Warner, Faulk clicking again for NFL's No. 1 offense

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Kurt Warner is back, as his nearly perfect numbers against the Minnesota Vikings show. <br><br>``Kurt was as good as he's ever been,'' St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz said

Thursday, December 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Kurt Warner is back, as his nearly perfect numbers against the Minnesota Vikings show.

``Kurt was as good as he's ever been,'' St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz said of last year's MVP. ``He had a couple of throwaways. Otherwise, I don't know if he throws an incomplete pass.''

Marshall Faulk, following midseason arthroscopic knee surgery and a few light game days, also is on his game just in time for the playoff drive. On Wednesday, Faulk was honored as the NFL offensive player of the week for his career-best four-touchdown game in the Rams' 40-29 victory.

``I think what it says is Marshall's back, physically, completely,'' Martz said. ``It allows us to get back into the regular flow of what we'd like to do on offense.''

With those two clicking, the Rams scored 40 points and topped 500 yards total offense (they had 508) for the first time since Game 6. The two weeks before the Vikings game, the Rams totaled 27 points and 557 yards.

``Everyone's back,'' offensive tackle Ryan Tucker said. ``This is the team we started the season with, this is the team of last year, and we're ready to roll.''

The Rams (9-5), who ended a three-game losing streak, can clinch a playoff spot Monday night at Tampa Bay. They don't figure to put up such huge numbers against the Bucs, whom they beat 11-6 in the NFC championship game last season.

``You've got to take what they give you and you've got to take the hit and get up and keep doing it,'' Warner said.

Warner threw a career-worst four interceptions and produced no touchdowns for the first time since becoming the starter last season in a 16-3 loss to the Panthers two weeks ago. That was his first game after he'd missed 5 1-2 games due to a broken pinky on his throwing hand.

Against the Vikings, he was back at the top of his game. Warner opened with 11 straight completions and finished 27-of-32 for 346 yards to set up Faulk's scores, and with no interceptions.

The Rams led 17-0 early in the second quarter, forcing the Vikings into a long day of catchup.

``I think it's about as good as we can play as a team,'' Warner said. ``I still missed five passes that I think I could have made, so I think we can continue to play better.''

Warner, who has 16 300-yard passing games in 25 career starts, didn't think he needed a week to get back into the flow after his layoff. The Rams short-circuited several drives against the Panthers, committing a season-worst seven turnovers.

``I felt good going into the Carolina game, so I can't really say it was the extra week or that it had anything to do with my finger,'' Warner said. ``All I know is when I went into the Minnesota game I was very focused and felt I was really going to play well.''

Faulk scored the game's first two touchdowns on a pair of 1-yard runs and scored on runs of 5 and 1 yard in the third quarter to become only the third back in league history to have a pair of four-TD games. Faulk, who also ran for four touchdowns in Game 3 at San Francisco, joins Gale Sayers (1965) and Jim Taylor (1962).

His 135 yards on 25 carries also put him over 1,000 yards for the fourth straight year.

``This one was a little special because I've been battling some injuries and some offensive linemen have been battling some injuries and things like that,'' Faulk said.

Faulk, who set the total yardage record of 2,329 yards last year, was leading the NFL this year before his knee injury forced him out of Game 9 and 10. He's second with 1,796 yards behind Edgerrin James (1,953) and needs 204 yards the last two games for his second straight 2,000-yard season.

``I don't think about that,'' Faulk said. ``The thing I try and do is every Monday is look at the film and say 'OK, did I do the best I can on each and every play?'''