Boston.com / Sports / Bruins

Turnovers are the turning point

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 2/4/2002

EW ORLEANS - Rated two-touchdown underdogs headed into the Super Bowl, the Patriots turned the oddsmakers upside down in the first half last night, and set the stage for their first NFL championship, with some numbers of their own - two forced turnovers.

The Rams knew all week, and said repeatedly, that it wasn't who could beat them as much as it was what could be their undoing. Mistakes. Fumbles. Interceptions. Their bugaboo of the first half this season came creeping back, at the worst possible time, and handed the win to the Patriots.

Working with a 3-0 lead with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half, the Rams' wonderful world of offense - called a mad science by some - was turned inside out an instant after two Marshall Faulk running plays clicked for 20 yards. The Rams were on the march. Time to take control of the game, their destiny.

Or so they thought.

Kurt Warner called for one of his favorite targets, Isaac Bruce, to run to the flats at midfield. Bruce in the clear, Warner tossed to his right, forced to release in a hurry because of a blitzing Mike Vrabel, charging in from the left.

Warner connected. But it wasn't his primary receiver. Warner was still struggling to get up off the turf as cornerback Ty Law came racing downfield with the interception. Touchdown. New England, 7-3.

''They didn't block me,'' said Vrabel, surprised at the easy access he was afforded Warner on the play. ''And when they don't block you, you've got to get a hit on the quarterback - maybe not a sack, but a hit. They left the gap wide-open. Usually if you get through like that, there's a screen play or a trap, and you're in trouble, but that time [Warner] was right there with the ball.''

The Rams, their confidence severely undermined and shaken, moved the ball 22 yards on their next possession. But after five plays they were forced to punt, setting the Patriots up for another possession that failed to gain any real momentum.

Once again, New England's best offense rested in the unsure, unsteady hands of the Rams.

Less than two minutes remained in the half when Warner, working on first down from his 25, threw yet again, and connected with wide receiver Ricky Proehl for 15 yards. But that's where the drive stopped, when charging safety Antwan Harris drilled his helmet into Proehl's arms and dislodged the ball. Fumble. Cornerback Terrell Buckley snatched up the rolling gimme and advanced it back to the line of scrimmage - only now it was New England's line of scrimmage.

''It's what I'm supposed to do,'' said Harris. ''When I'm in, I have to help the team any way I can. I saw Warner was throwing, and the next thing I knew I had the red dot on [Proehl], and I was going in there to knock him out.''

Vrabel's hit on Warner was the first shot heard 'round the world. The Harris smack on Proehl was No. 2. The Patriots, their nickname borrowed from the colonialist freedom fighters of the 18th century, were knocking back at the enemy at will.

Back in possession with 1:20 to go in the half, the Patriots needed only five plays for Tom Brady to connect with David Patten on an 8-yard alley-oop pass into the right corner of the end zone. Patten turned cornerback Dexter McCleon inside out with some fancy footwork at the goal line before leaping up to pluck Brady's heave out of the sky.

What of the mad science in the St. Louis offense? It wasn't diabolical at all. In fact, the turnovers made it downright frustrating.

The pattern continued in the second half. The big slinging-Warner, who has directed the Rams to three consecutive seasons of 500-plus points, stepped back into the pocket again with 3:25 to go in the third quarter.

Target: No. 88, Torry Holt.

Result: Interception, No. 45, Otis Smith.

And for the third time in as many turnovers, the Patriots feasted off the faux pas. Set up at the Rams 33 after Smith's return, Brady and Co. chipped ahead to the 19 before kicker Adam Vinatieri put his trusty leg into a 37-yard field goal for a 17-3 lead.