NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- ST LOUIS 0 3 0 6 -- 9 CHICAGO 7 0 14 14 -- 35 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: CHI - TD, Conway 28 pass from Krieg (Jaeger kick), 9:49. Drive: 8 plays, 92 yards in 4:52. Key plays: Krieg 36-yard pass to Timpson to Chicago 46; Krieg 8-yard pass to Carter on 3rd-and-2 to St Loius 27. Chicago 7-0 2ND QUARTER: STL - FG, Lohmiller 25, 13:03. Drive: 11 plays, 56 yards in 4:27. Key plays: Banks 36-yard pass to Bruce to Chicago 49; Banks 17-yard pass to Bruce to Chicago 17. Chicago 7-3 3RD QUARTER: CHI - TD, Salaam 3 run (Jaeger kick), 7:00. Drive: 10 plays, 81 yards in 4:57. Key plays: Salaam 32-yard run to St. Louis 49; Krieg 2-yard run on 4th-and-1 to St Louis 18. Chicago 14-3 CHI - TD, Krieg 1 run (Jaeger kick), 11:22. Drive: 7 plays, 44 yards in 3:12. Key plays: Krieg 6-yard pass to Timpson on 3rd-and-2 to St. Louis 31. Krieg 27-yard pass to Carter to St. Louis 4. Chicago 21-3 4TH QUARTER: CHI - TD, Lowery recovered fumble in end zone (Jaeger kick), 1:36. Chicago 28-3 CHI - TD, Salaam 3 run (Jaeger kick), 10:34. Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards in 4:45. Key plays: Salaam 21-yard run to St.Louis 36; Salaam 23-yard run to St.Louis 17. Chicago 35-3 STL - TD, Kennison 19 pass from Martin (two-point conversion failed), 13:10. Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards in 2:36. Key plays: Martin 19-yard pass to Ross to Chicago 35. Chicago 35-9
TEAM STATISTICS
STL CHI -------- -------- FIRST DOWNS 17 22 Rushing 7 10 Passing 10 11 Penalty 0 1 3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-13 6-13 4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-2 1-1 TOTAL NET YARDS 323 384 Total plays 63 63 Average gain 5.1 6.1 NET YARDS RUSHING 94 162 Rushes 19 37 Average per rush 4.9 4.4 NET YARDS PASSING 229 222 Completed-attempted 24-42 17-25 Yards per pass 5.2 8.5 Sacked-yards lost 2-12 1-4 Had intercepted 1 1 PUNTS-AVERAGE 5-36.2 5-43.4 RETURN YARDAGE 83 29 Punts-returns 5-34 2-15 Kickoffs-returns 4-49 1-14 Interceptions-returns 1-0 1-0 PENALTIES-YARDS 13-102 4-21 FUMBLES-LOST 1-1 2-0 TIME OF POSSESSION 26:52 33:08
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: St Louis (Lohmiller 45).
St Louis rushing: Green 11-65, Lyle 1-20, L Phillips 5-8, Banks 2-1.
Chicago rushing: Salaam 19-115, R Harris 10-26, Green 5-14, Conway 1-4, Krieg 2-3.
St Louis passing: Banks 20-38 for 194 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD, Martin 4-4 for 47 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.
Chicago passing: Krieg 17-25 for 226 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
St Louis receiving: Kennison 8-102, Bruce 6-87, Laing 4-17, Thomas 3-12, Ross 1-19, Clay 1-9, L Phillips 1-minus 5.
Chicago receiving: Timpson 6-111, Tony Carter 4-49, Conway 3-43, R Harris 2-9, Engram 1-9, Krieg 1-5.
St Louis tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): R Phifer 9-2-0, Lyght 6-2-0, Mcburrows 6-2-0, R Jones 5-1-0, Lyle 4-2-0, M Walker 5-0-0, Jenkins 4-1-0, K Carter 4-0-1, J Jones 4-0-0, Oneal 3-1-0, Farr 2-1-0, Figaro 1-0-0, Goeas 1-0-0, Miller 1-0-0, Oberry 1-0-0.
Chicago tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): W Harris 10-1-0, Smith 4-1-0, B Minter 4-1-0, J Burton 3-0-0, Cain 3-0-0, Flanigan 3-0-1, K Miniefield 3-0-0, Woolford 2-1-0, Thierry 1-2-0, A Fontenot 2-0-0, Mangum 2-0-0, Simpson 2-0-0, Spellman 2-0-1, S Harris 1-0-0, Marshall 0-1-0, Engram 1-0-0, Faulkerson 1-0-0, Forbes 1-0-0, Lowery 1-0-0, Sauerbrun 1-0-0.
Interceptions: St Louis (M Walker 1 for 0 yards); Chicago (Marshall 1 for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: St Louis (Kennison).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Chicago (Lowery).
A: 45,075.
GAME RECAPRashaan Salaam ran for two touchdowns and Dave Krieg rushed for a score and passed for another to propel the Chicago Bears to a 35-9 victory over the St. Louis Rams.
Salaam rushed for 115 yards on 19 carries for the Bears (6-8), who still have very slim playoff hopes. Salaam, who rushed for 100 yards for the first time this season, came on strong after Raymont Harris sprained his right ankle in the second quarter.
"It feels pretty good to go out there and run for 100 yards," said Salaam. "But I feel pretty bad that when they put me in there, we didn't have a chance for the playoffs. I'm just happy to go out there and help the team win. I'd like to prove to the Bears that they have two starting tailbacks in the backfield."
St Louis (4-10) had two key players -- wide receiver Isaac Bruce and quarterback Tony Banks -- ejected in separate incidents in the second half.
Bruce, who entered the game ranked second in the NFC in receiving yards, was ejected for pushing an official. Banks and Bears' defensive end Alonzo Spellman were ejected for fighting with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter.
"The second half was the most bizarre half of football I've ever since, everything went wrong," said Rams' coach Rich Brooks. "We had our premiere receiver, who felt he was interfered with, didn't get the call and then goes and pushes a official.
"Then our quarterback gets hit late after the whistle, tries to defend himself and gets kicked out of the game."
Krieg put the Bears on top with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Conway with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter.
St. Louis got on the board with just under two minutes to go in the first half when Chip Lohmiller kicked a 25-yard field goal.
The Bears then took a 21-3 advantage in the third. Salaam scored on a three-yard run with eight minutes remaining in the period and Krieg added a one-yard touchdown plunge 4:22 later.
Chicago built a 25-point cushion when Michael Lowery recovered a fumble by punt returner Eddie Kennison in the end zone 96 seconds into the fourth period. Salaam made it 35-3 on another three-yard scoring run with 4:26 remaining in the game.
"The ball hit me in the stomach, so I had to chase it," said Kennison. "It was obvious to me that I touched the ball, but if everybody else didn't see it, I guess I should have stayed away from it.
"Anytime you make mistakes, it costs you. We made some key plays, but obviously not enough. We have two games left, we need to stick together as a team and try to step up."
St. Louis got its only touchdown of the game 2:36 later, when quarterback Jamie Martin -- in his third season out of Weber State -- found Kennison on a 19-yard scoring strike.
"Today was no different for our football team -- with their approach, their effort and their intensity -- than in the past few weeks," said Bears' coach Dave Wannstedt. "I felt some good things happeded today. It's a credit to our players, showing they are determined to try and finish the season strong."
Chicago linebacker Vinson Smith left the game early in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle.