> .. when it comes to making the playoffs by the skin of our teeth. I can
> remember at least 5 years when going into the last game of the season, our
> chances of getting in were less than 50-50, and yet we got in:
>
>
> 1983: cut and dried: we played the saints in new orleans. we were both 8-7
> and the winner would get a wild-card but the loser wouldn't.
>
> we won 26-24 on a last second, 46 yard fg.
>
>
> 1988: we were 9-6 but had to beat the division champ montana/walsh 49ers
> in san francisco, *and* we needed the 7-7-1 Jets to upset Parcell's 10-5
> Giants (if we were both 10-6, we'd win the tb over the giants because we
> beat them earlier in the year).
>
> we played a great game and crushed the niners 38-16, while the Giants were
> upset by the Jets, 27-21. rams make playoffs.
>
> 1989: this was a brutal year in the NFC, as two 10-6 teams failed to make
> the playoffs. the Rams would have been one of them had we not beaten New
> England (on the road), 24-20 on a last minute touchdown. the 11-5 rams
> would have lost out to green bay on tiebreakers had we lost the game.
>
> 2000: the defending world champ rams were 9-6, and needed to upset
> division champ new orleans in new orleans, *and* needed the 9-6 lions to
> lose to the woeful chicago bears at home in detroit (lions had the tb on
> us). the rams beat the saints 27-20, and the bears kicked a last-second
> field goal to beat the lions, sending the rams to the playoffs.
>
> 2004: the 7-8 rams needed to beat a 10-5 Jets team fighting for playoff
> seeding to have any chance, plus we need *both* the 7-8 saints to beat 7-8
> carolina on the road, and for 8-7 minnesota to lose to the 5-10 redskins.
> if the rams had finished tied at 8-8 with either the saints or the
> vikings, we'd have lost either of those tie-breakers. but the rams would
> win a 3-way breaker if all of us ended at 7-8.
>
> the rams scored a thrilling OT win over the Jets, 32-29, while the Vikings
> lost a 21-18 squeaker to the skins, and the saints won a 21-18 squeaker
> over the panthers. and the rams were in!
>
> on the other hand, i can't think of *any* years when a rams team that was
> 9-7 or better didn't make the playoffs, so we've definitely had the luck
> on our side.
>
>
> So let's hope some of that old luck is in play this weekend... :)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> "when i visited Aden before collectivization,
> all the markets were full of fish product. After
> collectivization, the fish immediately disappeared."
>
> - Aleksandr Vassiliev, Soviet KGB official