Chiefs Hang On for Win

Sunday, November 5, 2006

By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

For the first quarter of the season, the Rams became accustomed to the ball bouncing their way and turnovers coming in bunches. On Sunday, though, every bounce and, seemingly, every call went west down I-70 to Kansas City.

Using a three-takeaway differential, another powerful rushing attack and a little help from the officials, the Chiefs ran past the Rams 31-17 at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.

The loss drops the Rams to 4-4 on the season, a disappointing figure after their 4-1 start. It�s also the third loss in a row for St. Louis and the second in a row at home. Kansas City improved to 5-3 with the victory.

The three-game losing streak comes on the heels of a three-game winning streak in which the Rams were the best in the league at creating turnovers on defense and taking care of the ball on offense.

But against Kansas City, the Script the Rams had written for their four wins was reversed.

�Anytime you have turnovers, your chances of winning the ball game go way down,� right guard Adam Timmerman said. �When you have a negative three turnover ratio, the numbers are astounding at how your chances of winning go down to about five percent. We have to take care of the ball.�

Despite the three turnovers and zero takeaways, the Rams found themselves in position to tie and possibly win the game as late as the fourth quarter. After the defense came up with a stop near the end of the third, the Rams took over at their 18.

Trailing 24-17 in the fourth quarter, quarterback Marc Bulger and Co. promptly began marching down the field. St. Louis reached the Kansas City 26 and seemed poised to break in for the tying score.

With that field position and room to work with, right tackle Alex Barron was flagged for a pair of false start penalties that cost the Rams 10 yards. Instead of second-and-1 and plenty of possibilities, St. Louis had second-and-11 and passing on the brain.

On third-and-11, Bulger hit receiver Isaac Bruce for an apparent first down as Bruce ran another of his pinpoint hook routes. As Bruce turned to make the play, though, cornerback Ty Law had hold of the 8 and the 0 on Bruce�s jersey. When Law released for fear of a penalty, he fell to the ground.

Bruce grabbed the ball and had a first down inside Kansas City�s 20. But a flag came out from the back judge. To most, it appeared to be a holding call on Law, but the official ruled that Bruce had pushed off and gained an advantage. A huge first down suddenly became a 10-yard penalty and the Rams had to settle for a pooch punt.

�It�s all based on judgment,� coach Scott Linehan said. �There are calls that go for you and against you. In this case, it went against us pretty significantly at that point.�

Even after the penalty, kicker Jeff Wilkins dropped a pooch punt down to the Kansas City 6 after Linehan debated kicking a field goal, which would have trimmed the deficit to 4.

Pinned deep in their territory, the Chiefs responded with a seven-play, 94-yard drive that was aided by another questionable pass interference call. This one went against linebacker Dexter Coakley for 17 yards. Eventually, Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard hit tight end Kris Wilson for an 11-yard touchdown and a 31-17 edge that the Rams could not overcome.

Despite those two unfortunate calls, there were other factors that limited the Rams� chance for a victory. At the top of the list was the turnover differential that cost the team from the beginning.

�When one team gets turnovers and the other team doesn�t get turnovers, then it�s a harder margin to win games,� defensive end Leonard Little said.

Three Rams turnovers led to a 17 points and what turned out to be a deficit the Rams could not overcome.

Meanwhile, the Rams� opportunistic defense couldn�t take advantage of any of its chances.

�Those are the sudden change situations where we have to come through as a defense,� safety Corey Chavous said. �That was the area that earlier in the year we did better and that is a defensive mentality and it starts with the guys who put on the blue and gold.�

The Chiefs had zero turnovers in the game, but it�s not for a lack of trying. Johnson, for all of his 172-yard brilliance, put the ball on the turf on a pair of occasions, both times the fumbles recovered by Kansas City.

Even with the team losing the turnover battle, the Rams found themselves moving the ball and in position to potentially pull off the victory.

�We don�t ever want to turn the football over since it puts our defense in a bad situation,� Bruce said. �I�ve played in games where you turn the football over and then start to come back and play well. We were starting to do that, but it just didn�t work.�

Indeed, the Rams offense put up big numbers once again with Bulger and Jackson leading the way. Bulger finished 31-of-42 for 354 yards and a touchdown for a rating of 106.6.

Jackson had 19 carries for 86 yards and a score and added 13 receptions for 133 yards. The reception total was a career high for Jackson and an NFL high for running backs this season..

At the halfway point, there is still plenty to play for and the Rams know that. If they didn�t, Little gave them a reminder with a postgame speech.

�We have too many good players and too much character,� Bulger said. �We�ll come back fighting this week.