Little gets four sacks in return from injury

ST. LOUIS -- Leonard Little was making up for lost time.

After missing four games with a torn chest muscle, the St. Louis defensive end had four sacks and forced two fumbles in the Rams 48-17 victory Sunday against Minnesota.

"I was away from the game for a whole month and I was hoping I would pick up where I left off," Little said. "Today was a good outing."

Little's devastation of the Vikings' offensive line had teammates pouring accolades on him.

"Leonard Little is back," Tyoka Jackson said. "Put him in the Pro Bowl where he belongs. He got a sack for every game he missed. Right back on track."

Little's career-high four sacks upped his season total to 11, putting him back in the race for the league lead and leaving him well ahead of any teammate. The rest of St. Louis' defensive line has combined for 12 sacks.

Jackson, who started three games while Little was out, is second on the team with 4½ sacks, and safety Adam Archuleta has four. Archuleta had two sacks Sunday.

"He was out there on fire," Archuleta said. "You could tell he was hungry and they just couldn't block him. This league cannot block Leonard Little."

St. Louis missed Little's ability to pressure the quarterback. The Rams had only one sack in beating the Bears two weeks ago, then went without a sack last week at Arizona. St. Louis had eight sacks Sunday.

"He's our tempo-setter. He's the one who gets things started," linebacker Jamie Duncan said. "He's our go-to guy."

Little, who played with a brace on his right shoulder as protection for a torn pectoral muscle suffered tackling Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis, said he was a little out of shape. He benefited from coach Mike Martz's decision to have him rest last week and be 100 percent this week.

"Right now, I'm real tired," Little said. "I'm going to have to sleep about two or three days after this one, but it feels great just being out there with my teammates. I got tired of watching them on the sidelines. It was real hard for me."

Little helped put the game away by sacking Daunte Culpepper on fourth-and-3 from the Rams 5 with St. Louis ahead 34-17 early in the fourth quarter. Little's hit jarred the ball loose and Aeneas Williams scooped it up and went 90 yards for the score.

He sacked Culpepper on fourth down again with about three minutes left, stopping another Minnesota drive in Rams territory.

"He's the best defensive end in the league," said Grant Wistrom, the Rams' right defensive end. "He comes out and takes control of the game like no other defensive lineman in the league. There's a lot of guys with his athletic ability, but there's nobody in this league who plays as hard with his athletic ability, nor as smart as he does.

"It's just awesome. There's no question I think he's the main reason why we won this game."

Martz said Little was more than the best defensive end in the NFL.

"I think he's the best defensive player in the league," Martz said.

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