The St. Louis Rams had a 5-3 record and the NFL’s
top-ranked offense as they hosted the Baltimore Ravens on November 9, 2003. The
Rams, coached by Mike Martz, were averaging 374.5 yards-per-game as they
continued to be the potent and high-scoring team that they had typically been
since the 1999 Championship season. However, Marc Bulger was now the
quarterback in place of Kurt Warner and was not as accurate of a deep passer. To
be sure, he still had outstanding wide receivers in Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce
and RB Marshall Faulk was back after having missed five games with hand and
knee injuries. Moreover, the Rams had won ten straight home games.
The Ravens, under the guidance of Head Coach Brian Billick,
were also 5-3, but were very different in style from their opponent. Baltimore
was known for defense, with MLB Ray Lewis the most notable star, and a
conservative, ball-control offense that featured RB Jamal Lewis, who was
leading the NFL in rushing. Rookie Kyle Boller was the quarterback and their
best receiver was TE Todd Heap.
There were 66,085 fans in attendance for the Sunday night
game at the Edgar Jones Dome. The Ravens had the first possession and moved
well as Jamal Lewis had runs of 20 and 23 yards to start the series. But after
reaching the St. Louis 30, Kyle Boller’s pass was intercepted by CB Jerametrius
Butler, who returned it 45 yards to the Baltimore 36. Three plays later Marc
Bulger threw to Torry Holt for a 24-yard gain that had five yards added (half
the distance to the goal) due to a face mask penalty, putting the Rams on the
five. From there, Marshall Faulk ran for a touchdown and Jeff Wilkins (pictured above) added the
extra point.
The Ravens punted following their next possession and WR
Dane Looker, picking up the rolling ball, returned it 44 yards to the Baltimore
one. Faulk again scored, Wilkins converted, and with most of their yardage
coming on interception and punt returns, the Rams were ahead by 14-0.
Baltimore again had to punt following its next series but
got a break when CB DeJuan Groce muffed the catch and safety Gerome Sapp
recovered at the St. Louis 15. A holding penalty moved the Ravens back ten
yards and they ended up having to settle for a 43-yard Matt Stover field goal.
The teams exchanged turnovers as Bulger was intercepted
by Ray Lewis on the next series and Jamal Lewis fumbled the ball back at the
St. Louis 11 four plays later. In a possession that extended into the second
quarter, the Rams were able to get only to their 26 and punted. Now the Ravens
benefited from a good return when DB Lamont Brightful gained 24 yards, and an
unnecessary roughness penalty put the ball on the St. Louis 33. Boller
completed two passes for 14 yards and Jamal Lewis ran three times to get to the
five yard line, but a sack and an incomplete pass caused the visitors to again
settle for a field goal as Stover connected from 25 yards to make the score
14-6.
The Rams had to punt from deep in their own territory
following the next series and Baltimore took advantage of good starting field
position to drive 45 yards in five plays. The big play was a Boller pass to WR
Travis Taylor that picked up 40 yards and Jamal Lewis (pictured at left) finished the possession
off with a two-yard touchdown run. Boller’s pass for a two-point conversion was
incomplete, but the Ravens were now behind by just two points at 14-12.
The Rams again had to punt after a short series, but
Boller fumbled when being sacked by SS Adam Archuleta, who then recovered and
ran 45 yards for a TD. Wilkins added the PAT and St. Louis was up by 21-12 with
a minimum of offensive output.
Regaining possession with 4:38 to go in the first half,
the Ravens advanced 80 yards in 10 plays. Boller had completions to Todd Heap
for ten and nine yards, the second coming in a third-and-eight situation and a
pass interference penalty picked up 28 yards to the St. Louis 31. Following a
short carry by Jamal Lewis, Boller threw to Taylor for 25 yards and, two plays
after that, to OT Jonathan Ogden, who was lined up as an eligible receiver, for
a one-yard touchdown. Stover added the point after and the score was 21-19 in
favor of St. Louis at halftime. The Ravens had driven into St. Louis territory
seven times and outgained the Rams by 206 yards to 38, but were two points
behind and had now lost Boller to a knee injury.
