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"It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

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  • #1

    "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

    "I was a half-second away from letting the ball go," Bulger said. "It could have been a touchdown the other way."


    Is Bulger saying he had someone wide open that could have gone the distance from the end zone? I sure would like to know what he saw.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

    From an interview after the game, Bulger said they had called a deep route for Bruce from the coverage he was getting. Bruce was open and Bulger was waiting for the play to fully develop, before launching a sure big play to the veteran wideout. Only to have Pace wiff on a block and the rest is history. Martz going for the jugular from his own endzone. Who says that he's gone conservative with his play calling ???

    Maineram :ramlogo:

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    • #3
      Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

      Originally posted by maineram
      sMartz going for the jugular from his own endzone. Who says that he's gone conservative with his play calling ???
      Yes, it would have been exciting to see a 99 yard bomb. But to call a slow-developing play just seconds after a safety was barely averted, when MB will have little to no pocket to step up in to ... well you're right that is just another Martzian call.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

        As maine said, there was a route that was longer in development but appeared to be open, and Marc was looking for it. Not a great play call by Martz; a quick slant or out probably would have had better results. Although if Pace holds off his defender for half a second more, you're looking at what sounds like a 99-yard TD.

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        • #5
          Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

          Bulger said, "Coulda, shoulda, woulda..."
          "If only,..."

          And to quote that brilliant secret agent, "Missed it by that much."

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

            All you had to do is look at Bulger's words to see that it wasn't a Martz play call, but an attempt by Bulger to take advantage of favorable coverage...I often wonder how well some of you understand the game of football???

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            • #7
              "It could have been a touchdown the other way, couldn't it?"

              Originally posted by Shadesofgrey
              ...I often wonder how well some of you understand the game of football???
              Me too. I share your bemusement. Remind me to ask myself that some time.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                weird, i always thought martz called the plays!

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                • #9
                  Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                  Originally posted by Shadesofgrey
                  All you had to do is look at Bulger's words to see that it wasn't a Martz play call, but an attempt by Bulger to take advantage of favorable coverage...I often wonder how well some of you understand the game of football???
                  It wasn't a Martz play call? Then who exactly called it? Certainly not Bulger himself, because we know Martz isn't keen on having his QB imitate Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage pre-snap. Or are you suggesting it was a pre-snap hot route or option route by Bruce?

                  I don't think there's any question that Marc was trying to take advantage of favorable coverage, but if you have information showing that Martz didn't call this play, I'd like to see it. Considering the stranglehold Martz has over the offensive playcalling, it's hard for me to believe he didn't select this play, and we know that Rams QBs don't change the play at the line often at all.
                  Last edited by Nick; -09-23-2004, 11:29 AM.

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                  • #10
                    Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                    I agree with the sentiment that it was a bad play call by Martz/coaches. Bulger's comments appear to be an attempt to cover for him/them more than anything. Which isn't bad, he's just trying to put a positive spin on things. Martz just has a way of calling plays that blow up in his face. Timing is everything in this league.

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                    • #11
                      Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                      Originally posted by adarian_too
                      Yes, it would have been exciting to see a 99 yard bomb. But to call a slow-developing play just seconds after a safety was barely averted, when MB will have little to no pocket to step up in to ... well you're right that is just another Martzian call.
                      Ahh, C'mon, this was a classic Martz call when the Rams are behind on the scoreboard. Did you not complain about the call at the end of regulation during the carolina playoff game last season? No Guts No Glory......or something to that effect. Please excuse my memory if this indeed was not you.

                      Seems to me I remember you saying something about being a bit of a gambler.

                      I must ask:

                      Is it the timing of the gambling that you don't like or the failed execution, on the part of Pace, while gambling?



                      :ramlogo:
                      Curly ~ Horns

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                      • #12
                        Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                        Originally posted by Ferter
                        I must ask:

                        Is it the timing of the gambling that you don't like ...
                        You shouldn't have to. Of course it was the timing of the bet. Just having blown pass protection a play earlier wouldn't inspire me into believing pass protection execution would be much improved the very next play ... I would align with Seiler on this one and have tried a quick slant to stifle the MO ... if he gets about 10 maybe I go with a fly ... even it is anticipated on 3rd and intercepted, its got to be a better result than a Landeada punt ...

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                        • #13
                          Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                          hmmm, so 3rd down from our 10 and bugler throws a pick and you think that would be alright?

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: "It could have been a touchdown the other way." Bulger

                            Originally posted by adarian_too
                            You shouldn't have to. Of course it was the timing of the bet. Just having blown pass protection a play earlier wouldn't inspire me into believing pass protection execution would be much improved the very next play
                            So, you are saying never pass on consecutive downs if the previous attempt netted zero execution with pass protection.

                            Since gambling is out of the equation, should we insert faith, or just go with hindsight?

                            Really, you must take a stand on something, because we all know hindsight is worthless.


                            :confused:
                            Curly ~ Horns

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              It could have been.

                              Originally posted by tanus
                              hmmm, so 3rd down from our 10 and bugler throws a pick and you think that would be alright?
                              Let's not dissect all the permutations, but yes ... if the net result is better field position for the D to start from as a result of the interception as opposed to the punt.

