By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Saturday, Aug. 18 2007
No matter what time of year, and no matter who's in the backfield, San Diego
knows how to run the football. The Rams know this as well as anybody, even
though they don't even play in the same conference as the Chargers.
Two days before Halloween last season, LaDainian Tomlinson played his own
version of trick or treat against the Rams, rushing for 183 yards and two
touchdowns in a 38-24 Chargers romp. All told, San Diego rushed for 216 yards
that day, which tied for the 11th-highest rushing total for a Rams opponent
since the move to St. Louis in 1995.
Two years ago in the exhibition season, there was more of the same. Less than
four minutes into the contest, Tomlinson raced 55 yards for a touchdown on his
first — and only — carry of the game. Tomlinson headed for the Gatorade cooler
after that sprint; he was done for the day. But the Chargers didn't stop
running all over the Rams until they had amassed 215 yards in a 36-21 San Diego
victory.
So with the Chargers visiting the Edward Jones Dome tonight for a 7 o'clock
exhibition game, the Rams know exactly what to expect. Norv Turner has replaced
Marty Schottenheimer as head coach, but it's still the same old Chargers.
Even without Tomlinson in the lineup — apparently, the mega-back doesn't do
preseason games anymore — the Rams are bracing for one of the league's most
formidable running attacks.
"It's a big challenge," coach Scott Linehan said Thursday after the Rams' final
full-scale practice of the week. "We just talked about that as a team with our
defense — how (the Chargers) are going to bring in a very potent run offense.
It'd be nice to be able to go out and execute our defense against it."
Tomlinson's understudy, speedy Michael Turner, probably could start — and star
— for half the teams in the NFL. So preseason or not, tonight's game will be a
big test for a St. Louis defense that finished 31st against the run last season.
As one Rams assistant coach put it earlier in the week, "This will be a
benchmark game for us. They do what a lot of people say we can't stop."
That is, run the ball.
"We know whoever's in the backfield, that it's going to be a challenge to slow
them down or stop them," Linehan said.
Linehan was pleased with the run defense last week, when Minnesota running
backs gained only 43 yards on 18 carries in the Rams' exhibition opener, a
13-10 St. Louis victory.
"I think the first play of the game was my favorite play with Corey (Chavous),"
Linehan said.
On Minnesota's first play from scrimmage, Chavous dropped Chester Taylor — a
1,200-yard rusher last year — for a four-yard loss.
"It just seemed right there, that that was kind of the attitude or statement we
want to make," Linehan said. "We know it's not always going to be that way.
Every once in a while a guy is going to get loose. But if we can get the guy
down, we have a lot better chance. Trying to eliminate the big runs is our
goal."
Last October in San Diego, Tomlinson's rushing day included carries of 38 and
51 yards. For the season, Rams opponents had 33 rushing attempts that gained at
least 15 yards. Preseason or not, the Rams want to show the Chargers that this
is a new season and a new Rams defense.
"We're going to put our game out there and say, 'Hey, last year you kind of got
us on our heels a little bit,'" linebacker
Will Witherspoon said. "But now it's
time for us to come back out and show them who we really are."
Linear Mode