A short series by the Rams to start the third quarter
ended with a punt and the Ravens, now with Chris Redman at quarterback, also
punted but retained possession when Groce fumbled the return and safety Chad
Williams recovered at the St. Louis 28. The visitors picked up five yards from
there and Stover kicked a 41-yard field goal that put them in the lead at
22-21.
The teams exchanged punts, and then interceptions. Early
in the fourth quarter, Wilkins kicked a 49-yard field goal that put the Rams
back in front by 24-22. Another series by the Ravens ended with an interception
as LB Tommy Polley picked off a Redman pass and returned it 22 yards to the
Baltimore 36. Four plays later, Wilkins kicked a 46-yard field goal to make it
a five-point game.
Once again St. Louis benefited from a turnover when Jamal
Lewis fumbled and DT Brian Young recovered at the Baltimore 35. Keeping the
ball on the ground, the Rams got another field goal from Wilkins, this time from
48 yards.
On a series in which Redman was sacked on back-to-back
plays, the Ravens were forced to punt from deep in their own territory and WR
Mike Furrey returned it 17 yards to the Baltimore 35. Bulger completed passes
to WR Isaac Bruce for eight yards and Holt for 10 and Wilkins kicked his fourth
field goal of the game from 27 yards with 1:45 left to play. That provided the
final margin as the Rams won by a score of 33-22.
The Rams had a mere 121 yards of offense, to 267 for
Baltimore, and the Ravens dominated in first downs (16 to 7) and time of
possession (37:21 to 22:39). However, the Ravens also turned the ball over
seven times, to four suffered by St. Louis, and were penalized 10 times at a
cost of 80 yards, to seven flags for 75 yards thrown on the Rams. St. Louis
also recorded seven sacks while Baltimore had four.
Marc Bulger completed only 13 of 26 passes for 110 yards
with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Marshall Faulk scored on two short
touchdown carries but gained just 48 yards on 20 carries and had six more yards
on three pass receptions. Dane Looker (pictured at right) and Torry Holt had identical output with
three catches for 38 yards apiece, and while the total put Holt over a thousand
yards for the season, it was easily his lowest total of the season. Looker also
had the 44-yard punt return and, on defense, Jerametrius Butler intercepted two
passes. Jeff Wilkins kicked four field goals in as many attempts, which proved
to be vital.
For the Ravens, Jamal Lewis rushed for 111 yards on 27
carries that included a TD, but also lost two fumbles. Kyle Boller was
successful on 10 of 21 throws for 112 yards and a TD as well as giving up an
interception before suffering the injury that proved to be effectively season-ending
(he was active for the last two games but threw just one pass), and Chris
Redman went 7-of-12 for 58 yards and had two intercepted in relief. Todd Heap
caught 6 passes for 49 yards and Travis Taylor gained 65 yards on his two
receptions.
“Marc slugged it out pretty good,” said Coach Martz of
Bulger. “It did cross my mind (pulling Bulger from the game), but Marc needs to
go through this. They all go through that, and Marc’s no different from anybody
else.”
The Rams stuck with Bulger and the win over the Ravens
proved to be the first of seven straight, on the way to a 12-4 record and first
place in the AFC West. However, they lost the season finale, which forfeited
the opportunity to have the top playoff seed in the conference, and then fell
to the Panthers in the Divisional playoff round. Baltimore lost again the next
week but recovered to win five of their remaining six games to top the AFC
North at 10-6. The Ravens lost to Tennessee in their Wild Card playoff game.
Marc Bulger went on to gain selection to the Pro Bowl as
he passed for 3845 yards and 22 touchdowns, although he also gave up 22
interceptions. Marshall Faulk recovered to rush for over a hundred yards in
each of the next four games, ending up with 818 yards on 209 carries (3.9 avg.)
and 45 catches for 290 yards (6.4 avg.) while scoring a total of 11 TDs. While
lesser numbers by comparison to the high standards he had set in previous
years, it was still a respectable performance as his career entered its
downside.
Jamal Lewis had a career year, leading the NFL with 2066
yards on 387 carries (5.3 avg.) and scoring 14 touchdowns. He was a consensus
first-team All-NFL selection who was also named to the Pro Bowl and received
NFL Offensive Player of the Year recognition from the Associated Press and was
named MVP by the Pro Football Writers.
