By Nick Wagoner
Staff Writer

Through all of the adversity: the injuries, the rumors and the gossip, the St. Louis Rams have an announcement to make to the rest of the NFC and the NFL for that matter. 

As kicker Jeff Wilkins’ 31-yard field goal sailed through the uprights on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis proudly proclaimed, “We’re Baaaaaaaaack,” with a scintillating 32-29 overtime victory against the Jets.

This was no ordinary overtime win, either. With so much at stake for both teams, the Rams’ triumph equaled another trip to the playoffs. With St. Louis leading and two minutes left in the game, the announcement came down from the public address system: Minnesota had lost to Washington 21-18. That meant all the Rams had to do was find a way to win and they would be in the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons.

St. Louis finished 8-8, along with Minnesota and New Orleans. By virtue of tiebreaker, the Rams and Vikings are in the playoffs and the Saints are on the outside looking in. 

This trip, though, might mean more than any in recent memory. In the past 17 weeks, St. Louis has dealt with as much or more as any team in the league. The Rams lost their star right tackle, Kyle Turley, with a back injury before training camp even got rolling. Center Dave Wohlabaugh retired because of a bad hip. The left guard position became a game of guess who. Head coach Mike Martz came under scrutiny for a variety of reasons.

But, at the end of the day, Martz and the Rams are in the playoffs again. Martz didn’t know until he got back to the locker room that the team had made the playoffs.

“This is the team that I always felt we could be,” Martz said. “Along the way there was so many things that happened to us. These young men have put forward resolve and resiliency. We have a lot of young players trying to learn how to play, we missed a lot of starters during the season and we’ve had a turnstile of offensive linemen through here. These players never quit, they never gave up and they never stop believing.

“We’ve overcome a great deal of adversity. Who knows where we’re going, but it’s good to be in it still.”

That, of course, was before the Seahawks and Falcons game ended. The Rams’ win, coupled with Minnesota’s loss and Seattle’s win cements the Rams position as the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs. They will now travel to play the Seahawks for the third time this season at 3:30 Saturday. 

In a game that typified St. Louis’ season, the rollercoaster ride ended with the Rams on top. Quarterback Marc Bulger, in one of his best performances of the season, threw for 450 yards and three touchdowns. More than the numbers, though, Bulger’s poise proved instrumental in the win.

After the game went to overtime, Bulger, who had been throwing the ball long pretty much all game, continued to let the ball fly with no repercussions. His biggest play, though, was one of his shortest throws. On second-and-11 at the Jets’ 35, Bulger dropped back. The play could have turned out much different than it did. New York seemingly had the play read, but Bulger picked up the hot route to running back Steven Jackson. He waited for the defense to commit and flipped a short pass in the flat to Jackson.

The rookie running back sprinted to New York’s 13 for a gain of 22 yards. Wilkins booted the game-winner on the next play.

“It was a hot read,” Jackson said. “I saw the flat was open pretty early and we were just trying to get the ball down field to get into field goal position. (Bulger) did a great job of drawing the pursuit in and dumping it off to me.”
A game that seemed to be in hand early eventually became a game the Rams had to scrape to win. 

St. Louis did that and more. The Rams scratched and clawed their way back, claiming a late lead on Bulger’s 19-yard touchdown pass to receiver Torry Holt with 5:11 to play. Running back Steven Jackson’s 2-yard run gave the Rams a 2-point conversion that made it 29-26.

New York got the ball back and, like it had pretty much all game, got a sizable kickoff return (35 yards) from Jerricho Cotchery. Cotchery’s return put the Jets at their 41 with plenty of time left.

New York worked its way to the Rams’ 9, where it had first-and-goal. In other words, the Jets had three opportunities to get 9 yards, win the game, send themselves to the playoffs and the Rams home.

Little did the Jets know that Buffalo had lost to Pittsburgh, putting them in the playoffs regardless of their outcome. None of that mattered. 

Quarterback Chad Pennington threw an incompletion on first down. On the next play, Pennington dropped back and fired to his right. Pennington did not see safety Adam Archuleta, who was sitting on the slant route.
He fired the ball into Archuleta’s chest. But, Archuleta couldn’t haul it in, giving the Jets another shot. Pennington’s next pass fell incomplete and forced the Jets to settle for Doug Brien’s 27-yard field goal to send it into overtime.

“It was perfect until the end,” Archuleta said. “I knew I had a chance to come through and help this team win. That’s why you play the game for those type of opportunities. I thank my teammates for coming through and winning this game.”
The game started innocently enough. Brien booted a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter to make it 3-0 New York. That was all of the scoring in that half, but it was just the beginning of an avalanche of points that would follow.
The Rams, who ran the ball all over the Eagles a week ago, found holes in the New York secondary that they exploited for most of the day. In a drive that was vintage Rams, St. Louis marched 80 yards on three plays, resulting in receiver Isaac Bruce’s 27-yard touchdown catch.

New York answered with tight end Chris Baker’s 8-yard touchdown catch to make it 10-7 Jets.
St. Louis continued its momentum, driving into Jets’ territory before Bulger threw an interception to Erik Coleman. The play was challenged by the booth and upheld. That ruling proved to be valuable to the Rams. New York was pinned at its 2, where the Rams held for a three-and-out. 

St. Louis got the ball back at the Jets’ 44 and wasted no time in taking advantage. Bulger hit Holt for a 44-yard touchdown to give the Rams a 14-10 lead.

That was Holt’s first catch of the game, but it also represented a milestone in his career. The grab gave him exactly 1,300 yards receiving for the season, making him the first player in league history to do that five straight seasons.
Holt finished his day with 116 yards on seven catches and two touchdowns. When he went over 100 yards on his touchdown catch at the end of the fourth quarter, Holt moved into second for most 100-yard games by a receiver in his first six seasons with 33.

Holt’s record-breaking performance was made especially sweet because of the outcome of the game.

“This is a game they should show (on television) over and over,” Holt said. “It had that type of drama to it; it had that type of excitement to it. We never let our heads down and we continued to encourage each other to get the win.”
With the records intact, it looked like the Rams might run away with the game. After holding the Jets to end the half, St. Louis came out and scored for the first time this season on the first possession of the second half. Jackson broke a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 21-10 St. Louis.

Momentum appeared to be fully in the Rams’ favor. That did not last long, though. Cotchery returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-17. Bruce fumbled on the second play of the Rams’ next possession, setting up Brien’s 33-yard field goal to make it 21-20 Rams.

St. Louis did itself no favors on its next possession, either. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma intercepted a pass tipped by defensive end Shaun Ellis and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown. The Jets failed on the 2-point conversion to leave them with a 26-21 advantage.

After a rollercoaster ride that was a dichotomy of the Rams’ season, it is only fitting that St. Louis gets to wipe the slate clean and play the Seahawks in the playoffs. The two teams that passed the lead in the NFC West Division back and forth all season will get to play where it counts.

“Once you get into the playoffs, everything is fair game,” Jackson said. “That’s the feeling that we have right here. We know, especially in these past couple weeks, that we’ve been playing good on both sides of the ball. We are peaking at the right time.”

After all the Rams have been through this season, nothing sounds better.