Game Story Assignment

by: Michael Smith

ATLANTA – Once again the Atlanta Falcons proved that the ground game is the only game they need to help them win.

The Falcons amassed 327 rushing yards in their 47-17 drubbing of the once mighty St. Louis Rams on Saturday night. The victory sent the Falcons to the NFC Championship Game for only the second time in the team’s 39-year history.

Michael Vick began the ground assault just two minutes into the game when he rushed for 47 yards down the right side. The drive was capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler.

After the Rams used the game’s second drive to respond with a touchdown of their own, Warrick Dunn put the Falcons ahead again with his 62-yard touchdown run just three minutes later. Dunn also scored on a 19-yard rush midway through the second quarter.

The Rams came back with an eight play, 75-yard touchdown drive that brought them to within seven points of the Falcons. But Falcons’ kick-returner Allen Rossum provided the knock-out blow when he returned a Kevin Stemke punt 68 yards for a touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter. After that the Rams managed only a Jeff Wilkins’ field goal in the final seconds of the second quarter. Rossum went on to set an NFL playoff record with 152 yards on three punt returns for an average of 50.1 yards per return.

Vick set an NFL record of his own as he broke Donovan McNabb’s playoff mark for rushing yards by a quarterback. He ended the game with 119 yards. He rushed for 42 more yards than the entire Rams’ offense. His spectacular running was supplemented by an unspectacular yet accurate passing game which saw him throw 12-16 for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

"Whether it was Dunn slipping in here or there, or Vick with the bootleg . . . we worked against it all week, but we just couldn't stop them," Rams’ defensive end Leonard Little said.

Indeed the Rams’ defense and special teams failed to keep the game within reach, but the offense, despite being shorthanded, did all that it could. Perhaps the brightest spot for the Rams was Kevin Curtis, who was filling in for injured wide-receiving star Isaac Bruce, and scored the Rams’ first touchdown of the game. He also collected 128 yards on 7 receptions. Bruce was kept out of the game at the last minute because of a lingering groin injury. Quarterback Marc Bulger’s 23-35 passing effort for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns also proved futile. Following the game, Bulger informed reporters that he believed the thumb on his non-throwing hand, which he injured during the first half, was in fact broken.

"Every person in this locker room is a little stunned," Rams safety Antuan Edwards said. "In all phases of the game, we got whipped."

The Falcons now await the winner of Sunday’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Vikings win then they will meet the Falcons in the Georgia Dome next week for the NFC Championship Game. If the Eagles win, the Falcons with travel north to Lincoln Financial Field and be forced to overcome a Philadelphia winter in order to reach the Super Bowl for the second time in the franchise’s history. Their only other appearance came in 1998 when they were defeated by John Elway and the Denver Broncos.

"I've never been involved in anything like this," said Falcons’ center Todd McClure. "It just all fell together."