SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 13, 2013
Rams 38, Texans 13: Sam Bradford matched a career high with three touchdown passes as visiting St. Louis handed sinking Houston its fourth consecutive defeat.
Alec Ogletree had a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown and Daren Bates returned a fumbled kickoff for a score as St. Louis (3-3) won its second straight game. Cory Harkey, Lance Kendricks and Brian Quick all had short scoring receptions and the Rams forced four turnovers and had five sacks.
Arian Foster rushed for 141 yards for Houston (2-4), which self-destructed in the third quarter while allowing a pick-six interception return for the fifth straight game. Bradford hit Quick for a 4-yard score midway through the stanza before St. Louis’ Keyshawn Martin fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff and Bates returned it 11 yards to make it 31-6.
Texans’ fans cheered when embattled quarterback Matt Schaub departed with a right ankle injury. Later in the drive, backup quarterback T.J. Yates was picked off on fourth down – the first of two he threw – with Ogletree cruising down the left sideline with the second-longest interception return in franchise history to give the Rams a 32-point lead.
St. Louis led 17-6 at halftime behind a pair of Bradford 2-yard scoring passes to Harkey and Kendricks. Houston finally found the end zone on Ben Tate’s 1-yard run with 3:15 remaining in the game.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Schaub, who had an interception returned for touchdown in each of the previous four contests, was 15-of-21 for 186 yards before exiting. Teammates Andre Johnson and Brian Cushing ripped Houston fans for a lack of class for cheering when Schaub was injured. … The Rams were outgained 412-216 – Bradford passed for 117 yards and rookie RB Zac Stacy had 79 on the ground – while scoring 38 points for the first time since 2006. … Foster, who also had 57 receiving yards, went over 5,000 career rushing yards in the first half. His total stands at 5,052.