The St. Louis Rams' much-maligned defense finally found an offense it
could dominate.
The Rams took advantage of five Oakland turnovers, including two that
set up touchdown runs by Steven Jackson, in St. Louis' 20-0 victory over
the Raiders on Sunday.
Jackson finished with 127 yards on 31 carries, scoring on runs of 4
yards after Chris Carr fumbled a punt and 19 yards after Andrew Walter
threw the first of two interceptions.
St. Louis (6-8) got just its second win in nine games.
In a season full of historic lows, the Raiders (2-12) reached another in
losing their seventh straight game. They also equaled their most losses
in a season since Al Davis joined the franchise in 1963. And it was
their third shutout loss of the year, including two at home. The Raiders
had been shutout at home only once in their history before this season.
The Rams weren't much better on offense but didn't turn the ball over
and relied on the defense to get the win. St. Louis entered the contest
allowing more than 25 points per game but ended up with its first
shutout since 2003.
Carr mishandled a punt early in the third quarter after calling for a
fair catch and Chris Massey recovered at the 24. Four plays later,
Jackson scored his first touchdown to make it 13-0.
Oakland got its own break on special teams when Isaiah Kacyvenski was
called for illegal formation on a punt that Carr fair caught at the 6.
On the re-kick, Jarrod Cooper broke through the middle of the line and
Matt Turk dropped the ball without kicking it. Turk picked it up and was
tackled at the St. Louis 36.
Oakland drove down to the 13 before Zack Crockett fumbled and Tye Hill
recovered for St. Louis.
The Raiders got into scoring range on their next drive before Courtney
Anderson was called for taunting after catching a pass at the St. Louis
24. Oakland turned it over on downs when Aaron Brooks missed an open
Ronald Curry on a fourth-down pass.
That led to a quarterback change, but Walter was even worse than Brooks.
Walter's first drive featured three false starts, a sack and an
interception by Ron Bartell. Jackson then ran it in from the 19 on the
next play to make it 20-0.
Walter threw another interception on his next drive, the fifth turnover
of the game for Oakland.
Marc Bulger was just 11-for-22 for 137 yards for St. Louis. Torry Holt
caught four passes for 59 yards, topping the 1,000-yard mark for the
seventh straight season.
St. Louis put together a pair of long drives but settled for field goals
by Jeff Wilkins as cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha twice broke up passes in
the end zone to Holt.
The Rams' first drive went 17 plays for 85 yards, aided by a pair of
pass interference calls against Asomugha and Fabian Washington that set
up Wilkins' 24-yard field goal. Later, Isaac Bruce beat Washington on a
41-yard pass for the big gain in a 13-play drive that ended in Wilkins'
34-yard field goal.
For the third straight week, Oakland turned the ball over on its opening
drive when Brooks was hit as he threw a deep pass that was intercepted
by Fakhir Brown.
