Holt finds his brother, Lions in way of record

DETROIT -- Torry Holt will be met by a familiar face when he runs deep patterns through the middle of the field.

His brother's.

The St. Louis star will play against his younger sibling, Terrence, for the first time -- other than backyard games -- when St. Louis plays Detroit today.

"I've never been really tackled by him, except when we played in the snow when we were kids," Torry Holt said.

Terrence Holt plans to ignore his bloodlines in the regular-season finale, even if it means having a violent collision with his brother.

"I think it will be like me sticking the guy running the post," the rookie free safety said. "I'll think about it being my brother after the game. During the game, I'm not going to be thinking, 'That's my brother. Don't do this, or don't do that."'

That's what Torry Holt expected to hear from his brother, who is four years younger.

"I'm scared. He's got me shook up right now," Torry Holt joked. "I'll try to look for ways that I can beat him, because he's going to be looking to take my head off.

"But it's exciting. I'm looking forward to it. It's something that we always dreamed about as little kids and now to have the opportunity to actually live it out, it's going to be a joy."

Even if Terrence Holt has the best game of his life, and gets help from Dre' Bly, a former St. Louis cornerback, it might not be enough to slow down the NFL's top receiver.

Holt is having the best season of his stellar five-year career, and could make his name prominent in team and league record books with another strong performance. He leads the NFL with 112 catches for 1,642 yards and with 12 touchdowns receiving, he trails only Randy Moss.

"I think terrific would be the word you would use to describe it," Rams coach Mike Martz said of Holt's season. "He always ran good routes, but right now, the body language that he uses in routes and his patience and his understanding of what's going on has really jumped way out there.

"That, combined with the obvious physical talent that he has, really makes him special."

Against Detroit's porous secondary, Holt has an opportunity to surpass the team records Isaac Bruce set in 1995 with 119 catches and 1,781 yards, the second-highest mark in league history.

If Holt has his 11th 100-yard game, he will tie the NFL single-season record by Michael Irvin in 1995. He is 11 receptions away from tying Herman Moore for second place among single-season totals in the NFL.

His brother, who also played at North Carolina State, is slowly making a name as a fifth-round pick in Detroit.

In his first start last week at Carolina, where the Lions set an NFL record with a 24th straight road loss, he became the first Lions rookie since 1986 to have three interceptions in a season. He also made a season-high 10 tackles.

"I think he has tremendous amount of room for improvement," his brother said. "Terrence didn't start playing football until his sophomore or junior year in high school. Terrence was a basketball player, so he's still learning. I played football forever."

With a win, the Rams (12-3) can stay home throughout the NFC playoffs. In 1999 and 2001, St. Louis had home-field advantage when it advanced to the Super Bowl.

Even if the Rams had nothing at stake, Martz said he would prefer to use his best players.

"This is an important game to finish up, so we'll give it our best shot," Martz said.

The Lions (4-11) have established themselves as the worst road team in league history, but they will have a winning record at home if they somehow upset the Rams.

"We're playing for pride and a good feeling to finish the season," Detroit's Cory Schlesinger said. "Yeah, it would only be five wins, but that's better than it's been the past couple of years."

The Lions were 3-13 last season and 2-14 in 2001 under Marty Mornhinweg, who was fired and replaced by Steve Mariucci.

Quarterback Joey Harrington will likely start, but is not expected to play the entire game. Harrington, last year's No. 3 pick, watched backup Mike McMahon, a fifth-round selection in 2001, play for two-plus quarters at Carolina.

"It was terrible," Harrington said. "I hate watching."

Without much help around him, Harrington has thrown 14 TDs and 21 interceptions. McMahon, who has no TDs and two interceptions, has thrown just 31 passes to Harrington's 518 this season.

"I don't think I have to audition for a new contract here because the Lions know what I can do," said McMahon, a restricted free agent after the season. "But you can kind of see the writing on the wall. It seems like it will be the same situation next year with Joey getting the shot, but we'll see. You never know."