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Compiled by Jeff Gordon
STLtoday.com Sports
Monday, Nov. 15 2004
Rams coach Mike Martz was in a predictably good mood the day after his team
handled the Seattle Seahawks 23-12.
“We’re very pleased with the effort of this football team, the intensity we
were able to keep throughout the game,” Martz said. “It didn’t wane at any
time. Even with some of the big plays they were able to hit on our defense, we
were able to run to the ball.
“We had some mistakes in the running game. We had some guys out of place and
make a mental error, which resulted in some big plays. They made some plays,
obviously, they are a good football team. They are going to do that.
“A couple of real big indications would be the red zone stops, to get down in
that situation and not let them in and hold them out from scoring touchdowns
speaks volumes about the resolve and the tenacity.
“We didn’t do everything right, there is no question about that. There is a lot
to fix and continue to get better that. As long as you play with that type of
attitude and enthusiasm, you can accomplish an awful lot.”
Here were some other highlights of the news conference:
On the play of the offensive line:
“We had to shake things up there in the fourth quarter. For Grant (Williams) to
go to left tackle, (Chris Dishman) has got a knee situation and Tommy (Nutten)
goes in and plays very well. It has taken him some time to get his weight and
his strength back up, but at this point he’s back up to where he was when he
left, weight-wise and strength-wise. I’m very confident about his ability to
start at left guard.
“Blaine Saipaia came in and did a terrific job. There is a lot to like about
(Saipaia). Coming out of college, we had such a high grade on him. We kind of
tracked him a little bit. We were able to get ahold of him, bring him in here.
As we went through practice, it became very evident he has excellent feet. He
has got terrific punch. He’s a strong guy, learns quickly, is a quick study on
a lot of the stuff. Very physical player. When we moved him to right tackle, he
was a fish out of water. He didn’t take to the pass rush very well. But over
time, he’s done a great job on that.
"He has enough confidence to play and not be stressed out. He is very poised. I
wasn’t sure he would play as well as he did. People say he’s too short at I
guess 6-3 or whatever, I don’t understand that. I don’t know. If you block
them, that’s good enough.
“I felt like the New England game was an exception to what this group really
is. I thought they responded very well. Anytime you rush for 200 yards against
anybody, that is a terrific outing. It really limited them to no sacks.”
On the special teams:
“There are some things we have to spend time on. The kickoff coverage is
subpar, to say the least.”
On the play of the secondary:
“The corners were just absolutely exceptional. Jerametrius Butler had seven
tackles, an interception and four passes broken up. For a corner to break up
four passes and have a pick is a remarkable day, by anybody’s standards.
Jerametrius has quietly had this kind of year throughout the season. I’m very,
very pleased with him.”
On the play of running back Marshall Faulk:
“He made big plays when we had to have a big play. That’s what you do when you’
re a guy of Marshall’s stature. At the end of the game, we have to come down
with a big run. We have a third-and-one and he’s stopped 2 ½ yards short of
getting the first down. I don’t know how, looking at the tape, how we got it.
Just by sheer desire and fortitude he got the first down for us at a very
critical time of the game. He played as well as he’s played since he’s been
here.”
On the play of quarterback Marc Bulger:
“He managed the game. Terrific throws, very accurate throws. The things that
stand out, in my mind, are the ones that he throws away instead of taking a
sack or trying to make a throw he shouldn’t make. Tucking the ball and running
with it, allowing us to punt or kick a field goal. Those are things that a
mature quarterback (does), where he doesn’t put the win in jeopardy. He’s a
very mature quarterback at this point, really a terrific leader for this
football team.
“Some of the things he’s done the past few weeks in terms of the check downs,
just the awareness of managing the game and not trying to make a throw he
shouldn’t make . . . I’m very pleased with where he is right now.”
On going right after the Seahawks with 13 straight passes to open the game:
“That’s Ram football. That’s what we’re used to doing. We got away from it a
little bit. You just have to do whatever works. There is a cause and effect for
everything you do in the game. If you’re successful doing it, obviously you
force them into some sort of change and then you kind of move on. We can come
out throwing 13 times and go three for 13, too.
“They were very, very charged for this game. We’ve got real good skill people.
We’re really beginning to grow on offense. The quarterback right now is playing
as well as anybody I’ve ever been around. The wide receivers are still
learning, those young receivers. The offensive line is getting its feet back on
the ground. In the past, I’ve worried about some things. That’s aside, that’s
gone now.
“We can let it all hang out, so to speak. I’m excited and anxious about playing
next week because of where we are right now offensively.”
On whether he is worried that Orlando Pace could be suspended for bumping an
official:
“I couldn’t imagine that happening. It was clearly unintentional. Orlando didn’
t do anything wrong. He got pushed around there and just kind of fell into the
official. I don’t think he knew what he was grabbing, to be honest with you.
When you see it on tape, it’s pretty innocent, actually.”
On the play of linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa:
“We’ve rewarded him, I have, he is our sixth captain for the rest of the year.
We always have that sixth captain, change it every week -– no, he’s doing it
for the rest of the year. He is a very young player that has quietly taken over
a leadership role on this football team.”
On the need to keep the intensity up:
“What you see is what you’ve coached. If their attitude isn’t what it should
be, maybe you’re not coaching it well enough. If they aren’t physical, maybe
you’re not coaching physical well enough. That’s where you have to start. It
starts with me. Looking back, our approach last week was not one of retribution
or anger with the players. We’re all responsible for any shortcomings. The
problem was, we needed to get back to playing basic football. The players
understood that and responded to that very well.
“We need to continue to do that. It’s not fixed. We’re just now headed in the
right direction again. We have a lot of work to do and the players understand
that.”
