Fourth
Quarter
After rookie Tye
Hill made his second interception of the year, the Rams offense began to show
signs of life, getting past the 50 for only the second time on the day. But when
Bulger hit Holt, Holt was hit from behind and forced to fumble. Carolina
recovered and returned it 25 yards to St. Louis territory.
The Panthers ran
the ball and prepared to go in for a final score before the Rams managed a
fumble recovery by Jimmy Kennedy at the 2. Two plays later, Mike Rucker recorded
Carolina’s seventh sack of the game for a safety and a 15-0 lead.
Third
Quarter
Defenses
dominated the third quarter as neither team gained much of anything on the
ground. Unfortunately for the Rams, that has been a recurring theme throughout
the game and they trail Carolina 13-0 at the end of three.
The Rams defense
came up with its share of stops in the third quarter, including holding Carolina
to the only score of the quarter after a Christian Morton interception gave the
Panthers the ball at the Rams’ 7.
St. Louis kept
the Panthers out of the end zone with the benefit of Glover’s second sack of the
day and Carolina settled for Kasay’s 34-yard field goal and a 13-0 lead with
just over a minute to go in the quarter.
Second
Quarter
The Panthers found
their groove on both sides of the ball in the second quarter as they pounded on
Bulger and made big plays on offense. At the half, it’s 10-0 Panthers.
A fairly uneventful
second quarter for both teams consisted of the Rams struggling to gain traction
on offense with three uncharacteristic drops by receivers and the Panthers
finally putting up some points.
Carolina drove
66 yards on 10 plays in five minutes and 28 seconds before John Kasay connected
from 40 yards out for a 3-0 lead.
For the Rams,
rookie Mark Setterstrom replaced Adam Timmerman at right guard midway through
the quarter. Timmerman returned for the team’s last possession of the
half. Carolina lost running back DeShaun Foster to an apparent hand injury
on a first down play at the Rams’ 30.
The Rams offense
continued to struggle on its next possession as Bulger was contiually pressured
and hit. Two sacks grounded any chance of a leading drive and the Rams punted it
back to Carolina.
The Panthers
wasted no time adding to their lead as the second play of the drive saw Delhomme
hit Smith for a 62-yard touchdown pass and a 10-0 Carolina lead with 1:31 to go
in the half.
First
Quarter
The
first quarter wasn’t exactly a defensive struggle, though the scoreboard says
otherwise. At the end of one, the Rams and Panthers are tied at 0.
The
Rams opened the game with a three and out for the offense after winning the
toss. Carolina promptly drove down the field and appeared to have a touchdown
pass to Steve Smith. But there was an ineligible receiver penalty that nullified
the score. On the next play, safety Jerome Carter came up with his second
interception of the season, returning it 36 yards to the Rams’ 46.
The
teams traded punts on the next two possessions as the Rams got a stop fueled by
two sacks. While Carolina was having success on the ground, the Rams defensive
line was able to get some pressure on Jake Delhomme. Defensive tackle La’Roi
Glover got a 10-yard sack on first down from the Carolina 49. Two plays later,
defensive end Leonard Little recorded his 10th sack of the season and
forced a fumble that Carolina recovered.
The
Rams were unable to muster anything on the ensuing possession and punted it back
to the Panthers.
