St. Louis Sports Online

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Mike Huss "The Fuss According to Huss" St. Louis Sports Online lead columnist and host of "Sportstalk" on WGNU AM-920 note new time: (7:00-8:00 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays) E-mail Mike at: hussonwgnu@aol.com

During the forgettable decade of the1970's, Country Music singer Jerry Reed was best known as the wise-cracking sidekick to Burt Reynolds in the legendary Smokey and the Bandit movies. Early in that decade of bad music, Reed released a single that did hit the top forty charts.

That song was entitled: "When you're hot, you're hot". It was a snappy little tune which sent the message that if things are going your way, the breaks will follow you along.

A generation later, this tune may be the appropriate theme song for the 1999 St. Louis Rams. Confused? Let us review the prior weeks of this football season:

September 26, 1999-Game 2: The Rams receive word that they will not see All Pro Running Back Jamal Anderson in their upcoming game with the Atlanta Falcons.

October 10,1999-Game 4: The Rams are notified that future Hall of Fame Quarterback Steve Young will not be in the line-up for their annual St. Louis showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.

November 21,1999-Game 10: In San Francisco, with seconds remaining in the first half and no timeouts, Quarterback Kurt Warner maneuvers his team into field goal position. There is roughly 20 seconds remaining when a quick pass over the middle is completed, inside the 49er red zone. The clock is running while the Rams offensive unit rushed to line up. Warner quickly spikes the ball stopping the clock with only one second remaining in the first half. Jeff Wilkins would then convert a field goal at the gun.

November 28, 1999-Game 11: The Rams are told New Orleans will not have their entire 1999 college draft (Ricky Williams) in the line-up in their game at the TWA Dome.

November 28, 1999-Trailing by three points, the Saints take the second half kickoff and hold the ball for over seven and one half minutes. Once in field goal range, New Orleans place kicker Doug Brien trots on the field for the tying score. Brien was 4 for 4 in field goal attempts in the first half. The result: Brien's tying kick hit the upright.

Also, here in Week 13, the only major injury for the Rams is Trent Green.

"When you're hot, you're hot". Right now, the Rams are just that. When you think about it, that is very fortunate thing!

Last Sunday's game at the Dome showed that the Rams are vulnerable. Despite scoring a touchdown in the game's first 100 seconds, our Blue and Gold heroes appeared stifled by the Ricky Williamless Saints. Kurt Warner and the offense looked human and listless.

New Orleans Coach Mike Ditka developed a simple game plan that worked. Keep the score close and the Rams offense off the field. Simply shorten the game for a shot in the fourth quarter. The strategy was very successful in the first half, as the Saints drove the Rams crazy by completing short and routine pass routes.

Ditka's strategy frustrated St. Louis. The Rams piled up silly penalties late in the second quarter to move the Saints down the field. The silliest infraction was a twelve men on the field penalty against the Rams defense, immediately following a St. Louis time out.

The Saints controlled the time of possession in the first half: roughly 19 minutes to 11 minutes. When both teams hit the locker room at the half, New Orleans trailed by only three points. Our Male Sheep were scratching their heads.

The Saints took the second half kickoff, held the ball for over half of third quarter until Brien's tying field goal attempt hit the left upright. If that kick would have been successful, we don't know how the frustrated St. Louis team would have reacted. I have to think, though, that the final score would not have been a 31-point difference.

Nonetheless, that missed field goal attempt still goes down as a zero on the scoreboard. "When you're hot, you're hot". The Rams are enjoying their first winning season of the decade, and Dick Vermeil has now doubled his St. Louis victory total.

Whether you believe these events are the result of the Rams being talented or the Rams being lucky, the November 28 New Orleans game should send a wake-up call to the Home Team and their coaches. The Saints, like Tennessee and Detroit before them, have proved that opponents can successfully establish a game plan against our Male Sheep.

The Rams will make the playoffs. Hopefully, the coaching staff will not allow the players to get complacent and remain focused. (By the way, am I the only one in town that thinks that the Rams' "Bob and Weave" touchdown dance is both silly and immature?)

If you believe the rumblings out of Rams Park this week, our Blue and Gold heroes will treat Sunday's game in Carolina as a playoff game. That is a good strategy, and probably is correct. If Carolina has any hope for the post season in 1999, they have to beat the Rams on Tobacco Road.

St. Louis should win on Sunday. Be advised, though, that the Panthers could pose a threat. This is a young team with a very good coach that has improved throughout the season. Carolina will enter Sunday's game with absolutely nothing to lose.

"When you're hot, you're hot" might indeed be the battle cry of the 1999 St. Louis Rams. Actually it is amusing when you think back to early summer of the Rams chances.

It wasn't all that long ago.

You know, the one that begins with: "The Rams making the playoffs? It will be a cold day in..."