Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

Not much of a game: Lopsided loss to Colts drops Rams to 0-7

ST. LOUIS -- Quarterback Peyton Manning didn't tie the NFL record for consecutive 300-yard games, but the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts still posted the expected rout of the winless St. Louis Rams.

Manning threw for 235 yards and three touchdown passes as the Colts beat the Rams 42-6 Sunday.

The Rams (0-7) were in contention until rookie Jacob Lacey intercepted a Marc Bulger pass and return it 35 yards for a touchdown with one minute left in the third quarter.

The Colts added two more touchdowns -- an 8-yard pass from Manning to rookie Austin Collie with 3:42 left to play and a 31-yard run by Chad Simpson with 2:29 left to play -- in the fourth quarter.

"That team over there is really good,'' Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "They have skill everywhere. They have been doing it for a long time. But for three quarters, I thought we all felt and believed that we could possibly pull that thing off and win the game. Now the fourth quarter was different. It was disappointing. They made some plays. Things kind of fell apart.

"We need to get the fourth quarter out of our system. That's not us.''

Actually, it's been the Rams' modus operandi for quite some time.

They've lost 17 straight games, and 34 of their last 39 games.

"We're playing good football here and there,'' said Rams running back Steven Jackson, who rushed for a season-high 134 yards against the Colts. "We have spurts of it, but we have to learn how to put four quarters of good football together. We have to go back to the drawing board and learn how to win games. That's the issue right now. We don't know how to win a game right now.''

The Rams' best chance of ending the losing streak may come next Sunday against the Detroit Lions (1-5) at Ford Field.

Though when you've been outscored 211-60, it's hard to project any game as a winnable.

"We're no where close to it right now,'' Jackson said. "We have to play four quarters of football, not two or three quarters.''

The Colts improved to 6-0. They've won 15 straight regular-season games going back to last season.

Manning had his streak of 300-yard passing games halted at six, one shy of the NFL record held by Steve Young, Rich Gannon and Kurt Warner.

Manning is the second in a string of four stellar quarterbacks that the Rams are facing on their home field.

They went against Minnesota's Brett Favre two weeks ago, and they'll be facing New Orleans' Drew Brees and Warner in their next two home games.

"You come into the NFL to play against the best,'' Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe said. "You shy away from none, because to be the best, they say you have to beat the best. We have more and more quarterbacks coming. We have Brees and Warner, the plethora coming in here, and we have to rise to the challenge.''

Asked how he keeps his sanity as the losses keep piling up, Atogwe pointed to his faith in God and faith in his teammates.

"In tough times like this thing, the only thing you can do is stay together and continue to press forward, and that's what we are going to do,'' Atogwe said. "You have guys with character in here who believe that things will turn around.''

Two field goals by Josh Brown were all the points the Rams' anemic offense could manage.

It marked the third games this season that they failed to score a touchdown.

Bulger completed 14 of 26 passes for 140 yards. He was intercepted twice, giving him a passer rating of 37.3.

Manning and wide receiver Reggie Wayne connected on five passes for 61 yards on their opening drive, as the Colts marched 90 yards on 12 plays to grab a 7-0 lead.

Manning threw 6 yards to Wayne for the touchdown.

The Rams employed some rare razzle-dazzle to get in position for a field goal on their first drive.

The Rams ran a flea-flicker with Bulger handing the ball to Jackson who tossed it back to Bulger, who threw a 50-yard bomb over the middle to Donnie Avery.

Avery, who has been bothered by a hip injury, was shaken up and sat out the rest of the drive, which promptly stalled.

Brown kicked a 30-yard field goal to cut the Colts' lead to 7-3 with 5:26 left in the first quarter.

The Colts needed only three plays to score again.

A 11-yard pass to Dallas Clark, a 45-yard run by Donald Brown and a 27-yard pass to Clark put the Colts ahead 14-3 with 3:31 left in the first quarter.

The Colts went up 21-3 when Joseph Addai ran 6 yards untouched up the middle on a third-and-1 play with 1:57 left in the first half.

The Rams closed the gap to 21-6 on a 45-yard field goal by Brown with 5:07 left in the third quarter, but then Bulger floated a pass toward Keenan Burton.

Lacey jumped in front of Burton, intercepted the pass and returned it for a touchdown.

It marked the fifth return for a touchdown -- fumble and interception -- by Rams' opponents this season.

By contrast, the Rams have only scored six touchdowns on offense all season.