Solid gold - Burden no burden for Faulk

ST. LOUIS -- Heading into December, the St. Louis Rams put a saddle on Marshall Faulk's back and climbed aboard. Coach Mike Martz called it the "run to the gold."

"I mentioned to him that he was probably going to have 30 touches a game coming down the stretch," Martz said Wednesday. "We just talked about being able to handle that load, which is a big load. You get knocked around pretty good."

Faulk, always considered more of a thoroughbred than a battering ram, hasn't seemed to mind.

Beginning with the 49ers game Dec. 9, Faulk has 122 carries -- nearly half of his season total of 260 -- for 650 yards. The last three games, he's rushed for 202, 118 and 168 yards, totaling six touchdowns.

That's only half the story. Faulk also has 28 receptions for 225 yards and three scores in that span.

"That's Marshall," fullback James Hodgins said. "He steps up his game and he just brings us along with him. He really takes advantage of every snap."

Faulk has averaged exactly 30 touches per game down the stretch. Backup running back Trung Canidate, the player the Rams drafted in the first round in 2000 to give Faulk the occasional breather, got three carries for 5 yards in mop-up duty against the Falcons, but otherwise nothing during that stretch.

"You never know when Mike says things like that, if it's going to be true or not," Faulk said Wednesday. "But he said it and the last four or five games my touches have increased."

Faulk emerged unscathed and, after the Rams' bye week, feels fresh heading into Sunday's NFC playoff game against the Green Bay Packers.

"I'm good," Faulk said.

Faulk's play down the stretch helped him give teammate Kurt Warner a run for his money in league MVP voting. After winning the award last year he finished second this year, four votes behind the quarterback.

He became the first player in NFL history with four 2,000-yard seasons rushing and receiving, leaving Jim Brown behind, and followed his record 26-touchdown year from 2000 with 21 more scores.

"It was fun to get called on and answer," Faulk said. "That's the part of the game, that's the challenge, that you like.

"When your coach comes to you and says 'Hey, we're going to ride you on in' and you can answer and you can deliver, not just in small ways but big ways."

It's no surprise that the Rams (14-2) won all five games handily. They've won six in a row heading into Sunday's playoff game overall.

"We go out and try to play the perfect game in all phases," Faulk said. "We haven't done it yet; we've come pretty close.

"The thing we want to do is be moving forward in the playoffs, and we're doing that."

This week, Faulk said his approach hasn't changed much.

"I might watch a little bit more film, especially when it's a team such as Green Bay that we haven't played," Faulk said. "We've had a couple more days to get ready for them, so I'm taking more time watching film and just trying to get a feel for what their linebackers are like, how their safeties play and stuff like that."