Rams shake off Lions, focus on Panthers

ST. LOUIS -- The bad taste is almost gone from the St. Louis Rams' loss to the Lions in the regular-season finale.

The NFC West champions got a week to mull over the upset that knocked them out of home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, and they returned to work for a practice walkthrough on Monday refreshed.

Determined, too, to show they're better than they showed in the 30-20 loss at Detroit where they got shut out in the second half by a team that finished 5-11.

"We knew we let a lot of people down by performing the way we did," wide receiver Dane Looker said. "I think we're really eager to come back and redeem ourselves.

"Especially watching those first-round playoff games, it gets you amped up and excited just knowing what the atmosphere is going to be like in the dome."

The Rams (12-4) enter Saturday's second-round playoff game against the Carolina Panthers (12-5) with a 14-game winning streak at home. They were 8-0 in the Edward Jones Dome this year, their second unbeaten season at home since they moved to St. Louis in 1995.

Players would much rather hang their hats on that record instead of the Lions loss, which ended a seven-game winning streak.

"You can't hang on to those games," offensive tackle Kyle Turley said. "We've got a bye week so that's two weeks of criticism, but hopefully most of the guys are like me, and they don't read the papers and they don't watch the news outside of national publications.

"So you don't really hear about the negativity too much, but you put it behind you as fast as you can and move on."

The loss could potentially end up as a positive, serving as a wakeup call.

"We were on a long win streak, and I think personally this could be a benefit to us," Turley said. "It's a bit of a gut check to us, and everybody is kind of looking at themselves in the mirror."

The Rams know other teams are looking at them, too, and thinking they're vulnerable.

"We're such a good team and we hold ourselves to such a higher standard than that, to go out there and play the way we did it's unacceptable to this team," Looker said. "What bugs you is you know teams are watching the tape and thinking 'The Rams are not that great.'

"You want to prove to the NFC and league that you're a team to be reckoned with."

After the bye week, regardless of how they finished the regular season, players are eager for some action. The 45-minute walkthrough at least got them back on the field.

"You can't help but be fired up," linebacker Tommy Polley said. "Just stepping away and watching everything else, it helps you re-focus and tells you what you need to do."

What they don't need to do is boast. Polley said Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was an embarrassment when he said "We want the ball and we're going to score," before his team's overtime loss to the Packers on Sunday.

"I don't want to do no Hasselbecks," Polley said. "You learn from that. Just go out and play the game, and things will work in your favor."