Rams 'D' stumbles on tonic - Raiders Raiders

~ St. Louis' struggling defense handed Oakland its third shutout of the season.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Five more turnovers, a seventh straight loss and a third shutout this season.

The Oakland Raiders that Al Davis built with a "commitment to excellence" are now perhaps the worst team in the NFL.

"I want to win and I will win, and we will win for the Raiders," Davis said. "We'll get this thing straightened out."

If Sunday's 20-0 loss to the St. Louis Rams is any indication, it could take time. The Raiders could generate no offense against a team that was allowing more than 25 points per game and was unable to stop Steven Jackson, who ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

The Raiders (2-12) equaled their most losses in a season since Davis joined the franchise in 1963. He held court after the game but refused to get into specifics about the team's problems.

After being shut out only once at home in Davis' first 43 years with the team, the Raiders have been blanked twice at the Coliseum this season.

"It's just embarrassing," said quarterback Aaron Brooks, who was pulled in the fourth quarter. "It's embarrassing because we're better than that."

The Rams (6-8) took advantage of Oakland's offensive ineptitude to win for just the second time in nine games. Their two touchdown drives came after Oakland turnovers: St. Louis drove only 43 yards combined to get 14 points.

Jackson scored on a 4-yard run after Chris Carr fumbled a punt at the 24, and on a 19-yarder one play after Andrew Walter threw the first of two interceptions.

"It's just a relief to get a solid performance on offense and defense. It's great to finally have something good happen for us on both sides of the ball in the same game," defensive end Leonard Little said. "We've got two games left, and we've still got a slim chance at the playoffs, so we can't let up at all. We've got to finish strong and hope we get some breaks."

Offense avoids mistakes

The Rams didn't turn the ball over and relied on the defense to get the win. Marc Bulger was just 11-for-22 for 137 yards for St. Louis. Torry Holt caught four passes for 59 yards, topping the 1,000-yard mark for the seventh straight season.

It was St. Louis' first shutout since 2003.

"Around halftime, we figured out they were struggling on offense," Bulger said. "We knew if we didn't turn the ball over and got a touchdown or two, we'd be in a great position."

Carr mishandled a punt early in the third quarter after calling for a fair catch and Chris Massey recovered at the 24. Four plays later, Jackson scored his first touchdown to make it 13-0.

Oakland got its own break on special teams when Isaiah Kacyvenski was called for illegal formation on a punt that Carr fair caught at the 6. On the re-kick, Jarrod Cooper broke through the middle of the line and Matt Turk dropped the ball without kicking it. Turk picked it up and was tackled at the St. Louis 36.

Oakland drove down to the 13 before Zack Crockett fumbled and Tye Hill recovered for St. Louis.

The Raiders got into scoring range on their next drive before Courtney Anderson was called for taunting after catching a pass at the St. Louis 24. Oakland turned it over on downs when Brooks missed an open Ronald Curry on a fourth-down pass, leading to a quarterback change as coach Art Shell searched for a spark.

"I didn't like it," Brooks said. "I thought it was bad timing. I didn't see any reason why I should have come out. But it was not my decision."

Walter was even worse than Brooks. Walter's first drive featured three false starts, a sack and an interception by Ron Bartell. Jackson then ran it in from the 19 on the next play to make it 20-0.

St. Louis put together a pair of long drives in the first half but settled for field goals by Jeff Wilkins as cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha twice broke up passes in the end zone to Holt.

The Rams' first drive went 17 plays for 85 yards, aided by a pair of pass interference calls against Asomugha and Fabian Washington that set up Wilkins' 24-yard field goal. Later, Isaac Bruce beat Washington on a 41-yard pass for the big gain in a 13-play drive that ended in Wilkins' 34-yard field goal.

For the third straight week, Oakland turned the ball over on its opening drive when Brooks was hit as he threw a deep pass that was intercepted by Fakhir Brown.

Noteworthy

• With the Tampa Bay-Chicago early game going overtime, thefirst half was played at a brisk pace with the only commercial break before the 2-minute warning coming at the end of the first quarter.
• Rams right guard Adam Timmerman also missed the game with three broken ribs, ending his streak of playing in 184 consecutive regular-season games.
• Jackson, who has 82 catches on the season, was held without a reception.