Wilkins' leg lifts Rams over Broncos

Sep 10, 2006, 20:30 GMT

St. Louis, MO - Steven Jackson ran for 121 yards and Jeff Wilkins hit a franchise-record six field goals to account for all of the Rams' scoring, as St. Louis held off the Denver Broncos, 18-10, at the Edward Jones Dome.

Marc Bulger completed 18-of-34 passes for 217 yards and Torry Holt had seven receptions for 80 yards for St. Louis (1-0), which failed to score a touchdown despite spending most of the game in or near the red zone in head coach Scott Linehan's debut.

The Rams failed to score a touchdown on all five of their trips to the red zone.

'I couldn't be more proud of this football team,' said Linehan. 'There are no such things as style points in this game. Our defense bent, but we came up big. We did a lot of little things well. There are stats of meaning and one of those stats is keeping track of the football. We were perfect in that area.'

Jake Plummer completed 13-of-26 passes for 138 yards, but threw three interceptions and lost a fumble for the Broncos (0-1), who committed five turnovers that led to nine points for the Rams.

'They made us make those mistakes,' said Denver head coach Mike Shanahan. 'Unless we solve some of those mistakes and turnovers, we won't win a lot of games. Last year we committed three turnovers in the first game and went on to do a pretty good job in that turnover area. It will be something that we will be stressing and obviously we're going to have to get better at.'

Javon Walker made his debut with the Broncos and ended with three catches for a team-leading 41 yards.

Tatum Bell started in the backfield and ran for 103 yards on 15 carries. Undrafted rookie free agent Mike Bell had 58 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts for Denver, which fell behind early and had trouble recovering.

Wilkins kicked the Rams to a 12-0 lead early on. He hit a 26-yarder with 3:44 left in the first quarter to start the scoring.

The Rams then muffed a sure scoring chance on their next possession. Leonard Little forced a Plummer fumble at the Broncos' 26-yard line and the two teams played hot potato trying to recover the ball until the Rams' Pisa Tinoisamoa fell on it at the three-yard line. However, St. Louis did nothing but move backwards and Wilkins ended up hitting the right upright on a 44-yarder after hitting a 34-yarder the previous play only to have it wiped out by a holding call.

The miss did little to shake Wilkins' confidence. He hit three second-quarter field goals from 38, 29 and 51 yards, respectively, staking St. Louis to a 12-point lead with 5:48 left in the half. The first two field goals were set up by Denver turnovers. Tatum Bell lost a fumble, setting up the 38-yarder, and Plummer was picked off to set up the 29-yard kick.

Denver managed to finally get on the scoreboard before halftime, as Plummer orchestrated an 11-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by a Mike Bell one-yard touchdown leap. The drive was kept alive by a two-yard fourth-down run by Bell. Plummer also completed 5-of-5 passes for 70 yards on the march.

In the third quarter, Wilkins hit a 48-yarder to increase the lead to 15-7 with just 3:33 elapsed in the stanza.

Denver bridged the third and fourth quarters with a seven-play, 34-yard drive that ended with Jason Elam's 49-yard field goal to draw the Broncos within 15-10.

The Broncos then held the Rams to a three-and-out, but Plummer's heave intended for Todd Devoe was intercepted by Corey Chavous at the seven-yard line, ending that threat.

Denver's defense, though, forced a Rams punt on the ensuing possession, only to be called for roughing the kicker and the Rams took advantage.

Wilkins hit a 24-yarder with 6:24 on the clock, ending a drive that included a 49-yard pass play from Bulger to Tony Fisher.

Denver had one more chance, but Plummer was picked off for a third time, this time by Fakhir Brown after linebacker Will Witherspoon deflected a pass intended for Devoe with just under 2 1/2 minutes left.

St. Louis ran out the clock from there, using a Jackson 37-yard run on his 22nd and final carry of the game with just under two minutes left to win its home opener for the 10th time in 12 tries.

Game Notes

Denver head coach Mike Shanahan fell to 10-4 in season openers.

Mike Bell would have been the third Broncos rookie RB to start a season opener.

Denver wide receiver Rod Smith had three catches for 34 yards, making him the 15th player in NFL history to record 800 career receptions.

St. Louis wide receiver Isaac Bruce ended with five catches for 64 yards.

St. Louis now leads the all-time series against Denver, 6-5.

Holt extended his current games with a catch streak to 106.

Wilkins became the first player in Rams history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau, ending the game with 1,013 points as a member of the team.

.Rams starting offensive tackle Andy McColllum left the game in the first half with a left knee injury. He will have an MRI on Monday and Linehan thinks it could be serious.

© 2006 The Sports Network