After getting to overtime on the heels of a stunning fourth-quarter rally, it was no time for Bulger to play it safe when faced with a third-and-8 on the first possession on sudden death. So he went for broke.
Bulger didn't try to beat a Seattle Seahawks blitz by forcing a pass to Torry Holt, running a short slant pattern. No, Bulger calmly spotted McDonald streaking past safety Terreal Bierria along the right sideline and went for the jugular.
Game over.
The Rams capped one of the most spectacular comebacks in the franchise's history — they scored 17 unanswered points in the final five minutes, 34 seconds of the fourth quarter — with Bulger's strike to McDonald as the finishing touch that left the Seahawks bewildered with an unlikely first loss of the season.
"If it's me, I'm throwing the slant," said Martz. "But he's throwing the '9 route.' His courage is remarkable.
