Busch League Days Near End, Surprising Rams Go To 5-1

Isaac Bruce and Jerry Rice. Two of a kind?

“He’s just as good as Rice, that’s for sure,” teammate Todd Kinchen said after Bruce caught 10 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns Thursday night in the St. Louis Rams’ 21-19 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. “If not better.”

Bruce wouldn’t let special teams mistakes and turnovers stop the Rams, one of the NFL’s biggest surprises in their first season in St. Louis.

It was Bruce’s third 100-yard receiving day in four games and he set up one of his scores by running 51 yards on a lateral from Kinchen on a punt return.

“He obviously had a fairly substantial game,” coach Rich Brooks said.

A sellout crowd of 59,700 watched what could be the final NFL game at Busch Stadium. A news conference is scheduled for today to announce whether the $260 million Trans World Dome will be ready for the Rams-49ers game Oct. 22, but it’s likely the Rams (5-1) will have one more game at Busch, where they’re 3-0.

They also exceeded their victory total from their final season in Anaheim, Calif.

“We’re 5-1 and we’re rolling,” defensive tackle D’Marco Farr said.

Nobody’s rolling like Bruce, who has caught six touchdown passes in his first year as a starter. In the last two games, he has totaled 372 yards receiving.

“I think they’re afraid of me running by them, and they give up everything underneath,” Bruce said. “I just take what they give me and if they try to come up, I’ll go by them.”

Against the Falcons, he often took advantage of rookie cornerback Ron Davis. Davis slumped in his locker stall, still in his uniform about a half-hour after the game.

“We had a young guy on him,” Jones said. “Ronnie’s learning.”

Bruce’s best catch may have been on the lateral thrown across the width of the field. Kinchen’s throw skipped off the artificial turf and right into Bruce’s hands.

“Isaac has great hands, so it was nothing to worry about,” Kinchen said.

The Rams have been successful on the lateral the last two games, but special teams, a big plus in their 4-0 start, nearly did them in this time. Kevin Ross returned a blocked field goal attempt 83 yards for a score in the second quarter and Eric Metcalf returned a wobbly Sean Landeta punt 66 yards for a score in the third quarter.

The Rams also had a fumble and an interception. After committing no turnovers the first four games, they’ve had four the last two games. This time it made the game much closer than it should have been since the Rams outgained Atlanta in yards 451-192.

“The good news is, last year that cost this team games,” Brooks said. “This year, we overcame it.’

Tony Zendejas’ second field goal of the game, from 45 yards with 11:58 to go, cut the gap to 21-19. But the Rams ran out the final 6:36.

Chris Miller completed 27 of 38 passes for 328 yards for St. Louis and Jerome Bettis had his best day of the season with 88 yards on 19 carries.

Jeff George was 16 for 30 for 160 yards for Atlanta (4-2).

“He didn’t have his best game, obviously,” coach June Jones said. “It looked like the ball was getting away from him.”

The Rams dominated the first half, outgaining Atlanta 292 yards to 109.

Rams 21, Falcons 19

Atlanta 0 10 6 3 - 19

St. Louis 7 14 0 0 - 21

First Quarter

StL-Bruce 59 pass from Miller (McLaughlin kick), 13:15. Second Quarter

StL-Bailey 12 run (McLaughlin kick), 3:51.

Atl-Ross 83 blocked field goal return (Anderson kick), 11:55.

StL-Bruce 9 pass from Miller (McLaughlin kick), 14:19.

Atl-FG Zendejas 40, 15:00. Thurd Quarter

Atl-Metcalf 66 punt return (two-point conversion failed), 5:35. Fourth Quarter

Atl-FG Zendejas 45, 3:02.

A-59,700.

TEAM TOTALS

Atl StL First downs 10 24 Rushes-yards 14-44 29-133 Passing 160 328 Punt Returns 2-68 4-74 Kickoff Returns 4-79 4-96 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 16-30-0 27-38-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-12 1-10 Punts 6-46 4-41 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 4-20 7-45 Time of Possession 22:06 37:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHINGAtlanta, Heyward 11-24, Metcalf 3-20. St. Louis, Bettis 19-88, Russell 6-29, Bailey 2-19, Miller 2-(minus-3).

PASSINGAtlanta, Geerge 16-30-0-160. St. Louis, Miller 27-38-1-328.

RECEIVINGAtlanta, Metcalf 6-34, Heyward 4-56, Brown 2-27, Spencer 2-16, Emanuel 1-21, Lyons 1-6. St. Louis, Bruce 10-191, Bailey 5-28, Hester 3-39, Drayton 3-27, Kinchen 2-18, Russell 2-8, Bettis 1-10, Cook 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALSAtlanta, Zendejas, 48. St. Louis, McLauglin 28.

OFFICIALSReferee Walt Coleman, Ump Rex Stuart, HL Jerry Bergman, LJ Mark Steinkerchner, BJ Van Golmont, SJ Dave Wyant, FJ Phil Luckett.