ST. LOUIS — Nothing in the St. Louis Rams’ first six games indicated they were likely to beat New Orleans.
Steven Jackson led the Rams with two touchdowns in his first 100-yard game in three seasons, helping St. Louis earn its first victory with a 31-21 upset of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
“We came out with a mindset we were going to fight,” Jackson said.
Drew Brees was intercepted twice, with Darian Stewart’s interception and 27-yard return putting the game away with 2:51 remaining.
“As you look at the cardinal sins of football, we committed quite a few of those today,” Brees said. “Obviously, we gave them a lot of momentum.”
The NFC South-leading Saints (5-3) average a leaguebest 35 points per game, but never got on track against a defense ranked near the bottom of the league. The Rams (1-6) had a season-high six sacks after entering the game with 11.
“We always thought we had that in us,” St. Louis Coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “It was a wonderful weekend for St. Louis fans.”
The Rams led at halftime for the first time since 2009. New Orleans was held scoreless in the first half for the first time since 2007, mustering just 94 yards total offense and going 1 for 6 on third down.
“They certainly played with more energy than we did,” New Orleans Coach Sean Payton said. “I just thought we looked flat.”
A.J. Feeley made his second consecutive start in place of Sam Bradford (high left ankle sprain), and threw his first touchdown pass of the season.
Jackson had 159 yards on 25 carries, including a 32-yard run on fourth-and-2 to set up his second touchdown that made it 24-0 in the third quarter.
After a scoreless first quarter — a victory in itself considering the Rams have been outscored 59-13 in the opening quarter — St. Louis capitalized on two turnovers to go up 17-0 at halftime. Jackson then scored on a 3-yard run two plays after rookie Robert Quinn’s blocked punt, and Josh Gordy’s interception at the Saints 38 gave St. Louis another short field that led to Brandon Lloyd’s 8-yard catch.
Jonathan Vilma got the Saints on the board after recovering Feeley’s fumble on a sack by Malcolm Jenkins, and Pierre Thomas scored with 10 minutes remaining to cut the lead to 24-14.
Sports, Pages 16 on 10/31/2011