ST. LOUIS — Even before Sam Bradford snapped out of it, the St. Louis Rams had enough points. ST. LOUIS — Even before Sam Bradford snapped out of it, the St. Louis Rams had enough points. ADVERTISING Their fast-improving defense
ST. LOUIS — Even before Sam Bradford snapped out of it, the St. Louis Rams had enough points.
Their fast-improving defense saw to that.
Bradford busted a lengthy slump with a 52-yard touchdown pass to rookie Chris Givens for a two-TD cushion, and Robert Quinn had three of the Rams’ nine sacks on Kevin Kolb to keep the previously unbeaten Arizona Cardinals in check in a 17-3 victory Thursday night.
Arizona (4-1) scored at least 20 points in each of its first four games, but had no luck containing a pass rush that had totaled just six sacks on the year, and got stopped twice inside the 20 in the final minutes. The Rams also had a strong defensive game last week in a 19-13 victory over Seattle, also at home.
Lance Kendricks caught a 7-yard TD pass in the first quarter, and Greg Zuerlein kicked a 53-yard field goal in the second quarter for the Rams (3-2), who are 3-0 at home and ended Arizona’s seven-game winning streak in St. Louis — the Cardinals’ home before leaving for the desert in 1988.
The Rams are 3-0 at home for the first time since 2003, when they were unbeaten in the Edward Jones Dome.
Rams 17, Cardinals 3
Arizona 3 0 0 0—3
St. Louis 7 3 0 7—17
First quarter
StL—Kendricks 7 pass from Bradford (Zuerlein kick), 12:39.
Ari—FG Feely 35, 3:15.
Second quarter
StL—FG Zuerlein 53, 10:45.
Fourth quarter
StL—Givens 51 pass from Bradford (Zuerlein kick), 11:49.
A—54,653.
Ari Stl
First downs 20 12
Total Net Yards 282 242
Rushes-yards 17-45 32-111
Passing 237 131
Punt Returns 5-76 4-36
Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-36
Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 28-50-0 7-21-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 9-52 1-10
Punts 7-45.7 7-56.9
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-35 7-60
Time of Possession 34:22 25:38
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Arizona, R.Williams 14-33, Powell 1-7, Roberts 1-3, Kolb 1-2. St. Louis, Jackson 18-76, D.Richardson 9-35, Bradford 5-0.
PASSING—Arizona, Kolb 28-50-0-289. St. Louis, Bradford 7-21-1-141.
RECEIVING—Arizona, Fitzgerald 8-92, Roberts 5-39, Housler 3-45, Doucet 3-29, Powell 3-20, Sherman 2-25, Floyd 1-17, Smith 1-13, R.Williams 1-5, King 1-4. St. Louis, Gibson 3-33, Givens 1-51, Amendola 1-44, Kendricks 1-7, Pettis 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — Arizona, Feely 40 (WL).
