Rams play like lambs, sacrifice home field

Joey Harrington threw three touchdown passes and Marc Bulger was knocked out of the game in the Lions' 30-20 shocker over the Rams yesterday in Detroit.

St. Louis (12-4) squandered a chance to have home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, something it owned en route to the 2001 and 1999 NFC championships. Philadelphia now has that edge and can thank the lowly Lions (5-11) for winning a game they were expected to lose by double digits.

"This team was not prepared and, ultimately, that comes back on me," St. Louis coach Mike Martz said. "I just felt like we weren't as excited about playing as we normally are, and that's my responsibility."

Detroit scored 20 unanswered points in the first 15:31 of the second half to take a 30-20 lead, which it was easily able to maintain against the suddenly shaky Rams, who had won seven straight.

After the game, Grant Wistrom stewed on a chair in front of his locker, with an ice pack on his elbow and a disgusted look on his face.

"We came out flat," Wistrom said. "It was evident when we warmed up and on the first snap. Football is an emotional game, and they obviously wanted it more than we did."

Bulger was replaced by Kurt Warner early in the fourth quarter. Bulger bruised his forearm after he was sacked on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Otis Smith.

Bulger was 18 of 31 for 170 yards with one TD, one interception, and two fumbles. Warner, who had not played since sustaining a concussion in Week 1, finished 4 of 11 for 23 yards.

Other Rams struggled as well. Marshall Faulk was held to 35 yards rushing and a TD, and 40 yards receiving. Torry Holt, the NFL's leading receiver, had just five catches for 54 yards.

Harrington, Detroit's second-year quarterback, had a strong performance. He was 26 of 36 for 238 yards with one interception. The Lions had not scored more than 23 points since beating Arizona, 42-24, in the opener.

Chiefs 31, Bears 3 -- Priest Holmes scored twice, setting two NFL touchdown records, and Kansas City routed Chicago for its 13th straight home win. The Chiefs (13-3) already were locked into the No. 2 seed and guaranteed a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs. Holmes's 1-yard run in the first quarter broke the NFL record of 25 TDs rushing Emmitt Smith set in 1995. With 58 seconds left in the third, Holmes scored from 2 yards out, breaking the overall record of 26 TDs Marshall Faulk scored in 2000.

The Bears finished 7-9 amid speculaton coach Dick Jauron's job was in jeopardy. Jauron, who began his Bears career with a victory over Kansas City in the 1999 opener, is 35-46 in five seasons.

Saints 13, Cowboys 7 -- Donte Stallworth's 76-yard touchdown reception enabled host New Orleans to finish at .500 and drop Dallas to the NFC's sixth playoff seed. The Saints (8-8), who will miss the playoffs for the third straight season, pressured Quincy Carter, sacking him three times and intercepting him three more times. Jay Bellamy's second pick of the day stopped the Cowboys (10-6) at the New Orleans 27 with 1:33 left. Aaron Brooks completed 15 of 32 for 243 yards and the long TD to Stallworth, which came just 27 seconds after Richie Anderson's 3-yard scoring reception had put Dallas ahead, 7-3.Chargers 21, Raiders 14 -- LaDainian Tomlinson rushed 31 times for a career-high 243 yards and two touchdowns in a spectacular performance that closed otherwise miserable seasons for San Diego and defending AFC champion Oakland, who both finished with 4-12 records, tied for worst in the NFL with Arizona and the New York Giants. Tomlinson has four career 200-yard games, tying him for second place on the career list with Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, and Barry Sanders. The record is six, by O.J. Simpson. It was Tomlinson's second 200-yard game this year; he also ran for 200 yards in a loss at Cleveland Oct. 19. He finished the season with 1,645 yards rushing.

The Raiders gained just 141 total yards, scoring their touchdowns on an 85-yard kick return by Doug Gabriel and an 81-yard punt return by Phillip Buchanon.

Dolphins 23, Jets 21 -- Olindo Mare kicked a 22-yard field goal with three seconds left, lifting host Miami. Miami (10-6) earned a dubious distinction, becoming the first team since Philadelphia and San Francisco in 1991 to win 10 games and miss the playoffs.

Jay Fiedler threw for a career-high 328 yards and completed three passes to drive the Dolphins 45 yards in the final 2:56 for the winning score. The Jets (6-10) closed out their first losing season since 1996 and their first under Herman Edwards.

Panthers 37, Giants 24 -- Visiting Carolina wrapped up the third seed in the NFC playoffs by closing out the career of one New York Giants coach and setting up a date with a former one -- Bill Parcells and the Cowboys. Jake Delhomme threw two touchdown passes in Carolina's biggest offensive show of the season. Former Giants assistant John Fox and his Panthers routed New York in Jim Fassel's final game after seven seasons in New York. The loss was the eighth straight for the Giants (4-12).

The victory was the third straight for the Panthers (11-5) and set up a wild-card game next Saturday night against Parcells and Dallas (10-6). Falcons 21, Jaguars 14 -- Michael Vick threw two touchdown passes, including a 44-yarder to Peerless Price on Atlanta's first fleaflicker of the season, and the Falcons (5-11) held off Jacksonville at home.Fred Taylor rushed for 121 yards for the Jaguars (5-11), who lost for the second time in their final five games.