MVN - Most Valuable Network

Jackson’s Four Lead Rams to Third Straight Win

The St. Louis Rams were able to stave off a losing season before the New Year with a 41-21 win over Minnesota. The win put them at 8-8, but not in the playoffs as they lacked the help they needed from the other teams. The remaining wild card spots went to the Giants and Cowboys, two teams that faded in the second half of the regular season.

The recent streak was a pleasant end for the Rams who had forgotten how to win midway through the season. The losing stretch of five was brought about mostly from costly turnovers and sacks allowed by an offensive line that lacked the leadership of Orlando Pace. St. Louis faced neither problem against the Vikes.

Steven Jackson, a constant bright spot for the Lou, failed to disappoint on Sunday. Action shredded the Vikings for 142 yards on twenty-five carries. He rushed for three touchdowns on a team that had the NFL record for fewest rushing yards allowed (970 – ’00 Ravens) within their sights. They only missed the mark by fifteen.

Marc looked sharp, completing nearly two-thirds of his passes for 248 yards. One throw went to Jackson for the second of his four scores. His twenty-four receiving yards put his season-long total at 806 and made him the leading receiver among NFL running backs. Torry Holt caught nine passes from Bulger for ninety yards.

The St. Louis defense on Sunday was an exception to their far-from-exceptional performance this season. The Boys in Blue only gave up one touchdown through the first three quarters of play and allowed 82 yards rushing, a feat nearly unheard of to a team averaging just under 150 allowed per game.
The Rams also came up with two takeaways: both on interceptions and both by Ron Bartell. The defensive back returned the first for the Rams’ first touchdown of the day and the first in his career.

With the Giants taking their playoff spot on Saturday, the Rams had nothing to play for save pride and avoiding a losing season. Now they face a long off-season of wondering how their 4-1 record became an 8-8 not worthy of the playoffs.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.