STLtoday.com Sports
Monday, Nov. 15 2004
Rams coach Mike Martz was in a predictably good mood the day after his team
handled the Seattle Seahawks 23-12.
“We’re very pleased with the effort of this football team, the intensity we
were able to keep throughout the game,” Martz said. “It didn’t wane at any
time. Even with some of the big plays they were able to hit on our defense, we
were able to run to the ball.
“We had some mistakes in the running game. We had some guys out of place and
make a mental error, which resulted in some big plays. They made some plays,
obviously, they are a good football team. They are going to do that.
“A couple of real big indications would be the red zone stops, to get down in
that situation and not let them in and hold them out from scoring touchdowns
speaks volumes about the resolve and the tenacity.
“We didn’t do everything right, there is no question about that. There is a lot
to fix and continue to get better that. As long as you play with that type of
attitude and enthusiasm, you can accomplish an awful lot.”
Here were some other highlights of the news conference:
On the play of the offensive line:
“We had to shake things up there in the fourth quarter. For Grant (Williams) to
go to left tackle, (Chris Dishman) has got a knee situation and Tommy (Nutten)
goes in and plays very well. It has taken him some time to get his weight and
his strength back up, but at this point he’s back up to where he was when he
left, weight-wise and strength-wise. I’m very confident about his ability to
start at left guard.
“Blaine Saipaia came in and did a terrific job. There is a lot to like about
(Saipaia). Coming out of college, we had such a high grade on him. We kind of
tracked him a little bit. We were able to get ahold of him, bring him in here.
As we went through practice, it became very evident he has excellent feet. He
has got terrific punch. He’s a strong guy, learns quickly, is a quick study on
a lot of the stuff. Very physical player. When we moved him to right tackle, he
was a fish out of water. He didn’t take to the pass rush very well. But over
time, he’s done a great job on that.
"He has enough confidence to play and not be stressed out. He is very poised. I
wasn’t sure he would play as well as he did. People say he’s too short at I
guess 6-3 or whatever, I don’t understand that. I don’t know. If you block
them, that’s good enough.
“I felt like the New England game was an exception to what this group really
is. I thought they responded very well. Anytime you rush for 200 yards against
anybody, that is a terrific outing. It really limited them to no sacks.”
On the special teams:
“There are some things we have to spend time on. The kickoff coverage is
subpar, to say the least.”
On the play of the secondary:
“The corners were just absolutely exceptional. Jerametrius Butler had seven
tackles, an interception and four passes broken up. For a corner to break up
four passes and have a pick is a remarkable day, by anybody’s standards.
Jerametrius has quietly had this kind of year throughout the season. I’m very,
very pleased with him.”
On the play of running back Marshall Faulk:
“He made big plays when we had to have a big play. That’s what you do when you’
re a guy of Marshall’s stature. At the end of the game, we have to come down
with a big run. We have a third-and-one and he’s stopped 2 ½ yards short of
getting the first down. I don’t know how, looking at the tape, how we got it.
Just by sheer desire and fortitude he got the first down for us at a very
critical time of the game. He played as well as he’s played since he’s been
here.”
On the play of quarterback Marc Bulger:
“He managed the game. Terrific throws, very accurate throws. The things that
stand out, in my mind, are the ones that he throws away instead of taking a
sack or trying to make a throw he shouldn’t make. Tucking the ball and running
with it, allowing us to punt or kick a field goal. Those are things that a
mature quarterback (does), where he doesn’t put the win in jeopardy. He’s a
very mature quarterback at this point, really a terrific leader for this
football team.
“Some of the things he’s done the past few weeks in terms of the check downs,
just the awareness of managing the game and not trying to make a throw he
shouldn’t make . . . I’m very pleased with where he is right now.”
On going right after the Seahawks with 13 straight passes to open the game:
“That’s Ram football. That’s what we’re used to doing. We got away from it a
little bit. You just have to do whatever works. There is a cause and effect for
everything you do in the game. If you’re successful doing it, obviously you
force them into some sort of change and then you kind of move on. We can come
out throwing 13 times and go three for 13, too.
“They were very, very charged for this game. We’ve got real good skill people.
We’re really beginning to grow on offense. The quarterback right now is playing
as well as anybody I’ve ever been around. The wide receivers are still
learning, those young receivers. The offensive line is getting its feet back on
the ground. In the past, I’ve worried about some things. That’s aside, that’s
gone now.
“We can let it all hang out, so to speak. I’m excited and anxious about playing
next week because of where we are right now offensively.”
On whether he is worried that Orlando Pace could be suspended for bumping an
official:
“I couldn’t imagine that happening. It was clearly unintentional. Orlando didn’
t do anything wrong. He got pushed around there and just kind of fell into the
official. I don’t think he knew what he was grabbing, to be honest with you.
When you see it on tape, it’s pretty innocent, actually.”
On the play of linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa:
“We’ve rewarded him, I have, he is our sixth captain for the rest of the year.
We always have that sixth captain, change it every week -– no, he’s doing it
for the rest of the year. He is a very young player that has quietly taken over
a leadership role on this football team.”
On the need to keep the intensity up:
“What you see is what you’ve coached. If their attitude isn’t what it should
be, maybe you’re not coaching it well enough. If they aren’t physical, maybe
you’re not coaching physical well enough. That’s where you have to start. It
starts with me. Looking back, our approach last week was not one of retribution
or anger with the players. We’re all responsible for any shortcomings. The
problem was, we needed to get back to playing basic football. The players
understood that and responded to that very well.
“We need to continue to do that. It’s not fixed. We’re just now headed in the
right direction again. We have a lot of work to do and the players understand
that.”
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