Uncertainty haunts Bulger

St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger led the NFC in passing yards this season. It’s in the books. Harder to measure is Bulger’s place among the other playoff quarterbacks in terms of uncertainty and doubt. But he is probably near the top.

The Rams have running back Marshall Faulk, receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce and a quick, active defense. Their opponent in tomorrow’s divisional playoff game in St. Louis, the Carolina Panthers, have running back Stephen Davis, an improving passing game and probably the best front four in the league.

Yet the outcome might come down to Bulger and how he handles the pressure — not just the kind applied by the Carolina pass rush but the sneakier, less tangible but potentially more dangerous pressure of his first playoff appearance.

Bulger’s teammates have expressed confidence in him, but even they don’t entirely know what to expect.

“You can’t know that, and I can’t know that,” Faulk told reporters this week. “But we are going to find out.”

Replacing two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Kurt Warner after Warner fumbled six times and suffered a concussion in an opening day loss to the New York Giants, Bulger passed for 3,845 yards, which trailed only Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning and Kansas City’s Trent Green. The Rams went on to finish 12-4 and won the NFC West.

Here’s the uncertain part: Despite a solid 81.4 passer rating, Bulger threw as many interceptions, 22, as touchdowns. By contrast, the other seven playoff quarterbacks still playing averaged 24 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.

And here’s the doubt: In the regular-season finale on the road against doormat Detroit, a game the Rams needed to win to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, Bulger lost two fumbles, threw an interception and completed 18 of 31 for 170 yards and one touchdown. He also was sacked four times before leaving with an injured right elbow. The rusty Warner came in, did little and the Rams, who led by 10 at halftime, lost 30-20.

Bulger, who is 13-0 as a starter in home games, conceded making some mistakes, noted that his teammates made a few, too, and essentially said not to get too worked up about it.

“I don’t feel like I need to panic and stay up until midnight studying film and do something I haven’t been doing,” he said in a news conference at Rams Park. “You have to play and not get too worried, not get too tense or nervous, and just let your ability take over. I want to stress this: We are preparing a little more, but you don’t want to alter what you’re doing all year.

“Whether it’s the playoffs or not, as a quarterback, you have to keep proving yourself. If we win this week, then it will be that I’ve never been in the NFC Championship game. It will never end. Playing quarterback, there will always be expectations regardless of the situation. If I put too much pressure on myself, I don’t think I play well when I do that.”

Bulger’s elbow still hurts, but he reportedly has been throwing well during practice this week. Coach Mike Martz said he believes in Bulger and has tried to stop any talk of a quarterback controversy before it germinates. Still, it seems Martz is leaving the door open a crack for Warner, if necessary.

“We’ll do whatever we have to do to win, and I’m sure Marc would understand that, too,” Martz said after practice Wednesday. “But at this point, I don’t anticipate that being an issue. It’s hard to talk in hypothetical situations like that, because all it does is create anxiety for people. Especially head coaches.”

With 22 starts, Bulger is still fairly new at this. A sixth-round pick by New Orleans out of West Virginia, where he set 25 passing records, he was cut during training camp of 2000. He spent two weeks on Atlanta’s practice squad and a week on the Rams’ practice squad that year. In 2001, Bulger was the third quarterback behind Warner and Jamie Martin as the Rams made it to Super Bowl XXXVI, where they lost to New England.

Bulger got to observe Warner closely and took mental notes. When Warner got hurt last season, Bulger was ready. Although the Rams failed to make the playoffs, Bulger, who started seven games, completed more than 64 percent of his passes and had a rating of 101.5. Martz announced Warner would start heading into this season, but that lasted all of one game. Bulger came in and played well.

Except for the doubt and uncertainty. A win over the Panthers would erase most, if not all, of that.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “I’m confident now that I have a pretty good grasp of what we are doing. Obviously, everyone struggled a little bit in Detroit. That was a wake-up call. We got a week off and we are pretty well rested. We are ready to go.”