Friday, October 26, 2001
NFL Notebook
Martz plays defense as well as offense
By DAVE GOLDBERG
AP Football Writer
After his Rams pounded the Jets 34-14 last Sunday, the offense-minded Mike Martz was playing defense.
He's been doing it all season.
The Rams are the NFL's only unbeaten team at 6-0 and they'll probably be favored in every game from here on. So they have a shot at going 16-0 and becoming the second unbeaten team of the modern era.
Miami, which went 14-0 in 1972, was in St. Louis in Week 3 and lost 42-10, so the Dolphins won't be able to do what they did to the 1985 Bears, handing Chicago its only loss after the Bears started 12-0.
The Rams almost certainly will lose — it has to happen in a 16-game season. In 1998, the Broncos were set for a showdown in Miami, but stopped in the Meadowlands on the way and were beaten by Kent Graham and a mediocre Giants team. That's what happens in the NFL.
And three of the Rams' wins could have been losses: a 20-17 overtime victory in Philadelphia the opening week; a 30-26 loss in San Francisco in which the usually reliable 49ers receivers dropped several catchable balls; and that 15-14 win over the Giants two weeks ago in which the Rams got help from both the New York offense and the officials.
It was that Giants game that has Martz so worked up.
Not only did the New York defenders, who knocked Marshall Faulk from the game and sacked Kurt Warner six times, suggest the Rams were “a finesse team,” but the media in St. Louis, New York, and around the country echoed them.
So when the Rams arrived at the Meadowlands to play the other New Yorkers, Martz was in a feisty mood. By the second half, he had pulled out all the gadgets, including Az Hakim running an option, then lateraling to Trung Canidate on a 56-yard touchdown play. And Canidate running 12 yards up the middle for a touchdown with Warner lined up at wide receiver.
Then, leading 31-7 late in the third period, the Rams tried an onside kick, which they recovered.
Why, Martz was asked, would he call that when the game seemed well in hand?
“You always try to grab an advantage,” he replied. “The Jets scored 21 points very quickly against Miami last week. They could have done it again.”
They could have, but they weren't going to.
Martz is a very bright man, and a good coach. He can be very informative and very amiable and will openly evaluate talent, particularly quarterback talent, for outsiders.
But he seems to have adopted the “us-against-them” attitude that goes with coaching in the NFL.
Last January, for example, Baltimore's Brian Billick declared that no questions were to be asked of Ray Lewis, his best player, about the murder charges lodged against Lewis the year before.
A couple of months later, asked if he was play-acting or talking from his heart when he made that statement, Billick replied: “A little of both.”
Those who know Martz well say he is putting internal pressure on himself after his rookie season — the Rams were 10-6 after winning the Super Bowl the previous year under Dick Vermeil (Martz was offensive coordinator).
His team is clearly the NFL's best. The offense is as good as ever and the defense is markedly improved. He very much wants his own championship as the man in charge.
But it's hardly time to lose perspective. At 6-0, who cares if you're called “finesse.”
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PARITY PLUS: Here's a staggering statistic that defines the modern NFL: In 13 games last week, favorites were 2-10 — straight up, not against the spread. The other game, Chicago at Cincinnati, was pick 'em, and the Bears won 24-0.
The only favorites that won were St. Louis, 34-14 over the Jets, and Tennessee, 27-24 in Detroit. And the Titans were lucky to win.
BIG underdogs won outright.
Jacksonville was favored by 9 points over previously winless Buffalo. Final: Bills 13-10.
Cleveland, a 7-point underdog at home, beat Baltimore 24-14.
Indianapolis, a 10 1/2-point favorite at home, lost by 21 to New England.
And 8 1/2-point underdog Atlanta beat the Saints in New Orleans.
A relevant comment from 49ers coach Steve Mariucci: “That's the NFL now. Don't we say that every year? It's just crazy. It's hard to pick winners from week to week.”
TRUNG's NOT RUNNING FOR OFFICE: After he ran for 195 yards against the Jets on Sunday, the Rams' Trung Canidate was all over the airwaves. In most cases, the second-year running back who was subbing for injured Marshall Faulk was called “Candidate.”
It's CAN-I-DATE.
AT LEAST JIM FASSEL HAS HIS JOB: The last time the New York Giants lost consecutive one-point games, as they did to the Rams and Eagles the past two weeks, was in 1930. That season their conquerors were the Staten Island Stapletons and Brooklyn Dodgers, both by scores of 7-6.
Coach LeRoy Andrews was fired after the second loss, even though the Giants were 11-4.
They went on to win their next two under co-coaches Bennie Friedman and Stout Steve Owen and finished 13-4, second to the Green Bay Packers, who were 10-3-1.
Then, stability reigned, as Owen coached the team for the next 23 seasons.
The Giants survived. The Staten Island Stapletons didn't. And those Brooklyn Dodgers never made it to Los Angeles.
DIRTY DOZEN: The NFL's top six and bottom six teams based on current level of play:
1. St. Louis (6-0). Mike Martz still thinks his team isn't respected.
2. Oakland (4-1). The NFL works this way: Take a week off and you move way up.
3. Chicago(4-1). Seems odd, doesn't it?
4. Philadelphia (3-2). Give the Eagles credit for hanging around last week vs. the Giants.
5. Pittsburgh (4-1). Who needs a passing game?
6. Cleveland (4-2). Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Lou Groza, Jim Brown ... Tim Couch.
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26. Jacksonville (2-3). Take away Boselli and Taylor and you have this.
27. Kansas City (1-6). Almost as bad as the bottom four.
28. Detroit (0-5). Not as bad as the bottom three, despite no wins.
29, Dallas (1-4). Moved up on a week off.
30, Washington (1-5). A gift win over the worst doesn't get you much.
31. Carolina (1-5). Earned this spot in Washington.
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