The St. Louis Rams did what so many NFL teams do when they host the Dallas Cowboys – they wore their white uniforms, denying the Cowboys the chance to wear their white jerseys and forcing them to wear blue. It might be just some silly superstition, but it worked for the Rams as the allowed the Cowboys an initial score and then took control of the game, scoring almost at will as they demolished Dallas 34-14 before 62,035 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. It marked the first time the Rams had worn the white uniforms in a home game since the strike year of 1987 when the team called Los Angeles home.

The Cowboys scored on their opening possession, with Brad Johnson filling in at quarterback for the injured Tony Romo, hitting pay dirt on a 10 play scoring drive that covered 74 yards. Marion Barber ran it in from 1 yard out for the major. Nick Folk’s extra point made it Dallas 7, St. Louis 0.

The Rams wasted little time evening the score on their first possession as Marc Bulger connected with Donnie Avery on a 42 yard TD pass to cap a 4 play, 62 yard drive. Josh Brown’s PAT made it St. Louis 7, Dallas 7.

The Rams kept it going on their next possession. A penalty negated a second Bulger to Avery touchdown, but Steven Jackson ran it into the end zone a couple of plays later. It was an 8 yard run to cap a 4 play, 44 yard scoring drive. Brown’s extra point made it St. Louis 14, Dallas 7.

St. Louis wasn’t finished. Will Witherspoon plucked a deflected Brad Johnson pass out of the air, giving the Rams the ball on the Dallas 17. 4 plays later Steven Jackson picked up his second major of the afternoon on a 1 yard run. Josh Brown’s PAT made it St. Louis 21, Dallas 7. That’s how the 1st quarter ended.

The 2nd quarter saw a lot of close calls, but only one score – a 52 yard field goal by Josh Brown to put the finishing touches on an 11 play, 46 yard drive. At the half, the Rams led 24-7.

Dallas missed on a scoring opportunity to start the 3rd quarter as Nick Folk field goal attempt from 46 yards missed the mark, keeping the Rams ahead by 21 points.

But the margin didn’t stay 21 for long as the Rams scored on their next possession. Steven Jackson scored his third TD of the game on a 56 yard sprint as St. Louis struck quickly, covering 63 yards in only 2 plays and 38 seconds. Brown’s conversion made it St. Louis 31, Dallas 7.

The next Cowboy drive brought more frustration to Dallas as Oshiomogho Atogwe picked off a Brad Johnson pass in St. Louis territory to give the Rams the ball once again. The 3rd quarter ended with the Rams leading the Cowboys 31-7.

With about 10 and a half minutes to go in the 4th quarter the Rams struck again. Josh Brown split the uprights from 35 yards out to cap a 12 play, 35 yard scolring drive that chewed up 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Rams 34, Cowboys 7.

The Cowboys scored a saving face touchdown as the clock got down to under two minutes in the contest as Michael Bennett caught a 34 yard TD pass from Johnson and Folk added the extra point to make the final score Rams 34, Cowboys 14.

Quarterback Mark Bulger completed 14 of 19 pass attempts for 173 yards and a touchdown. Steven Jackson, who had 3 touchdowns on the day, racked up 160 rushing yards. Donnie Avery caught 5 passes for 65 yards, including a touchdown.

The Rams (2-4) head to Foxboro, Massachusetts next weekend for a match-up with the New England Patriots.

 

 

 

Download/Listen: Coach Jim Haslett’s post game comments (8:00 MP3)