Rams face critical test in the West

ST. LOUIS - A month ago, the St. Louis Rams scored 17 points in the final 5 1/2 minutes of regulation and then beat the Seattle Seahawks in overtime to rescue what appeared to be a hopelessly lost game.

When the Rams (4-4) face the Seahawks (5-3) today, they'll be trying to rescue their season.

Win and they're tied atop the NFC West. Lose and they'll be two games back with seven to play.

"Certainly, this week we've got to get out of this little rut we're in," quarterback Marc Bulger said. "If we can get back on a roll that would be great. Giving Seattle more momentum, it would be tough to catch them." That's because the Rams have failed to capitalize on one of the biggest comebacks of the season in the NFL, a game SI.com calls the best of the first half of the season. After beating the Bucs to go to 4-2, they've followed up with losses to the previously winless Dolphins and the wounded Patriots, who had neither of their starting cornerbacks before beating St. Louis 40-22.

To coach Mike Martz, it's not the losses but the way they've lost that's been the most galling. Martz called his team out twice during the buildup to today's game, saying he was tired of making excuses and that it was time for the players to step up.

Then on Wednesday the team held a full-contact scrimmage.

"I'm not happy with how we're playing, period, regardless of a division race or anything else," Martz said. "I think the way we've played the last two games is embarrassing." Coughing up that 17-point lead threw the Seahawks into their own rut. The loss was the first of three in a row before they righted themselves with victories the last two weeks over the Panthers and 49ers.

"It didn't really seem like us," running back Shaun Alexander said. "It took us a couple of weeks to realize that this is the NFL, that teams are talented and it's possible to be beaten.

"You have to take your losses with the wins and that's what we finally did." Coach Mike Holmgren said the loss to the Rams was a textbook case of how a perfect day can unravel. The Seahawks, favored in the preseason to unseat the Rams, had been firmly in control until late in the fourth quarter.

"Then about everything that could go wrong went wrong, and everything the Rams tried worked," Holmgren said. "Usually, you don't have eight minutes that runs that way, usually there's something in there that will disrupt it.

"It was just a remarkable comeback on their part, but on our side of the ball I was very disappointed at some of the things we did down the stretch." Unlike Martz, who's refusing to take the blame for anything these days, Holmgren said he's at fault for giving Matt Hasselbeck too much responsibility recently.

"I think I was kind of overloading the quarterback with too much stuff," Holmgren said. "As a result, he was grinding through some stuff. I think he's a good player and as he plays that's kind of how our offense goes." Alexander is perhaps more important. He leads the NFC in rushing (879 yards) and touchdowns (12) and leads the NFL with a 5.1-yard per carry average, plus he had 150 yards in the first meeting against St. Louis.

"He's real patient, he's a real smooth runner," Rams linebacker Trev Faulk said. "It kind of looks like he's effortless out there, and all of a sudden he hits the hole and it's a 20-30 yard run." The Rams know controlling Alexander will go a long way toward putting their season back on track.

"With all the problems we've had, we're sitting in a situation where if we win one game right now then we'll be OK," defensive tackle Tyoka Jackson said. "I don't know exactly how we're in this situation, as bad as we've played the last two weeks, but here we are." The Seahawks will likely again be without defensive end Grant Wistrom, who's missed three games with a small fracture to his left knee and was listed as doubtful. Wistrom hoped to play against the Rams, whom he left for a six-year, $33 million free agent deal after last season.

"That'll be a Sunday decision," Holmgren said. "He's got to prove that he's strong enough and that he can move."