ST. LOUIS – Not too many big plays for the Atlanta Falcons. An avalanche of little plays did the trick.
Matt Ryan threw two touchdown passes and directed an offense so dominant that three St. Louis Rams defenders left with cramps in a 34-17 victory Sunday. All those chip-shot field goals added up, too.
Sam Bradford had a pair of touchdown passes for the Rams and set an NFL rookie record with 169 consecutive passes without an interception before William Moore picked off a shovel pass at the 2 with 3:24 to go. That was the clincher for the Falcons (8-2), who won their fourth in a row and ended the Rams’ four-game home winning streak.
Bradford had a big start with 99 yards passing and a touchdown in the first quarter. The Rams had six first downs in the first quarter, but only nine the rest of the way, and Bradford finished 27 for 42 for 233 yards.
Ryan was 26 of 39 for 253 yards with touchdown passes to Brian Finneran and Justin Peelle, and Roddy White set up scores with nine catches for 83 yards. Ryan has five touchdown passes without an interception the last two games, and threw for gains of 10 yards or better to seven receivers.
The St. Louis defense forced three chip shot field goals, but couldn’t get off the field quickly enough against an Atlanta offense that had a pair of drives that lasted 6:39 and 7:06 and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes. The Rams (4-6) were so gassed that safety Oshiomoghe Atogwe and cornerbacks Ron Bartell and Justin King all missed time with cramps.
Michael Turner was untouched on a 39-yard run the first play after the two-minute warning and White caught a 2-point conversion pass. Turner had 131 yards on 28 carries for his fourth 100-yard game.
The Rams allowed no more than 17 points their first five home games.
St. Louis led 10-3 early in the second quarter after Josh Brown hit a season-best 53-yard field goal, and again at 17-16 early in the third after Bradford and Brandon Gibson hooked up on a 13-yard fade pattern.
The interception was the first in five games for Bradford, the No. 1 pick, who thrived despite a set of undistinguished pass catchers
Bradford showed off his strong arm on his first touchdown pass, rolling out to the right and throwing against the grain on a 25-yard pass to rookie tight end Mike Hoomanawanui.
Eric Weems had a 55-yard kickoff return in the second quarter before a helmetless Jerome Murphy finally ran him down at the Rams 47, setting up the Finneran score.