                              Comment

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                              • RamWraith
                                Bulger finding ways to hit his mark
                                by RamWraith
                                Posted on Fri, Oct. 22, 2004

                                BY STEVE KORTE
                                [email protected]

                                ST. LOUIS - The bomb is back in the St. Louis Rams' offense.

                                Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, often criticized over the past year for his inability to connect with his receivers on the long pass, has thrown eight passes of 30 or more yards in six games this season.

                                He threw only two passes of 30 or more yards in the final five games of the 2003 season, including the Rams' overtime playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers.

                                "For a while, he wasn't throwing it as well," Rams coach Mike Martz said of Bulger being able to go deep. "I think he is very confident right now about throwing the deep ball, very confident. He started out that way, and then he got to the point where -- and this is Coach Martz's interpretation of what had happened, I'm sure not Marc's -- he was a little tentative with the deep ball.

                                "You get a guy running down the field, and he didn't want to miss him. He's very confident right now, and he's putting that ball right where he wants to."

                                Bulger has thrown three passes of 40 or more yards over the last two games after throwing only six passes of 40 or more yards all of last season. He had a 52-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald in overtime in a 33-27 win over the Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago and a 52-yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt in a 28-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

                                "I haven't done anything different, but we're hitting them, and that's all that matters," Bulger said. "So I'll keep winging it."

                                Bulger said that completing a deep pass is actually much more difficult than just winging it.

                                "People think throwing the deep ball is just taking five steps and throwing it 50 yards down the field, but it's not that easy," Bulger said. "I'm throwing it way before they cut, and it's all depending on the coverage. It's a different landing point every time."

                                Bulger said the Rams also have several different kinds of deep balls in their playbook that call for him to throw the ball at different trajectories.

                                Martz said Bulger was one of the most accurate deep passers he'd seen when the former West Virginia standout first stepped into a starting role during the 2002 season.

                                "Initially, his first year in '02, he was very good on the deep ball," Martz said. "He was like Trent Green in that respect, and I thought Trent was as good as there was throwing the deep ball. He was like that."

                                Martz said Bulger's struggles with the deep pass last season prompted extra attention on that aspect of his game during training camp.

                                "Throughout camp and the preseason there were days where that is what we did," Martz said. "We took part of our...
                                -10-22-2004, 02:05 PM
                              • Guest's Avatar
                                Bulger Control
                                by Guest
                                The announcers made the comment at the start of the game that it was the first time since 99 that a Rams QB had gone 3 straight games without an INT. Bulger had no INT's today which made it 4 straight. IMO this has really helped them win those 3 games while the offense has been adjusting to the new style. IMO Linehan did great at the end by running time off the clock calling running plays and then on third down throwing to Bruce for the TD. They are not near as flashy as they used to be but they protect the ball much better then the old style and we play according to the clock when we need to. I like the fact that Bulger has adjusted to minimizing turnovers. He struggled at the begining with his accuracy. But he came on strong today throwing for 328 yards 3 TDs and 0 INTs. Good game Marc.

                                -10-01-2006, 07:04 PM
                              • RamWraith
                                This season, Martz keeps ball in Bulger's hot hand
                                by RamWraith
                                By Bernie Miklasz
                                Of the Post-Dispatch
                                Saturday, Jan. 08 2005

                                SEATTLE - In last year's NFL playoffs, Marc Bulger threw three interceptions in
                                a bitterly disappointing, and shocking, home loss to Carolina. Bulger was so
                                unreliable, the shakiness caused a radical transformation in Mike Martz,
                                turning him into an arch-conservative for the first time in his coaching
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                                With a chance to win at the end of the fourth quarter by going for a touchdown,
                                Martz removed the ball, and the trust, and the game, from Bulger's grip. Martz
                                uncharacteristically settled for a field goal. But after Bulger's final
                                interception, the Rams lost in overtime.

                                Fast forward to Saturday.

                                The day Marc Bulger made up for all that went wrong in his initial venture into
                                the NFL playoffs, one year ago. The day that Bulger made the bad memories, the
                                doubts, and the ghost of a departed QB superstar all disappear in the course of
                                two late drives that enhanced his reputation.

                                On this day, with the Rams trailing by three in the fourth quarter, Bulger
                                picked this precise time and situation to take a firm step in his development
                                as an NFL quarterback. Bulger air-lifted the Rams out of trouble, pulled them
                                out of a crisis, and calmly directed a stirring 27-20 comeback victory over the
                                Seattle Seahawks.

                                On this day, there would be no fear, no worry, no pulling in the horns to
                                settle for field goals. On the final two possessions, Bulger got the Rams the
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                                forward in the NFC playoffs. To get those 10 points that kept the Rams going,
                                Bulger completed five of seven passes for 80 yards including the game-winning
                                17-yard touchdown on a beautiful play-action pass to tight end Cam Cleeland.
                                Bulger had to make the perfect throw, drilling it into a narrow opening just
                                before the arrival of a Seattle safety. Bulger was ice. He got the ball in
                                there, right into Cleeland's mitt, just a nano-second ahead of the defender's
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                                On those final two drives, Bulger was money.

