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Haslett Celebrates Return With Win

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By BRETT MARTEL, The Associated Press

Published: November 12, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - Jim Haslett wasn't ready to return to the place where his first head coaching job began with accolades and literally ended in disaster after Hurricane Katrina.

It took about three quarters of, in Haslett's words, "freakin' awesome" football to make the St. Louis defensive coordinator feel a little better about being back in New Orleans.

His aggressive defense stuffed Drew Brees and the Saints' high-flying offense long enough to get the Rams their first win Sunday, 37-29.

"It really felt strange, being in the dome, period, after everything the dome went through and after everything the city went through," said Haslett, now the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator.

"To be honest with you, I didn't think I'd ever come back here. I've kind of avoided the city, not the people, but the city," Haslett continued, noting that his wife, Beth, couldn't bring herself to come to the Louisiana Superdome for the game. "I was hoping we wouldn't play the Saints, so I wouldn't have to come back."

It was a surprising performance from the Rams (1-8), who dominated the Saints (4-5), a team that had climbed back into the playoff picture with a four-game winning streak after an 0-4 start.
Marc Bulger finished with 302 yards and short touchdown passes to Isaac Bruce and Drew Bennett. Running back Steven Jackson, recovering from a back injury, rushed for a short touchdown and even threw a 2-yard halfback pass to Randy McMichael for a score.

Torry Holt, meanwhile, had eight catches for 124 yards, torturing the New Orleans secondary with several clutch catches on third-and-long.

Of course, Bulger, Holt, Bruce and Jackson all have had big games before. It was probably a matter of time before they'd start clicking again.

The difference was the Rams' blitz-happy, playmaking defense, which intercepted Brees twice, thwarted a scoring threat with a third-down sack, forced an intentional grounding penalty and piled on Brees for another drive-ending loss after the quarterback bobbled a high snap.

NO-Bush 7 run (Mare kick), 12:45.

StL-Jackson 1 run (Wilkins kick), 2:58.

Second Quarter

StL-McMichael 2 pass from Jackson (Wilkins kick), 8:37.

StL-FG Wilkins 49, 5:37.

Third Quarter

StL-FG Wilkins 21, 8:55.

StL-Bruce 9 pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick), 4:43.

Fourth Quarter

StL-Bennett 3 pass from Bulger (Wilkins kick), 14:18.

NO-Miller 1 pass from Brees (Bush run), 11:36.

NO-Stecker 2 run (pass failed), 4:42.

StL-FG Wilkins 44, 1:55.

NO-Johnson 7 pass from Brees (Bush run), :32.

A-70,003.

RUSHING-St. Louis, Jackson 22-76, Pittman 7-53, Leonard 2-6, Bulger 2-(minus 1), Bruce 1-(minus 1). New Orleans, Stecker 3-26, Bush 7-17, Brees 1-0.

PASSING-St. Louis, Bulger 27-33-0-302, Jackson 1-1-0-2. New Orleans, Brees 25-36-2-272.

RECEIVING-St. Louis, Holt 8-124, Jackson 5-24, Bruce 4-62, McMichael 4-41, Bennett 4-37, Leonard 2-16, Pittman 1-0. New Orleans, Colston 8-129, Bush 5-27, E.Johnson 3-38, Patten 3-37, Henderson 3-20, Moore 1-12, Stecker 1-8, Miller 1-1.

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