Cards Batter Rams Everywhere But Scoreboard

ST.LOUIS--If the CFL continues at the torrid pace set by the Rams and Cards today, the NFL might not need any rule changes to increase offense. But it might need to hand out sedatives to fans susceptible to sudden bursts of uncontained excitement. The Rams, coming off a 27-17 win over the 'Niners in week one, traveled to the Gateway City to take on the Cards, who defeated the Lions 28-17 in the opener. The Cards took the opening kickoff and quickly covered 52 yards in five plays to reach the Rams' 28. However, Hart was forced to scramble, and laid the ball down on the Rams' 31 for the game's first turnover.

It would not be the Cards' last. The Rams went three and out, and St. Louis picked up where it left off. Starting from its 29, St. Louis struck paydirt on a 7-play drive, keyed by a 71-yard screen pass to Macarthur Lane. The Rams responded with a long drive buoyed by more St. Louis mistakes. Lawrence McCutcheon and Jim Bertelsen pounded out a 59-yard drive for Chuck 'Ground' Knox, with an occasional John Hadl pass mixed in for balance. St. Louis committed a flagrant face mask on the drive's first play. However, two even more critical penalties would give LA a free TD. The first blunder occurred on 3rd and goal from the 7. Hadl hit Jackson on a quick toss for a 1-yard loss. However, St. Louis was flagged for encroachment. After the Cards held to force 4th down, David Ray booted a 10-yard field goal. However, St. Louis was called for defensive holding, and LA got a first and goal from the 1, leading to an easy Bertelson TD and a 7-7 game late in the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Macarthur Lane took an inside handoff and bolted 48 yards for a TD, making it 14-7 St. Louis. After trading a few punts, St. Louis returned to its error-prone ways. Lane fumbled at the Cards' 23, and the Rams needed six plays to cover the distance for a TD on Hadl's pass to Snow, making it 14-14 with 6:37 left in the first half. Naturally, the Cards fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at the St. Louis 36. At this point, Charley Winner immediately fired pre-game food coordinator Rusty "Butterfingers" Kuntz, who fed the team ribs before the game. "Don't know what he was thinking, but he can try out for the Food Network for all I care," grumbled Winner. "He's outta here." The Cards' defense rose to the occasion, sacking Hadl on third down to force a punt. However, Chapple's punt rolled dead at the 5. With 4:50 left in the half, St. Louis hoped to get a first down or two to avoid giving the Rams the ball with great field position. Lane and Johnny Roland moved the ball out of the shadow of the goal posts, setting up 1st and 10 at the STL 34 with 1:10 to go. The Cards decided to go for broke, and Hart found Jim Gilliam on a flag pattern for 37 yards to the Rams' 29 with :59 left. Hart hit Jerry Daanen on a screen for 26 yards to the 3, and Lane hauled it in for a TD with :23 left in the half. The Cards had covered 95 yards to score right before the half and take a 21-14 lead into the locker room. However, St. Louis' massive lead in total yardage worried Winner, who felt the Cards should have been able to amass a much larger lead, but squandered it with turnovers and penalties.

Cullen Bryant returned the third quarter kickoff to the St. Louis 20, and the Rams needed only four plays to score on Hadle's flare to McCutcheon, who returned from a first-half injury. It was 21-21 early in the third quarter. St. Louis' hot offense continued as the Cards mounted a 60-yard drive, highlighted by a 14-yard Roland run and a 34-yard fly pass to John Gilliam. Bakken drilled a 27-yard field goal to make it 24-21 St. Louis midway through the third quarter. After holding the Rams to a three-and-out, St. Louis turned the ball over for the fourth time. First, Hart dropped the snap at the St. Louis 24, but recovered. Two plays later, Hart was picked off on a quick toss by Al Clark at the Cards' 40. The Rams wasted no time in taking their first lead. Bertlesen capped the four-play drive with a 15-yard jaunt to paydirt, making it 28-24 Rams with 1:46 left in the third quarter.

For the first time, the teams settled into a punting pattern. Each of the next five "drives" went three-and-out, with St. Louis playing a run defense to stop McCutcheon, and Hadl unable to capitalize on a few pass attempts. LIkewise, the Rams defense hunkered down and prevented the long plays that had victimized them in the first half. With 5:15 to play, LA took over on its 49 and moved into scoring position on a 21-uard pass interference penalty on the Cards to the St. Louis 28. The Cards stopped the Rams cold on the next three plays, and David Ray nailed the 35-yard field goal to make it a 31-24 game with 3:27 left. St. Louis took over on its 20 after the touchback. Hart fired long for the double-covered Gilliam to no avail. Jim Hart then hit Dave Williams on a deep out for 15 to the 35 with 2:58 to go. Hart then found Lane on a square in for 16 to the Rams' 49. With 2:30 to go, Hart was sacked for a 9-yard loss to the Cards' 42, leading to the 2-minute warning. On 2nd and 19, Hart looped a screen to Lane, who dashed 21 yards to the Rams' 37, where he scooted out of bounds with 1:50 to go. Hart then found Williams on a screen for 7 to the LA 30. 1:24 remaining. Hart called for the draw to Lane, and he bolted up the middle for 19 yards to the Rams' 11 with :49. With all three timeouts left, St. Louis let the clock run. Hart called Lane's number again, and he scampered untouched into the end zone. St. Louis covered 80 yards in 8 plays and 2:46 to tie it at 31-31 with :41 left. Hadl came out gunning, hitting McCutcheon for 13 and Klein for 17 to midfield, as the Rams used their last timeout with :20 left. Hadl then dropped back and was snowed under by Cal Snowden for an 8-yard loss. Hadl could not get the next play off, as time ran out on this tremendous offensive slugfest. "Man, I'm breathless," exclaimed a clearly drained Winner after the game. "With the big yardage differential, we should have won that game, yet given where we were late in the fourth quarter, I'll take the tie." "We really should have won that game," remarked Chuck Knox. "Four turnovers to none, and eight penalties to three, were really wasted by us. Yet given the big plays they put together and the huge yardage difference, I'll take the tie." St. Louis finished with a tremendous 482-184 advantage in total yards. Its five scoring drives covered 377 yards, while the Rams' five scoring drives covered 165 yards. However, turnovers and penalties balanced the scales in a big way. With the first two heart-pounding games in the books, St. Louis should have no trouble selling out the remainder of its home games. "Heck yeah," quipped Winner. "With excitement like this, the tickets just sell themselves!"