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| | | | | | | |  Thursday, December 14, 2000
Rams should beat a good, not great Bucs defense
By Eric Dickerson
MondayNightFootball.com
The Rams are just a better team right now than the Buccaneers are, especially offensively. Tampa Bay is not playing quite as well defensively than it did in 1999. And at this point, St. Louis just wants this win more.
|  | | The Rams will test the Bucs secondary early by going deep to receiver Isaac Bruce. |
The Rams beat the Bucs last year in the NFC Championship Game, so they know they can win, and more importantly, since they slumped during the middle of the season, they are hungry to look great again. St. Louis wants to come into Tampa Bay and say: "We can beat you at home, too."
Whoever wins this one is in the playoffs, but the loser is not necessarily out of the race. So here's what you should expect on Monday night:
1. When the Rams have the ball:
The Buccaneers will look at the game film from last year's NFC Championship Game and try to do the same things: chase Kurt Warner, cut off the receivers routes, swarm Marshall Faulk, etc? And they will also add some new wrinkles to confuse St. Louis. But the Rams played conservatively in that game, and that won't happen on Monday. When going on all cylinders, no one can stop the St. Louis offense.
St. Louis will go deep right from the start. If Warner can't do that, he will then take advantage of those underneath routes to receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. He also has the luxury of Faulk being a safety valve out of the backfield AND a guy capable of carrying the ball 30 times a game.
Marshall, like a lot of backs these days, will say rushing for 100 is not the most important thing anymore. He will say if he can catch the ball 5-10 times for 80 yards receiving, and then 80 yards rushing, well, that is a great game -- a game the Rams will win against the Tampa Bay defense. The backs of the 21st century want to run and catch the ball, and Marshall is the ultimate 21st century back. Colts running back Edgerrin James is right there with him, but Marshall has seen everything at this point, can read defenses better and has a better sense of the game.
Faulk also plays tough in tight situations, as he rushed for 135 yards and four touchdowns in a 40-29 win against Minnesota last week, probably the Rams' biggest confidence builder of the season. That offense looked horrible in a 16-3 loss to Carolina in Week 14. So Faulk's and Warner's turnaround against the Vikings -- the entire team's turnaround really -- probably saved their season.
2. When the Buccaneers have the ball:
I've said before that Shaun King is not going to throw the ball 40 times a game. King is not a pocket guy that sits back there and picks you apart. The Bucs must make their running game go or their offense is shut down. Right now, the Bucs are doing fine running the ball with Warrick Dunn getting most of the carries with Mike Alstott injured.
Like Faulk, Dunn is spectacular at catching passes out of the backfield. He's that classic scat-back, making plays on sweeps and catching the ball and beating linebackers one-on-one. Dunn is a dangerous football player because of his quickness -- he'll juke anyone on the Rams defense. Alstott should come back this week after a knee injury that has kept him out since November, but it's unclear how much of a factor he will be. His game is all power.
This offense just doesn't have the system for Keyshawn Johnson to thrive. He needs a big-time quarterback. But if Dunn can loosen up that Rams defense, we may see some nice passes to Johnson and Jacquez Green.
3. Matchup to watch:
Rams WR Isaac Bruce vs. Bucs CB Donnie Abraham: Here is a great battle of two Pro Bowlers. The Bucs may say, we'll give you the 10-yard out, but not the 50-yarder. Sooner or later, though, St. Louis is going to hit that home run. They have so many weapons. Bruce is a great deep threat.
4. Key players of the game:
Rams WR Az-Zahir Hakim: His punt returns may be the difference in a close game.
Bucs DT Warren Sapp: Sapp is the dominant defensive player in the NFL today. The Rams need to double-team this guy, because as Sapp goes, Tampa Bay goes. He is the Bucs' sparkplug emotionally, and is capable of changing a game at a position that is usually smothered by blockers.
5. Question of the night:
Can the Bucs go deep into the playoffs with King at quarterback?
I don't think so, at least not right now. And I don't believe he will ever be that elite pocket quarterback that Keyshawn needs. Everybody thought that because the Bucs were playing so well in 1999 they would make a big statement this season. I just don't see it. They are playing good defensively, but they are not dominant. The Ravens are playing like the Bucs did last year -- Baltimore is a team that could go deep into the postseason.
Eric Dickerson, a Hall of Fame running back, is a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football.
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