Martz remembers Mora's mouth ---- FIGHT FIGHT
Martz remembers Mora's mouth
BY JEFF GORDON
Post-Dispatch Online Sports Columnist
Thursday, Sep. 16 2004
Last season, San Francisco ***** defensive coordinator Jim Mora got fired up
about the progress of his fledgling defensive unit in the Bay Area.
The Niners blitzed the Rams silly while rolling to a 30-10 victory last Nov. 2.
"We're faster than the Rams," Mora said. "Our defense didn't used to be faster,
and now it is. That might sound ****y, but it's true. I mean no disrespect to
them. I love playing against those guys, but as a team, we have more team speed
now."
That game -- and that comment -- got Mike Martz's competitive juices flowing.
The Rams and ***** have enjoyed a tremendous rivalry over the years -- and
Martz got to match wits against Mora during recent seasons.
Now Mora is head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, so some of that personal rivalry
shifts over to Sunday's game. Post-Dispatch scribe Jim Thomas asked Mora about
that "faster" comment during a conference call Wednesday.
"Don't bring that one up," Mora said with a laugh. "I saw that in the paper
this morning and I said. 'Ah, I know they are going to ask me about that one.'
I don't think they need that quote out of me to get motivated."
Probably not, but Martz vs. Mora adds some juice to this match-up. Mad Mike is
one of the NFL's most innovative minds and Mora is one of the league's
brightest young coaches.
Just as Martz maintains a special interest in the Rams' offense, Mora has put
his own stamp on the Falcons defense. Mad Mike will throw lots of formations,
personnel packages and motion at Atlanta and the Falcons will reciprocate with
insidious zone blitzes on passing downs.
The result will be fun viewing for football fans who enjoy breaking down the
strategic Xs and Os. You can count on both men cooking up something special for
this game.
"He does a good job with the pressure, always has," Martz said of Mora. "He
understands what we do, what we are attempting to do."
Mora's take on the Rams?
"Any time you pressure the Rams, you're gambling -- because they make you pay
for it," Mora said. "If you're going to pressure them, it's going to have to
be well-designed so that you don't expose coverage flaws."
For the record, Martz tried to play down the chess match against his
counterpart on the Falcons sideline.
"There is probably too much attention to that part of it," Martz said. "I think
there is a lot less of that than you realize. It's more guys just playing, the
type of people that changes each year that you have on the roster, both sides
of the ball. That changes what you are able to do, whether to run it or throw
it, whatever it is, blitz or play man, those types of things. Each year on your
roster, you make that sort of adjustment.
"It's more about you than it is about them."
Uh, nice try Mike. But make no mistake -- this match-up will have plenty to do
with coaching. Both men strive to stay on the tactical forefront and both men
crave a challenge.
"It's fun to play against those guys because they are so good and I just
respect their style," Mora said, warming to the topic at hand. "The thing I
like Mike Martz the best is he is always going for it. The mentality of the
team is to go for it, let's just go, no matter what, just go. That's why they
are able to go in a game like Sunday and survive three turnovers. Most teams
couldn't do that."
It's a shame the Rams and Falcons are no longer in the same division. This
match-up had a chance to be something special like, like the Martz-Jim Haslett
battles with then Rams and Saints smacked heads.
Great coaching match-ups, in my mind, are just as exciting as great personnel
match-ups. And Martz vs. Mora should offer fireworks aplenty.
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