Blocks knocked off

With everything on line, Tucker's injury hurt cause

By Jim McCabe, Globe Staff, 2/5/2002

EW ORLEANS - During a week in which real news was as rare as civility on Bourbon Street, Tom Brady's ankle made headlines. Correct body part, but incorrect body, because it appears as if the focus should have been on Ryan Tucker.

The Rams' starting right tackle had injured his right ankle late in the season and was replaced by Rod Jones in playoff games against Green Bay and Philadelphia. While Patriots coach Bill Belichick was swamped with questions regarding Brady's ankle (it proved to be fine), Rams coach Mike Martz was hardly bothered about Tucker's. When Martz announced in midweek that Tucker would sit and Jones would play, it hardly caused a stir.

But in dissecting the many pieces to their puzzling Super Bowl loss, the Rams can point to Tucker's injury as a significant one. It forced Martz to go with Jones, himself hobbled by a groin injury, though that was deemed less serious than Tucker's ailment. However, it appears as if Jones was the guy who missed a blocking assignment that allowed Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel to charge untouched and slam into quarterback Kurt Warner in the second quarter. The hit led to Ty Law's 47-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 7-3 New England lead.

It led to rotating right tackles, Tucker soon replacing Jones, who returned for the third quarter, only to give way to Tucker later.

''We had a protection breakdown. We had a handful of mistakes that you can't have against a good team,'' said Martz, though he refused to elaborate on plays or players. ''That involves people and that's not right to do that. It was just unfortunate. It happened. Let's leave it at that.''

Clearly, Vrabel's route to Warner was frighteningly easy, but not so simple were answers to questions being fired at the Rams.

What had gone wrong? Why had the 14-point favorites been upset? What did the Patriots' defense do to shut down the game's greatest offense?

Player after player pointed to the obvious - there were three turnovers and some bad penalties. Rams linebacker London Fletcher pointed to the fact he and his colleagues on defense failed to perform a basic task on the Patriots' winning drive.

''If we could have tackled their guys in bounds, we could have still been out there playing,'' said Fletcher. In particular, he was referring to Tom Brady's 11-yard pass to J.R. Redmond, who was pushed out of bounds at the New England 41, stopping the clock with 41 seconds left. Two completions later, Brady had the ball in Adam Vinatieri's range.

Just how had they gotten to that point? The question dogged them in the moments after the game and it will haunt them all offseason. So far as Marshall Faulk is concerned, that may not be a bad thing.

''Sometimes to experience this lets you know that you just don't want to be here ever,'' said the game's most effective runner. Only against the Patriots, Faulk had been less than his usual spectacular self, totaling just 130 yards (76 running, 54 receiving), and time after time he was asked why he didn't get the ball more.

''I don't decide that,'' said Faulk, who seemed to straddle the fence. At times he appeared disappointed he wasn't involved more in the offense, but he refused to point the finger. Reminded that he had only gotten 21 touches (17 runs, 4 catches), Faulk refused to ignite any sort of controversy.

''I wasn't really paying attention to that. I got into the game and we run the play that is called,'' he said, perhaps remembering that two years ago, he got 15 touches (10 rushes, 5 catches) and the Rams beat the Titans, 23-16, in the Super Bowl.

So surely, the answers were deeper than Faulk and his ''touches,'' with the containment of Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce a key piece to the puzzle, too. Sunday, the speedsters combined for 10 catches and 105 yards, and only discovered the end zone on their way out for pregame introductions. A far cry from two years ago, when they turned the Titans' defense into toast with a combined 13 catches, 271 yards, and 2 touchdowns.

''We're used to moving the ball and doing what we like to do,'' said Holt (5 catches, 49 yards, and a 9.8-yard average that paled in comparison with his 16.8 in the regular season). ''But the Patriots didn't allow us to do what it is that we like to do.'' But how?

''I really don't know,'' he said.

In truth, Holt and his teammates may never know. Which is why their locker room was perhaps the only quiet spot in this 24-hour party town.

''We lost the Super Bowl,'' said defensive end Grant Wistrom. ''The mood is crap. The whole season is a waste.''