Rams, Colts Are Wild About Turn of Events

By ROBYN NORWOOD

Dec. 25, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Get surreal.

After a bizarre day in the NFL, the St. Louis Rams and the Indianapolis Colts are in the playoffs after all.

The Miami Dolphins?

They had to win the AFC East twice before they could finish getting dressed.

The Rams, on the verge of becoming only the 10th Super Bowl champion to miss the playoffs the next season, grabbed the final NFC wild-card berth with a 26-21 victory over New Orleans--but only because of what happened in Pontiac, Mich., moments after their game ended.

The Rams needed an unlikely upset of Detroit by the 4-11 Chicago Bears, and the out-of-town scoreboard at the Superdome could have been flagged for taunting: It only showed the score when Detroit was winning.

But with the Ram game over and two seconds left in the Lion game, Chicago rookie Paul Edinger lined up for a 54-yard field goal and nailed it for a 23-20 victory that knocked the Lions out of the playoffs and ushered the Rams in the backdoor.

“The whole Chicago Bears’ organization can come to my house for dinner tonight,” Ram defensive tackle D’Marco Farr said. “I’ll put Edinger, the kicker, at the head of the table.”

The Colts--who only two weeks ago needed to master a Rubik’s cube of combinations to reach the playoffs--clinched an AFC wild-card berth by beating Minnesota, 31-10, after the New York Jets were knocked out by a loss to Baltimore’s record-setting defense.

As for the Dolphins, the newly crowned AFC East champions were forced to return to the field more than a half-hour after the game when officials interrupted Coach Dave Wannstedt’s victory speech to tell them a replay ruling had determined three seconds still remained.

“That’s the greatest feeling in the world to go out there, with our backs to the wall. . . .” Wannstedt was saying when referee Johnny Grier came to the locker room door.

“Hold on, Coach? Coach?”

Pulled from the showers, some players stood on the sideline still wearing towels around their waists in frigid Foxboro, Mass., as the defense held off one final New England attempt to score in the Dolphins’ 27-24 victory.

On a day of close games, one distinctly was not.

The Oakland Raiders demolished the Carolina Panthers, 52-9, and earned their first playoff appearance since 1993 and first AFC West title since 1990.

The Raiders are making their first playoff appearance since leaving Los Angeles, and be warned: Raider fans will be looking for something to do this weekend after Oakland earned a first-round bye.

Despite a couple of late-season stumbles, the Raiders suddenly look as primed for the playoffs as any team.

“With a dominant win like this, we let everybody know you’ve got to bring your best game to beat this team,” said receiver Tim Brown, one of the few players who was on the last playoff team. “We don’t plan on slowing down.”

There’s no team in the NFL that is particularly intimidating, except perhaps Tennessee with its balance or Baltimore, with a Purple Bruise defense that set an NFL record by giving up only 165 points.

The Rams proved no threat to the 1972 Dolphins this season but they suddenly have a chance to repeat.

Their attempt begins Saturday with a rematch with the Saints. Same place, one week later.

One concern for the Rams: Quarterback Kurt Warner left the game after suffering a mild concussion, and he hasn’t been consistent since returning from a broken finger, with eight interceptions and only two touchdown passes in the last four games.

One reason for confidence: The Rams played solid, aggressive defense for most of the game--only six days after the Monday Night debacle against Tampa Bay that put them in a position to need help to make the playoffs in the first place.

The Buccaneers are another team once given up for lost, and they play at Philadelphia Sunday in the other NFC wild-card game in what should be a tough battle of defenses and young quarterbacks.

For the Buccaneers, it will be one more chance to shake that famous cold-weather jinx after coming close in a 17-14 overtime loss at Green Bay. (Word is, Shaun King had never seen snow before his foray to Green Bay.)

The Eagles will have to show they didn’t lose their edge by finishing with Cleveland, an open date and Cincinnati.

The NFC byes belong to the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, who claimed the NFC Central despite losing to Indianapolis because of Tampa Bay’s loss to Green Bay.

But like the Rams, the Vikings have a quarterback injury to worry about.

Daunte Culpepper, nursing a high right ankle sprain, started the game despite barely practicing this week. But he quickly re-injured it on two hits, bringing on Bubby Brister.

With Culpepper’s injury and the Viking defensive problems, Minnesota is far from the favorite it was a few weeks ago.

If you’re wagering on a Super Bowl winner, you might want to pick the AFC.

One of the AFC wild-card matchups won’t be decided until tonight, when Tennessee can finish with the NFL’s best record at 13-3, win the AFC Central and earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by beating Dallas.

Otherwise, the spoils go to Baltimore, and Tennessee would host Denver in a wild-card game Sunday.

If Tennessee wins tonight as expected, the Broncos--another team with an injured quarterback, Brian Griese--play at Baltimore on Sunday.

The other game is a rematch: The Colts are at Miami Saturday after beating the Dolphins there a week ago, 20-13.

The closest thing to a favorite is the Titans, who get to open gifts at home this morning, then try to put a ribbon on the regular season tonight.

Home-field advantage would be a tremendous advantage, considering the Titans have lost at home only once--to Baltimore--since Adelphia Coliseum opened.

The Super Bowl?

It’s wide open.

It can still be Rams-Raiders, in a grudge match of L.A. exiles.

It can still be Rams-Colts, a quarterback clinic.

It can also be any one of a number of matchups inconceivable before the season.

How does Giants--Dolphins or Saints-Ravens strike you?

Not likely, it’s true, but possible.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WILD-CARD MATCHUPS

SATURDAY

Indianapolis at Miami,

9:30 a.m., Channel 7