By Peter May and Jim McCabe, Globe Staff, 2/4/2002

EW ORLEANS - The acknowledged best, all-purpose player in the game, Marshall Faulk, ran the ball 17 times last night in Super Bowl XXXVI and caught another four passes. He had 130 total yards. Should he have had a chance for more?

''I don't know,'' Faulk said. ''You tell me.''

He was asked another version of the same question moments later.

''I ran the ball,'' he said. ''Ask [coach] Mike Martz. He'll be here soon.'' But Martz already was gone.

Asked the same question, wide receiver Ricky Proehl said he couldn't answer until he had seen the film. Quarterback Kurt Warner said he thought Faulk ''made some great plays. He's the best player I've ever seen.'' In other words, a classic dodge.

Faulk had 76 yards rushing and 54 receiving yards. He was generally deemed to be one of many superior weapons on the Rams, maybe the most superior. He and his teammates all blamed the three St. Louis turnovers (two interceptions and a fumble) for the stunning defeat.

''It's disappointing to lose a game, period,'' Faulk said. ''The Patriots just made more plays than we did. But I don't think we struggled. We tied it up. In games like this, funny things sometimes happen.''

With just 1:30 to play, the game tied, the Patriots out of timeouts and on their own 17, John Madden was on television calling for conservatism. Play it safe, don't turn it over, and take your chances in OT, he thought out loud.

But the Rams knew otherwise.

''We thought they'd try and get into field goal range,'' said Lovie Smith, the Rams' defensive coordinator. ''And we were geared to stop them. But we didn't stop them.''

Would it have helped if he had some timeouts to get his defense settled?

''No,'' he said. ''I can't say that because we wouldn't have called timeouts in that situation.''

If it looked as if the Rams were playing a soft defense, protecting against the deep pass, that wasn't the case. The Rams were not at all caught by surprise by New England's drive, merely disappointed they didn't stop it.

''You have no choice but to go down there and try and score,'' said rookie safety Adam Archuleta. ''I mean, you try and win football games, not just play conservatively. You can't expect a team to pack it in and try and win it later on. They did what they had to do and it worked.''

Proehl was one of the guilty Rams in the turnover department. He caught a pretty crossing pass from Warner in the second quarter, only to cough it up when he was nailed by Antwan Harris. The Patriots turned the miscue into 7 points. ''We didn't protect the football,'' Proehl said. ''I didn't protect the football.'' ... Proehl, a 12-year veteran who has a Super Bowl ring from two years ago, said he felt especially sorry for teammate Aeneas Williams. The defensive back had spent 10 years with the Cardinals until joining St. Louis this year. ''I feel sick for him,'' Proehl said. ''A lot of great players never even get to experience the Super Bowl. He finally did. I'm just sorry it ended the way it did.'' ... The Rams will have some interesting free agent decisions to make, but Faulk said he expects the team will again be a contender next season. ''There is a good thing about this,'' he said. ''We're going to reload and expect to be right back where we are next year. You sulk and you grieve, but you bounce back. If there is a good thing about this, I've been on the other side. Sometimes to experience this lets you know you just don't want to be here ever again.'' ... Rams linebacker London Fletcher on the Patriots' final drive: ''You have to give them credit. Tom Brady made the smart throws. But the biggest thing is we didn't tackle them inbounds. That was our biggest problem.'' The Patriots were out of timeouts at the time and twice got out of bounds on their last march ... His right thumb was heavily taped after the game and television cameras kept showing him rubbing and stretching it while standing on the sideline, but coach Mike Martz downplayed the injury to Warner. ''I didn't know he hurt his thumb in the third quarter,'' Martz said. ''Nobody told me that. How about that? I didn't know he hurt his thumb.''

This story ran on page C13 of the Boston Globe on 2/4/2002.
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