Bucs 38, Rams 35

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) â€” Shaun King, while answering his own critics, might have kept the St. Louis Rams from making the NFL playoffs. <br><br>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a rematch of last season's NFC

Tuesday, December 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) â€” Shaun King, while answering his own critics, might have kept the St. Louis Rams from making the NFL playoffs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a rematch of last season's NFC championship game 38-35 Monday night, clinching a playoff berth and pushing the defending Super Bowl champions to the brink of elimination.

The win also clinched the NFC West for New Orleans.

The Bucs (10-5) can still win the NFC Central with a victory at Green Bay on Sunday and a Minnesota loss at Indianapolis, but the Rams (9-6) need help to get back into the playoffs.

``We came in with a purpose and a mind set that we had to get it done,'' Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. ``We kept punching them and we finally got a knockout. They got loose, but we hung together as a team and we got it done. It's `Bucsball,' baby. Whatever it takes.''

As the triggerman of Tampa Bay's much-maligned offense, King hadn't thrown a touchdown pass in nearly five games before he broke the drought with a pair of TD throws to Keyshawn Johnson.

But it's what he did in the closing minutes that the Bucs will remember.

Their answer to what St. Louis dubbed the ``The Catch'' â€” Ricky Proehl's game-winning reception from Kurt Warner to give the Rams an 11-6 victory in the NFC title game â€” will be ``The Lateral.''.

The Bucs marched 80 yards for the winning score, with 30 of them coming on one of the craziest plays of the season.

Trailing 35-31 and seemingly headed nowhere against the Rams defense, King threw a swing lateral to Warrick Dunn. He was trapped far behind the line and, as he was being dragged down, suddenly pitched the ball back to King to avoid a 14-yard loss.

King shook loose and streaked down the sideline for a 15-yard gain, and 15 more yards were tacked on for a late hit by linebacker Mike Jones. Four plays later, King scrambled for 6 yards on fourth-and-4, then threw 22 yards to Reidel Anthony at the 2.

Dunn, who rushed for 145 yards on 22 carries, scored his third touchdown from the 1 with 48 seconds remaining.

``It was the kind of thing that Joe Montana used to do,'' Anthony said of the drive. ``It was our first real opportunity to get a drive like this. When you do something like that, it's something you can build off of.''

King completed 18 of 38 passes for 256 yards, including TD throws of 8 and 17 yards to Johnson, who had seven catches for 116 yards. Dunn also scored on runs of 2 and 52 yards, finishing the day with 1,093 on the season.

``Our offense has taken a lot of criticism, but I think this game proved what we are made of,'' Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. ``It feels good to be in the playoffs. I have a lot of confidence in our team. When we are playing good ball, we can do what it takes to win.''

Marshall Faulk scored four touchdowns for the Rams. Faulk scored four touchdowns for the second straight week and third time this season, breaking the NFL record he shared with Jim Brown, who did it a record six times in his career.

To reach the playoffs, the Rams (9-6) need to beat New Orleans next Sunday and hope Chicago (4-11) pulls an upset at Detroit.

``We controlled our own destiny up to this point. We didn't get it done,'' Warner said. ``We can't look to anybody else and say it was their fault. It was our fault. We didn't finish this thing. Now we need help.''

Faulk, who rushed for 79 yards on 22 carries and had four receptions for 53 yards, scored on first-half runs of 2 and 16 yards for the Rams. He caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Warner completed 20 of 32 passes for 316 yards and two TDs, including a 72-yarder to Torry Holt that put the Rams ahead 35-31 with 5:33 to go. His third interception, two plays after Dunn's third TD, ended the Rams' hopes for a comeback.

``It's deflating,'' Rams safety Keith Lyle said. ``To lose by three points hurts because we had it wrapped up until that last drive.''

Notes: Tampa Bay won for the seventh time in eight games. ... Holt had nine catches for 165 yards. ... The Rams became the first NFL team to score more than 500 points in a season twice. ... The Bucs are 10-0 when they have fewer turnovers than their opponents.