Update: Bit of reality interjected into this matchup is that HC Mike Martz may rest some of the players during the game if the win appears in hand and the Eagles who play on Saturday evening lost their game. If Philly loses to Washington, which is more of an "any given Sunday" thing, then the Rams have already secured the #1 seed in the NFC and have nothing to win in the game.

Artose Pinner is expected to take the start but will share with Shaun Bryson in the bad rushing game.

Isaac Bruce continues to be a big question and seems most likely to not play so I am not projecting for him. Marshall Faulk may get a rest in the game as he has in previous similar situations as well as Bulger handing the reins off to Warner sometime during the game if the Eagles lose or the Rams are safely in the lead. I am not changing any of the projections which are based on one scenario, but be aware that at least Bulger and Faulk have a significant risk of not finishing the game if the situation warrants getting them rest before the playoffs begin.

There is a probability that Mike McMahon gets snaps in the game too as Mariucci conducts his experiment to see if McMahon is worth keeping next season. I am including numbers for both since it could happen but that is up to Mariucci's whim during the game.

St. Louis Notes

The Rams rise to 12-3 and thanks to the Eagles loss, now have the best record in the NFC. For a team that dominates at home (7-0) and yet struggles on the road (4-3), this falls under the heading of a "good development".

Marc Bulger comes off his ninth multiple touchdown game of the season and has four 300+ yard games during 2003. In the past four games, Bulger has remained between 222 and 236 yards which is his norm when Faulk gets on track.

Marshall Faulk has five 100 yard rushing efforts this season and turned in 121 yards last week against the Bengals with two scores. All five big games have been in the last six weeks as Faulk finally has been playing healthy in an offense that is clicking. Faulk has ten scores on the year and is only one touchdown from tying Cris Carter's fourth place in NFL history with 131 touchdowns. Bet he scores at least once, maybe twice this week.

Isaac Bruce did not play last week with a high ankle sprain and is not expected to play this week. That allows Torry Holt to finish up an outstanding regular season that has witnessed him leading the NFL with 112 catches and 1642 yards this year. He leads Randy Moss by six receptions and 74 yards and Moss gets to visit the Cardinals. Since Holt draws the Lions, it should be a rather nice afternoon for both the elite receivers.

Match against the Defense: The Lions have one of the worse pass defenses in the league and have the entire season even before they lost set after set of defensive backs. DE Kalimba Edwards suffered a torn groin muscle and is gone for the season and DE Robert Porcher may not play due to wrist and elbow injuries. DT Luther Ellis is still out because of a concussion. It just never ends.

The Rams need to win in order to assure the only away game is the Super Bowl. Beyond that, they can decide how they want to win. Bulger should manage two scores since nine other teams have done so and Faulk needs to get two touchdowns to place him fourth on the all-time list. Bruce will not play so Holt is a lock to score once and maybe twice.

Detroit Notes

At 4-11 and having lost the last three weeks, the Lions are now playing their final game of the season by randomly selecting people out of the stands to play defense.

HC Steve Mariucci wanted to see what Mike McMahon could do last week which resulted in him throwing 4 of 11 for 36 yards and one interception. This was actually better than Joey Harrington who came in to save the day by completing 3 of 8 for 17 yards. At some point you would think they would just throw Hail Mary passes every play and willingly accept the 5% success rate.

The Lions have a rushing game by rumor and innuendo but nothing is proven yet. Artose Pinner led the runners last week with 12 runs that only netted 22 yards.

Match against the Defense: The Lions have not given up on the season though their record hardly refutes the notion. They just do not have the talent to run a medium-sized McDonalds, let alone the Mariucci scheme.

All you are hoping here is for trash time scores and yardage and that could easily happen at home once the Rams take a significant lead. Since that could be the final three quarters, the Lions may have a decent box score by appearance though the running game will really struggle. Look for Harrington to produce some respectable numbers via sheer volume.

* Fantasy point rankings calculated using standard Huddle fantasy points