Columnist Sal DeFilippo: Martz’s loyalty just plain goofy for the Rams

Sal DeFilippo

Friday, Sept. 12, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

Sal DeFilippo's pro football picks column appears Friday. Reach him at sal@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4076.

On the surface, the decision seems simple enough.

You have a quarterback who hasn't won a game he has started in more than a year, posting an 0-6 in 2002, and you have a quarterback who won every game he started and finished last season -- six wins, no losses.

If only it were that easy for Mike Martz, the St. Louis coach who spent all of last season dealing with the controversy between quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger.

Statistically, Bulger was dominant in 2002 -- his quarterback rating of 101.5 dwarfed Warner's meager 67.4 mark. And he never lost.

In this Battle of the Bulger, it appears that Warner is the dead weight these days.

But Martz has been loyal to Warner, and with good reason. Entering his injury-plagued 2002, Warner had made three consecutive Pro Bowls, reached the Super Bowl twice, and was coming off of an MVP campaign in which he threw for a gaudy 4,830 yards and 36 touchdowns.

So despite his ineffective 2002, Warner got the nod in the season opener last weekend against the Giants. So be it.

But see if you notice a pattern here. On his second pass attempt, Warner is hit and fumbles. Late in the first quarter, Warner is sacked in his end zone and fumbles, resulting in a Giants touchdown.

Early in second quarter, Warner is sacked again, and fumbles. Five minutes later, Warner is sacked, and fumbles. Two minutes after that, Warner is sacked, and fumbles.

"In the first half, he seemed a little goofy. I don't know how to explain it. He didn't seem normal. That is probably the best way to put it," Martz said in a conference call this week posted on NFL.com.

Just a little goofy, coach? Meanwhile, Bulger kept his unbeaten string in tact by sitting on the sideline, watching his team lose.

In defense of Warner, it turns out the goofiness was actually caused by a concussion, which was discovered after the game. Again, professor Martz provides some insight.

"He looked confused when you gave him a play and I shouldn't have played him," Martz said.

This revelation apparently surfaced after Warner fumbled the ball one more time, with five minutes left in the game, dashing any hopes of a St. Louis win. The sixth fumble was one shy of the NFL record.

Hard to fault Warner here. Players don't want to come out of a game. Last year, Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb broke a leg -- and then threw four touchdown passes.

Martz has got to interpret "goofy" as "possibly injured" or he soon won't have multiple quarterbacks to choose from. Meanwhile, Warner is recovering, and listed as the No. 2 quarterback this week, provided he can hang onto the clipboard.