Cards' defense keeps Rams' potent offense in check

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger had a succinct and accurate description of the Cardinals' 34-13 victory Sunday."They kicked our butts," he said.

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That was particularly true on the defensive side of the ball. Arizona smothered the Rams' potent offense, limiting St. Louis to 231 total yards. Bulger was 16 of 33 for just 186 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and St. Louis running backs Steven Jackson and Antonio Pittman were held to 29 yards on 17 carries.

"They had their time going to the playoffs," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said of the Rams. "It's our time now. We can taste it."

The Cardinals' defensive performance would have been even more impressive had cornerback Eric Green not allowed an 80-yard touchdown pass from Bulger to wide receiver Derek Stanley in the first quarter. Green had Stanley well covered, but he didn't turn around to look for the ball, and then he quit on the play.

St. Louis' only other score came after a punt return gave it the ball at Arizona's 31-yard line.

Other than that, the Rams did nothing. All 13 of their possessions lasted six plays or less.

"Nothing was going our way at all," Stanley said.

The Cardinals executed their game plan flawlessly. They knew Bulger liked to throw the deep ball, so they played a two-deep zone and tried to keep the Rams' receivers in front of them. Torry Holt didn't have a reception in the first half - he finished with six receptions for 58 yards - and deep threat Donnie Avery was a nonfactor with three catches for 26 yards.

"Our corners against some very good receivers did a good job," coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

The secondary got a huge assist from the Cardinals' defensive line, which was able to pressure Bulger with a four-man rush. Bulger was sacked twice and on several other plays had to take off running or hurriedly throw the ball to avoid a sack.

The defense also supplied the biggest play of the game. The Cardinals were trailing, 7-0, early in the second quarter, having squandered a first-and-goal at the St. Louis 2-yard line on their first drive.

But on first down, Bulger looked to his right and after not seeing any open receivers, turned and threw to his left, trying to hit Avery.

Free safety Antrel Rolle was waiting for the throw.

"I was supposed to cover the middle of the field, but I saw Adrian Wilson had his guy covered pretty well, so I leaned to the other side and made a great play on the ball," Rolle said.

Rolle took the interception 40 yards for a touchdown. It was his fourth interception return for a TD, placing him third on the franchise's all-time list behind Aeneas Williams (6) and Larry Wilson (5).

"That really kind of got us going again," Whisenhunt said. "It was huge."