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Are the Rams sore losers?
Posted: Tuesday November 30, 1999 01:46 PM
With a victory Sunday, the Rams can clinch their first NFC West title in 14 years. But has all this winning made the Rams sore losers? After back-to-back road losses to the Titans and the Lions, in which the Rams were flagged for 14 false starts, St. Louis complained to the league office about piped-in crowd noise. Coach Dick Vermeil suggested fining the teams one million dollars and tackle Orlando Pace went so far as to call the fake crowd noise, "flat out cheating." The Rams seems to feel that fake crowd noise is the only thing standing between them and a perfect season -- and that's just flat out ridiculous. Ravens' attitude needs reversingWith the Ravens at 4-7 coach Brian Billick's toughest challenge might be reversing his team's sorry attitude. One offensive starter told me the worst moment in franchise history was the day after the stock market fluctuated nearly 300 points in one trading session, in October '98. Several players were heavily invested in Wall Street and after watching their portfolios crumble, could barely drag themselves out onto the practice field. McNabb starting to fly highAfter a rough start, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is finally playing like a No. 1 draft pick. On Sunday, McNabb accounted for 243 of the Eagles' 299 yards of offense. But beyond the numbers, several coaches tell me they are more pleased with the way McNabb leads the team. "Our initial impression has been, yes, this guy fits in at this level, he belongs out there," offensive coordinator Rod Dowhower told me. And as far as McNabb throwing the ball so hard receivers can't catch it, Dowhower says the wideouts will just have to work with a ball machine and "turn that thing way up." Bucs continue to win accoladesThe Bucs defense just continues to rack up accolades this season. On Sunday Tampa Bay forced five interceptions and two fumbles and sacked Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna three times. On five of the Seahawks' final 11 drives, the Bucs forced them off the field after just four downs. And Sunday was the fourth time this season that Tampa Bay gave up only a field goal. "This is the way I envisioned us playing," said coach Tony Dungy. Flozell, the high jumperAnd finally, in early November, veteran Dallas offensive lineman Flozell Adams watched a field goal blocking drill and then told special teams coaches, "Hey, I can do that." Boy, was he right. Since the 6'7", 330-pound Adams was inserted into the middle of the field goal defense unit, he has tied a franchise record with two blocked three-pointers, including one against the Dolphins on Thanksgiving. Sports Illustrated staff writer David Fleming covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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