Curtis excels in place of injured Bruce

[RamDez]

Curtis excels in place of injured Bruce
By Bill Coats
Of the Post-Dispatch
Sunday, Jan. 16 2005

ATLANTA - Second-year wide receiver Kevin Curtis, who played in only four games
in an injury-plagued rookie year and didn't catch his first pass this season
until the third game, was thrust into the NFL playoff spotlight Saturday night.

Veteran Isaac Bruce was a late scratch for the Rams' NFC semifinal game against
the Atlanta Falcons. Curtis started in his place, and he was the team's leading
receiver in a 47-17 loss. He had seven receptions for 128 yards and a
touchdown.

Curtis' impact was felt early. On the Rams' fifth play, quarterback Marc Bulger
found Curtis on the right side, and his sprint to the end zone completed a
57-yard scoring play that made it 7-7.

Despite his third big game in a row, Curtis took little solace after the Rams'
season came to a crushing conclusion.

"It doesn't really take the place of losing a big football game," he said.
"It's not the way you want it to end."

Bruce had been bothered by a hip injury late in the regular season, and he
suffered what originally was described as a groin pull last weekend in the
Rams' 27-20 first-round victory in Seattle. Coach Mike Martz later described it
as a stomach-muscle problem.

Bruce declined to speak with reporters after Saturday night's defeat. But
according to a Rams official, Bruce tested the injury a couple of hours before
kickoff at the Georgia Dome and deemed it too sore to play.

Curtis acknowledged that sliding into Bruce's spot carried stress.

"Oh, yeah, it's a lot of pressure," Curtis said. "Obviously, you never want
Isaac out of a game; it hurts. I just tried to go in and be a decent
replacement for him."

With Curtis lining up opposite Torry Holt with the first unit, Shaun McDonald
and Dane Looker moved into the Nos. 3 and 4 wideout slots. McDonald had four
catches for 37 yards, and Looker, who hadn't seen much action other than on
special teams, latched onto three passes for 38 yards. Holt had two catches for
42 yards.

"It is nice to get back in the lineup and catch a couple of balls," Looker
said. "But it's awful when you lose. ... All week in practice we knew that
Isaac was questionable; he didn't take many reps in practice. You know
something's really wrong with him when he doesn't play, because he's as
competitive a guy as I've ever seen and he's as tough a football player as I've
ever seen."

While emphasizing that losing Bruce was a blow, Bulger said: "But that's the
nature of the beast. It happens, and you have to move on from it."

Bruce, an 11-year veteran, had missed just one game in six years before landing
on the inactive list Saturday. He was second to Holt during the regular season
in catches (89) and yards (1,292).

Curtis, a third-round draft pick out of Utah State in 2003, was coming off the
best two games of his career. He had six receptions for 99 yards in a 32-29
overtime win over the New York Jets in the final regular-season game, then
followed with a six-catch, 108-yard outing against the Seahawks. He was named
the team's offensive player of the week.

Curtis finished the regular season with 37 receptions for 421 yards and two
touchdowns.

"He deserves to be a starter," Martz said Saturday night. "He's a good player,
and I'm excited to see what he'll do in the future."

[Shadesofgrey]

I'm real excited about Curtis and his development. He didn't miss a beat filling in for Bruce. Next year it'll be fun to watch Holt, Bruce, and Curtis tear it up. The 3rd season is usually the breakout season for Wr's..I have no doubts that Curtis will establish himself as one of the better Wr's in the league.

[Nick]

Between Curtis and McDonald, I think we have one of the strongest receiving cores in the league. Both have looked sharp this season catching the ball when called upon.

[moklerman]

Curtis definitely stepped it up but at what cost? Tory (I dissapear during big games) Holt only had two catches and the third receiver, Shaun (I've been studying Seattle wr's) McDonald didn't do much at all. Granted, Holt had a td so it wasn't his usual disappearing act but the wr corps, other than Curtis, was a non-factor. For a team built on it's wr's that's not a good thing. Especially when you consider that the special teams have been sacrificed to add depth to the wr's, it's really unacceptable. The TE's have been written out of the offense unless the moon is a bright shade of blue, Jackson hasn't really proven himself as a threat out of the backfield and Marshall's always on the bench. Just how multi-faceted is the offense when the wr's are basically the only option in the passing game?