Rams still alive in struggling NFC

ST. LOUIS -- The situation could be a lot worse for the St. Louis Rams, 2-5 coming out of their bye week.

Only six teams in the NFC have winning records and they can knock one of them, the Arizona Cardinals, back to .500 this week. Still, players know the margin for error remains slim because they made so many early in the season during their 0-5 start.

"We can't afford to lose another game," quarterback Marc Bulger said. "Each week is our season, and that's the way we're approaching it. It's Arizona, and that's it."

That's the message coach Mike Martz delivered in a team meeting before practice Monday.

"What we've told them is today is enough in itself and tomorrow will come fast enough, and not to worry about that," Martz said. "The biggest thing is getting back into the mindset and attitude these guys have played with for so long, flying around, having fun and making plays.

"The last few weeks, we've had a lot of guys make plays on both sides of the ball."

The first priority for the Rams, just eight months removed from their second Super Bowl appearance in three years, is getting back to even. Victories over the Cardinals (4-3) on the road and the Chargers (6-1) and Bears (2-5) at home would accomplish that.

Then, perhaps they could breathe a little easier heading into a three-game road stretch at Washington, Philadelphia and Kansas City.

"Winning every game is always our goal," defensive tackle Tyoka Jackson said. "Obviously when you start off 2-5 it becomes even more of a priority.

"Just beating the Cardinals right now I know will help us get to where we want to be, and if we don't beat the Cardinals we're in huge trouble."

No team has ever made the playoffs after an 0-5 start, but the Rams are aiming to be the first. The rest of the NFC is cooperating with their comeback designs.

The Saints are a somewhat surprising 6-2 and the Bucs (6-2) also are off to a strong start under new coach Jon Gruden. But the Redskins (3-4) have been less than a success story under Steve Spurrier and the Bears (2-5) have flopped after a 13-3 finish a year ago.

"There's a lot of parity in the league right now," linebacker Don Davis said. "We definitely still have a shot at everything."

Martz wanted to keep playing after the Rams ended their early season free fall with a pair of impressive victories over the Raiders and Seahawks.

Players are confident they can pick up where they left off and resume their massive salvage job.

"We were on a nice little roll," said Davis, the special teams captain. "But now everybody has a smile on their face and they're ready to play some football.

"We'll just see where this thing goes."