After Game, the Rams at a Loss for Words

ANAHEIM — For those who were not watching--and that includes Ram free safety Anthony Newman--the Atlanta Falcons scored eight points Sunday. All on passes over the middle.

Well, some guys make guarantees and back them up. Other guys? Well, talk is cheap.

The Ram secondary was at its trash-talking best Sunday. There just wasn’t much to say in the end, after the 8-5 loss to the Falcons on Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

So what if Andre Rison caught only one pass over the middle, an area Newman said the Falcon star receiver can’t seem to locate? So what if Rison spent most of the day tippy-toeing the sideline again?

The big picture was clear, at least to Rison.

“There’s no selfishness, no individualism, on this team,” Rison said. “I’ll play decoy if it helps the team.”

While Rison was a sitting duck, Bert Emanuel, Ricky Sanders and Terance Mathis caught a flock of passes, some during the 89-yard fourth-quarter drive for the go-ahead touchdown.

“I don’t care what Andre did,” Newman said. “One catch or 1,000 catches, we lost the game.”

And lost it over the middle.

Rison skipped to the outside when Sanders caught a 13-yard touchdown pass--over the middle--from reserve quarterback Bobby Hebert. Rison didn’t even get close to the middle when Mathis snagged a pass for the two-point conversion.

Yeah, Newman protected his turf from Rison. He just got robbed blind wearing those blinders.

“That’s something, isn’t it?” Mathis said. “All I said from the day all the talk started was you still got to play between the lines.”

Newman, of course, said Rison tended to play it a little closer to the lines. Rison had caught 12 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons’ 31-13 victory over the Rams two weeks ago. It was a victory he had guaranteed a week earlier.

Well, Newman tried that let’s-talk-smack-before-we-whack schtick and he did help shut down Rison, who finished with four catches for 34 yards.

Rison was taunted by the Ram defensive backs and jeered by fans, who chanted, “Andre, Andre,” at the start of the fourth quarter. There were other, less civil, comments as well, from fans and players.

“We had a few words here and there out on the field,” Rison said. “That comes with the territory. But the fans were saying, ‘I hope you die. I hope you break your leg.’ ”

Said Ram cornerback Todd Lyght: “I think it was kind of tough for him to get into the game because the fans were riding him so hard.”

Others had no such problems.

Sanders caught six passes for 58 yards. Mathis had four catches for 50 yards. Emanuel had a career-high six receptions for 86 yards.

None of them were going to play the tongue-wagging game.

“I don’t listen to all that mumbo jumbo,” Sanders said. “It’s not my style. I was more worried about catching that touchdown pass. I haven’t seen that paint in a long time.”

Said Mathis: “I started getting caught up in that stuff out there and had to remind myself to shut up.”

Even Rison was ready to call it quits.

“I talked with Anthony after the game and we squashed things,” Rison said. “I wished him well. He wished me well. We went our different ways.”

Rison just walked away happy.

“I’m going to jump on the plane and smile,” he said.