                                "Marc was throwing DIMES to people," wideout Kevin Curtis said.

                                Yes, 313 yards worth of dimes.

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                                -01-09-2005, 05:09 AM
                              • r8rh8rmike
                                Bernie: Time Right To Let Beat-Up Bulger Go?
                                by r8rh8rmike
                                Time right to let beat-up Bulger go?

                                Sports Columnist Bernie Miklasz
                                ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
                                11/26/2009

                                When Marc Bulger took over as starting quarterback for the Rams, life was good. Bulger was able to carry on a winning tradition for a while. He led the remnants of the "Greatest Show on Turf" to a 12-4 record in 2003, and appeared to be a legitimate successor to a beaten-down Kurt Warner.

                                In perhaps his finest singular highlight, Bulger threw a beautiful, precise pass to tight end Cam Cleeland for the winning touchdown to lead the Rams to a thrilling victory at Seattle in the 2004 NFC wild-card game. Bulger played well in 2006 and signed a six-year, $65 million contract extension in the summer of '07. The job had its rewards, that's for sure.

                                But all along, Bulger was in a precarious situation. The franchise was about to blow up, and Bulger happened to be the quarterback standing near the tripwire. He wasn't going to be able to survive the carnage, not without paying a severe price.

                                When Bulger slowly limped off the field at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday, he carried the weight of another Rams loss. The comeback stalled; Arizona knocked out Bulger and the Rams 21-13. Bulger was in pain ... again. The most serious of the injuries, a broken shin bone, was discovered Monday in an MRI exam.

                                We may have seen the last of Bulger in a Rams uniform. He'll be sidelined for three to six weeks. The Rams (1-9) have only six games remaining, and it would be crazy to play him and expose him to more punishment.

                                I've been critical of Bulger the last two-plus seasons. The quality of his performance declined rapidly since the end of the 2006 season. But I'm not without empathy. Much of Bulger's downfall can be explained by the circumstances surrounding him.

                                I think I came up with the term "Battered Quarterback Syndrome" and applied it to Bulger. A quarterback can absorb only so many body slams, cracks to the ribs and blows to the head before he loses effectiveness.

                                Bulger became the favorite rag doll of NFL pass rushers. He's been sacked 242 times since the start of the 2003 season, the most among NFL quarterbacks. And that doesn't include the hundreds of times he got drilled while releasing throws.

                                If this is it for Bulger, then what is his legacy?

                                A sad one.

                                With excessive amounts of pain, frustration and losing.

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                                -11-25-2009, 10:55 PM
                              • Nick
                                Victory is beautiful to Bulger, even with flaws
                                by Nick
                                Victory is beautiful to Bulger, even with flaws
                                By Bill Coats
                                Of the Post-Dispatch
                                09/12/2004

                                Rams rookie running back Steven Jackson called Sunday's 17-10 victory over Arizona "an ugly win." Quarterback Marc Bulger was quick to correct the youngster.

                                "No such thing," said Bulger, starting his fourth NFL season. "Having (the Cardinals) come in here and play that hard, it's nice to come out with a win."

                                Perhaps Bulger was conjuring year-old memories, when the Rams and their No. 1 quarterback then, Kurt Warner, were pounded 23-13 in a season-opening loss at Giants Stadium.

                                Bulger replaced Warner, his close friend, as the starter the next week and guided the Rams to 12 wins in the next 15 games. Although Bulger expressed hope that Warner would be back this season, Warner was released in June and signed by the Giants. So Bulger made his first regular-season start Sunday without the familiar No. 13 on the sideline at the Edward Jones Dome.

                                "We've moved on," Bulger said. "We know Kurt's not going to be here. You have to play with what you have."

                                Bulger put up respectable numbers, completing 23 of 34 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown. But his decision-making was questionable at times. He launched a badly misguided pass that was intercepted at the Arizona 2-yard line. Another unsightly interception was returned by Cardinals linebacker James Darling 95 yards to the end zone, but a defensive holding penalty nullified the play.

                                Bulger was in anguish before he spied the yellow flag on the carpet.

                                "I think there were probably three or four seconds when I thought ... you don't want to know what I was thinking," he said, laughing.

                                The Rams scored two plays later on an 8-yard toss from Bulger to diving wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who rolled across the goal line. That made it 17-10 just 33 seconds into the fourth quarter.

                                Bulger finished with a solid quarterback rating of 89.3, but he was disturbed that the Rams' first three drives ended with turnovers - two fumbles and an interception - and because the offense could muster only a single touchdown.

                                "I think it'd be more frustrating, though, if we couldn't get outside of our 30-yard line or something and we're just not moving the ball," Bulger said. "We knew if we just kept going at it, the ball is going down the field and eventually we're going to get in the end zone and score some points."

                                So, it might not have been a masterpiece, Bulger conceded, but it added up to a successful opening day.

                                "I played good at times, bad at times. But winning is the only thing that matters," he said. "I'm not going to ever sit here and say I don't have room for improvement. As long as we win, that's all I care...
                                -09-12-2004, 09:54 PM
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