Rams 29
Eagles 24
ST. LOUIS – If the Rams do indeed complete what appears to be their destiny and emerge as a dynasty, they always will remember the difficult time they had last night in attaining their coveted goal.
Nothing of value should come easy, and the Rams were tested mightily by the feisty Eagles inside the newly named Edward Jones Dome. Rather than rely on their high-wire passing attack, the Rams showed a rugged side and rode the hard running of Marshall Faulk to avoid a monumental upset.
Kurt Warner played despite bruised ribs but it was Faulk who put a hurting on the Eagles and carried the Rams into Super Bowl XXXVI with a 29-24 victory in the NFC Championship Game.
Can anyone stop the Rams from capturing their second Super Bowl title in three years? All that stands in the way of that feat are the upstart Patriots, who upset the Steelers earlier in the day in Pittsburgh to gain admittance to Sunday’s game at the Superdome in New Orleans.
This will be a rematch of a Nov. 18 game at Foxboro Stadium, won by the Rams 24-17 on the strength of Warner’s 401 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The Rams (16-2) head into the Super Bowl as a 15½-point favorite, for good reason. Inside their ear-splitting home, they were able to mostly contain the dangerous Donovan McNabb and overcome a 17-13 halftime deficit. They can thank Faulk for saving them.
Twice, Faulk moved the pile with his muscular-legs to plow for second-half touchdowns of one yard, and he gained a playoff career-high 159 yards.
When Faulk scored with 6:55 remaining, the Rams led 29-17 and the joint was rocking, but McNabb calmly willed his team downfield and scrambled for a touchdown with 2:56 left to pull the Eagles within four points. The Eagles got the ball back on their own 45-yard line with 2:20 left but there was no miracle forthcoming, as McNabb was intercepted on fourth down by Aeneas Williams with 1:47 to go.
Warner, playing despite some painful bruised ribs, was not punished physically by the blitzing Eagles defense, as he got rid of the ball quickly and avoided heavy hits.
The Rams were down at halftime but leaned on Faulk to erase the deficit. Faulk got the ball on six consecutive plays to help set up the third field goal of the game for Jeff Wilkins to close the gap to 17-16.
The Rams finally coaxed a three-and-out on defense and Warner and Isaac Bruce then hooked up on three completions to get things cooking. Faulk finished up, muscling in from a yard out and with 1:18 left in the third quarter the Rams regained the lead at 22-17. They went for two to increase their lead to seven points but failed when a wide-open tight end Ernie Conwell dropped the ball in the left corner of the end zone.
Things could not have started worse for the Eagles, who completed a fine season at 13-6. McNabb fumbled on the second play of the game when he was sacked by Leonard Little, and Grant Wistrom recovered on the Eagles 21-yard line. It was like stealing for the Rams and soon enough Warner was firing to Isaac Bruce, who angled past Vincent, for a four-yard TD and an immediate 7-0 Rams lead exactly three minutes in.
The Eagles needed to retain their composure and they did as McNabb ran for a pair of first downs, Duce Staley went 20 yards on a pitchout and David Akers nailed a 46-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
