By Gerard Gallagher Nov 14, 2006, 20:55 GMT
- It looked bad, then good, then bad again.
And now the St. Louis Rams find themselves slipping out of contention in the NFC West.
The Rams dropped another heartbreaker on Sunday, losing 24-22 to the Seattle Seahawks when kicker Josh Brown nailed a 38-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining in the game.
The lead changed hands three times in the final nine minutes of the game, first when Nate Burleson busted loose for a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown to make it 21-16 Seattle with 8:19 left.
The Rams responded by marching 69 yards in under six minutes, and pulled ahead when Steven Jackson willed his way to a 14-yard touchdown at 2:30. Jackson busted through the middle and carried several Seahawks into the end zone with him.
A two-point conversion attempt failed, and the stage was set for Brown's second game-winning field goal against the Rams in a month. The first one, from 54 yards in an Oct. 15 thriller, began what is now a four-game losing streak for St. Louis.
The Rams are 4-5 and tied with San Francisco for second place in the division, two games behind Seattle.
'We definitely have an uphill climb from here on out,' said Rams guard Adam Timmerman. 'We hurt ourselves today but I know nobody is going to throw in the towel. I know the leadership on this team is not going to hang it up right now.'
The Rams found lots of ways to win games early on, but are now discovering just as many ways to lose. There is a silver lining, however: Their final seven games are against teams with a combined 27-36 record, including division doormat Arizona and everyone's doormat, the Oakland Raiders.
'[We] happen to be kind of right in the middle of the NFC race still, as far as playoff contention,' said Rams head coach Scott Linehan. 'We've got to start getting some wins here in a hurry...We can't get into that state of misery because we dropped some games.
'Some teams might be 4-5 a different way than we are right now, but we're all 4-5, and can all put ourselves in a better position by getting a win this week. That's the only way you can look at it, and if you don't, you're going to go into that sea of negativity, so to speak, that you can't get out of. We can't go there.'
RUN, RUN, RUN AWAY
One concern for the Rams remains their inability to stop the run. On Sunday, even without reigning MVP Shaun Alexander in the lineup, the Seahawks rushed for 160 yards on 26 carries -- an average of 6.2 yards per rush.
Maurice Morris did most of the damage, carrying 21 times for 124 yards. His effort helped keep the Rams dead last among NFC run defenses (and fourth worst among all NFL teams).
St. Louis also had trouble defending Seneca Wallace, Seattle's green backup quarterback. Wallace was highly effective, completing 15-of-23 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
PACE SITTING
Further depressing matters for the Rams was the loss of all-world offensive tackle Orlando Pace, who will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the triceps in his left arm on Sunday.
Pace, a 10-year veteran and a Pro Bowl selection in each of the last seven seasons, will need six months of recovery following surgery, Linehan said.
It's a setback, and Linehan has asked his team to bear down the rest of the way.
'I think the veterans understand it more because they have more experience in these matters, but I think everybody including the young players need to pick it up a bit,' said Linehan.
'Only time will tell, but their attitudes are good. There are very few guys who come in with that attitude that things aren't going to get any better. I think everybody knows that we need to have that breakout game to get us going again. We can't wait many more weeks to do it; we have to do it soon.'
UP NEXT: A TOUGH ASSIGNMENT
If the Rams are going to get back on track, they're going to have to do it against the 5-4 Carolina Panthers.
The last time the Rams traveled to Charlotte, they left with a 20-7 loss in Week 14 of 2004, a game in which St. Louis backup quarterback Chris Chandler threw six interceptions.
© 2006 The Sports Network
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