National Football League

Rams on win streak for first time in two seasons

Published Oct. 4, 2010 6:31 a.m. ET

foxsports

Late in the first half, Sam Bradford had his rookie moment. After throwing an interception in the end zone, the No. 1 pick left the field in dismay, hands on his helmet.

''Bad play, bad throw, bad read,'' Bradford said. ''Pretty much everything a quarterback can do bad, I pretty much did it on that play right there.

''I think I probably got a little excited and wanted to put up points. I should have thrown that ball away and got us to the next down.''

Not much else went wrong for the Rams (2-2), who halted a pair of lengthy slumps and excelled in all three phases in a 20-3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

St. Louis won consecutive games for the first time in two seasons, snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Seahawks (2-2) and ended a 15-game drought against NFC West opponents.

Surprisingly, they're tied for first in the division.

''I know we have a philosophy around here that we don't look back, but sometimes you just can't help but think about some of the hardships that this organization has been through,'' running back Steven Jackson said. ''I think it means a lot to the guys in this locker room.''

Jackson played through a groin injury and passed Marshall Faulk for second on the franchise rushing list to complement Bradford, who was 23 for 41 for a season-best 289 yards and two touchdowns. The defense harried Matt Hasselbeck for four sacks - two by James Hall - an interception and a lost fumble.

Special teams bottled up Leon Washington, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last week, and Golden Tate, who had been averaging 25 yards on punt returns. Neither was a threat.

''I think everyone kind of wanted to see if we could validate that and see if we could put two together or if that was just a fluke,'' Bradford said. ''To come out here and play the way we did, I think it's huge.''

Jackson got only limited work Friday in practice and didn't do much cutting during the game. He still gained 70 yards on 22 carries and had three receptions for 54 yards, including a 49-yarder one play before Kenneth Darby scored on a 21-yard screen pass for a 17-3 cushion.

Officials stopped the game after a 15-yard gain early in the fourth quarter put Jackson ahead of Faulk with 6,991 yards in seven seasons. He trails only Eric Dickerson, who had 7,245 yards from 1983-87.

''From Day 1, I set a tone that I wanted to leave here putting my footprint on this organization,'' Jackson said. ''It's very meaningful but I ain't in first place.''

The Rams last won consecutive games in Weeks 5 and 6 of 2008 under interim head coach Jim Haslett. Before this surge, they had lost 27 of 28.

''They're a lot better than they've been and they're building something here,'' Hasselbeck said. ''We've got to get better and I've got to get better.''

The Seahawks peaked with a 14-play drive in the first half that stalled, leaving them with only a chip-shot field goal by Olindo Mare. The Rams foiled a fake 51-yard attempt near the end of the half when Darby ran down holder Jon Ryan on a would-be roll-out pass to John Carlson.

Seattle averaged 29 points during its 10-game streak over the Rams dating to 2005, but is 3-18 in its last 21 road games. Two of the victories came in St. Louis.

The Seahawks scored their fewest points since a 44-6 loss Oct. 5, 2008, at the New York Giants.

''We're at the beginning of the season still and we have to figure this road thing out early,'' safety Lawyer Milloy said. ''We can't be two different teams.''

The Rams led 10-3 at the half, but missed a couple of chances in the second quarter that would have made it a much wider gap.

Brandon Fletcher's interception return to the 3 was wasted on Earl Thomas' end zone pick for Seattle, that errant throw that left Bradford holding his helmet in both hands.