Consider two Rams players from the recent past:
I'll start with Marc Bulger. On a play I remember, well, he threw a half-assed chicken block at a defender coming across to pursue an end-around. His job on that play: make that block. He weaseled, got steamrolled, and taken out of the game. Had he not been a wuss, the collision might have thumped him a little bit but that's all. Lie down, even a little bit, and you're liable to get hurt by somebody who isn't.
Remember Grant Wistrom? Those who do will recall that he kept coming on every play - regardless who was ahead or behind, or by how much. His reputation was that he had "motor." It was more than that. He wanted to know, inside himself, that he'd given his all - left it all on the field, every game. Takes courage, perseverance, character, and with the world watching if you lack those things, it shows glaringly in a loss. It's not the same as easing up when you're way ahead.
Carry that lay-down-in-defeatist attitude into the next game and you'll likely lose that one, too.
When you're getting your butt whipped, whether you leave the game with self-respect and the respect of the other team is more important than the score.
My recent hometown college football game (Montana State vs. University of Montana) ended in a lopsided 55 - 21 victory for the MSU Bobcats, who at one point recently had a 16-straight game losing streak in this UM/MSU "Brawl of the Wild."
I can't dial up a replay of the 'Cat player's on-field interviews after the game, but one of them said said something like, "Hey - I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea about this (UM) team. They're tough. They played their hearts out out there today. They're a good team. They fought hard every play."
Can the Rams leave the Chiefs with those kinds of memories? Earn their respect? Conduct themselves like champions? I'll be watching the game for that kind of play from an outgunned, walking wounded Rams team.
