St. Louis Rams Danario Alexander makes a catch for his first NFL touchdown, beating San Diego Chargers Antione Cason in the first quarter at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on October17, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

What a debut for the former Mizzou Tiger Danario Alexander. The undrafted free agent signed in August by the Rams as an insurance policy, paid off dividends right away as Alexander caught four passes for 72 yards including a first quarter touchdown as the Rams held off San Diego 20-17.

The Rams were up 17-0 with 1:39 left in the 2nd quarter after Steven Jackson scored on a seven yard touchdown. Jackson finished with 109 yards rushing and is now just one game away from passing Eric Dickerson for the most rushing yards in franchise history.

The Chargers came back with a late first half field goal to leave the Rams up 17-3 at the half. The Rams got on the board first with a 39 yard field goal from Josh Brown less than six minutes into the game.

Later in the first quarter, Sam Bradford found Alexander for a 16 yard gain that got the ball to the SD 42. Two plays later, Bradford looked deep down the left side and found Alexander for a 38 yard touchdown, his first in the NFL in his first game.

San Diego kept trying to mount a comeback closing the game to 17-10 late in the third quarter. Josh Brown added his second field goal of the game with 3:56 to play, but just 40 seconds later, the Chargers got it back to a three point game when Phillip Rivers drove them down the field in five plays capping the drive with a short five yard touchdown pass.

Rivers was 22 of 37 for 249 yards. Bradford was 18 of 31 for 198 yards with one TD and no picks.