The run that defined a season

Bask in the highlight of Steven Jackson's 56 yard touch down run. It's a real beaut, no?

Besides, marking the return of Steven Jackson to official elite status (something we're hoping this quad injury won't puncture) we see two other important points paraphrased in that play.

Psychology is and should be part of a team's strategy. On top of the Xs and Os, the tape leading up to this game revealed a Cowboys team in disarray. The talent was still there, but, collectively, they seemed unsure of themselves after a couple of unexpected losses and barely sratching out a win against the Bengals. Not to get all Sun Tzu on us or anything, but exploiting a known weakness like that was as essential to this game as knowing the Cowboys secondary didn't match up well against our speedy receivers. The Rams planned for that too, from Steven Jackon, the man who delivered the backbreaking blow with his 56-yarder (from the Dallas News via Blogging the Boys):

"We really felt their body language as a defense...if you jump on them, we felt we could take them out of their game," Jackson said. "We wanted to kill their morale.

"They're a very talented team. It's something we felt if we could jump on them, we could put them away."

Take a look at Goldberg, lined up at TE on the right, and Alex Barron block on that play, a solid contribution, without it there's no 56 yard run. I haven't seen the official results on the sacks, but by my unofficial count, only one sack came from the right side - Greg Ellis early in the 2nd quarter. He didn't commit any penalties either. Barron's one of those players that I've always just assigned to the doghouse until proven otherwise, but he's playing some solid football for the rejuvenated Rams. Goldberg had had a rough day on the left side, but made a great play working in a different role on the line, showing the versatility that makes him an asset.

That play, a "nuisance play" as described by Al Saunders, featured great blocking across the board. C Nick Leckey pulls to make the block that springs Jackson from behind the line. Goldberg takes LB Bradie James out of the play right at the 47 yard line, where the Rams need to get for a first down.