NFL Recap (St Louis-Chicago)
Posted: Sun November 8, 1998 at 6:28 p.m. EST
ST LOUIS 20, CHICAGO 12
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Tony Banks threw a
touchdown pass and ran for a score as the St. Louis Rams snapped a
three-game losing streak with a 20-12 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Banks fired a three-yard scoring pass to former Bear Ricky Proehl to tie the
game, 7-7, three seconds into the second quarter and then sprinted up the
left sideline for a seven-yard touchdown that broke the tie 58 seconds
before halftime. Banks completed 24-of-31 passes for 202 yards as the Rams
won in Chicago for the first time since 1986. Proehl, who started in place
of injured Isaac Bruce,
caught eight passes for 99 yards.
"We made some plays early, we got some confidence, and the defense
played a great game as well," Proehl said. "Coming back here and beating
the Bears after some problems last year, I don't know if it was lack of
respect, just knowing your ability, it's got to be a little sweeter coming
back and winning. It feels good leaving here with a `W'. I was fortunate
to make some plays and everything worked out well."
Jeff Wilkins
kicked a pair of field goals for the Rams (3-6), who won for the first time
since a 30-10 home triumph over the New York Jets on October
11th.
"We played very hard in a tough place to win, against a good football
team," said St. Louis coach Dick Vermeil. "The Bears are a good football
team, I think one of the better teams we've played. They were playing
without their starting quarterback and I think that hurts any football
team. I feel we played well enough to win the game. I thought our
quarterback executed well and it's nice to see him grow as we hit the
second part of the season."
Steve Stenstrom,
making his first NFL start, threw a four-yard TD pass to Curtis Conway that gave
Chicago (3-6) a 7-0 lead with 6:36 to go in the opening quarter. Stenstrom
was 15-of-25 for 154 yards and was sacked four times for 32 yards. Curtis Enis carried 18
times for 76 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter with a sprained
left knee. He is scheduled to have an MRI later tonight.
Chicago was penalized eight times for 99 yards, including a pair of
pass interefence penalties that keyed two scoring drives.
"We committed some penalties, which were costly and we had
opportunities down the stretch to make some plays in all areas but we
didn't do it," said Chicago coach Dave Wannstedt. "We didn't play well
enough to win the football game. The opening drive was good. I thought
Stenstrom for the most part handled himself pretty well. We didn't play
well enought to win the game, that was obvious. We just didn't make enough
plays in all areas not just offense. I'm talking about defensively."
Stenstrom had a chance to give the Bears the lead but safety Keith Lyle stepped in
front of Conway and intercepted a pass at the St. Louis 3-yard line with
3:41 left in the game.
"The first drive is always critical so we had a script going in and
things clicked pretty well for us," said Stenstrom, who was 5-for-5 on his
first possession. "We overcame a couple of penalties in the first drive.
It's nice to come out of the blocks that way. We did a good job on the
defense responding to the things we were doing and down the stretch we
didn't make enough plays as an offensive group to win the game."
St. Louis managed just two yards on three runs after the interception
by Lyle. Chicago was awarded a safety to make it 20-12 when safety Gerald McBurrows was
called for holding as St. Louis was punting from its end zone.
After the free kick, Stenstrom tossed a 48-yard pass to Bobby Engram to bring the
ball to the St. Louis 20. But after an 11-yard run by running back Edgar Bennett, Stenstrom
threw three straight incompletions.
The Rams took a 17-7 lead when Wilkins kicked a 24-yard field goal
with 6:24 left in the third. Enis had 20 yards on a nine-play, 41-yard
drive that ended with Jeff
Jaeger's 31-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 17-10 with 55
seconds remaining in the third. Wilkins kicked a 33-yard field goal just
under four minutes into the fourth to make it 20-10.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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