ST. LOUIS – For 114 minutes this season, the Seattle Seahawks have been able to make St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk look mortal.
But for the final six, he looked more like, well, Marshall Faulk.
The future Hall of Famer ran for 31 yards off 15 carries in a September loss to the Seahawks, then was being held to similar numbers on Sunday. But when the Rams really needed him, Faulk delivered during a key drive late in a 27-22 win over Seattle.
“When you are out there playing, you want to make things happen,” said Faulk, who had 57 of his 98 all-purpose yards on St. Louis’s final offensive possession Sunday. “You want to come to the situation, but the situation came to me.”
Through the middle of the fourth quarter, Faulk had 34 rushing yards on 19 carries. He had caught two passes for 7 yards. The Rams had a 24-22 lead with 5:57 remaining when he got a chance to carry the load.
Faulk was the only player to carry the ball on that 10-play possession, rushing for 51 yards and adding a key 6-yard reception. The drive culminated in a field goal that killed the Seahawks’ chances of kicking themselves to victory.
“A guy like Marshall Faulk, a playmaker, he’s been doing this a long time,” Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “He showed up, and he made plays when he had to.”
Faulk opened the final drive with a 28-yard run that put the ball near midfield. He later converted a third-and-4 when he took a screen pass from Marc Bulger, avoided a trio of swarming Seattle defenders in the right flat, then ran left and got the first down.
“It was a play he was due to make,” Seahawks defensive tackle Cedric Woodard said. “We just had to come back and try to make the next play. We held them to a field goal, so we came out all right on that drive.”
In his inaugural NFC West meeting with the Seahawks in October 2002, Faulk busted out for 183 rushing yards and four touchdowns. In three subsequent meetings, he has 129 rushing yards on 52 carries (an average of 2.5 yards per carry) and one touchdown.
Faulk had 85 rushing yards on 28 carries in Sunday’s win.
“He’s a good player,” Woodard said. “The longer he goes, he’s got a chance to break it at any time.
“He just picked the right time.”
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