There were some good signs (literally) at Sunday night's Rams-Panthers game at the TWA Dome. Literally.

And the Rams defense did have its moments...

Dexter McCleon (21), for example...had an important QB sack (below).

Sean Moran (77) and Leonard Little (57) joined the sack party, too (below).

Moran, Lorenzo Styles (51) and Ray Agnew (99) teamed up for yet another sack of Panthers QB Steve Beuerlein.

And the aforementioned McCleon, in perhaps his best game as a Ram, also had a marvelous third-quarter interception (shown in sequence, below).

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And, in a play that had been blown dead ten seconds previously (incorrectly, in the opinion of many), Grant Wistrom streaked the length of the field with a fumble recovery that was not-to-be.

So Bud Carson's return has been noticed. At least by Steve Beuerlein.

But the Rams lost to the Panthers, 27-24...as the defending Super Bowl champions were without silky-smooth superstar RB Marshall Faulk, whose troublesome knee acted up to such an extent that he is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery today (11.6.00).

Faulk, shown below standing behind Rams coach Mike Martz, looks a bit uncomfortable wearing a baseball cap.

And the Rams look very uncomfortable without Marshall Faulk.