Rams still searching after second loss

ST. LOUIS -- Kerry Collins was nearly flawless for the New York Giants.

The Rams, meanwhile, look more and more imperfect.

Collins built an early 17-point lead and the Giants' defense made all the big stops in a 26-21 victory over the defending NFC champions Sunday.

"I think we have higher expectations and desires than a lot of people think, or that we're capable of," said Giants coach Jim Fassel. "Our guys weren't going to stop unless they were going to win."

Collins hit 14 of his first 15 passes for the Giants (1-1).

"Everybody was writing us off before this game," he said. "But we've got some good leaders in this locker room."

The error-prone Rams are 0-2 for the first time since they went 4-12 in 1998, the year before Kurt Warner led them to their first Super Bowl title. St. Louis' offense has produced 37 points in two games, and the Rams have trailed at the half in their last four games, including a 14-3 deficit in their loss to the Patriots in the last Super Bowl.

At least they're good at describing their predicament.

"We keep tying our shoelaces in knots and stumbling over ourselves," said running back Marshall Faulk.

Jason Sehorn scored his fifth career touchdown on a 31-yard interception return, and Matt Bryant kicked four field goals for the Giants. Bryant is 6-for-6 this season.

Faulk fueled the Rams' second-half comeback with a pair of touchdowns and finished with 87 yards on 14 carries. But he was stuffed on fourth-and-inches and fumbled. Michael Strahan recovered at the Rams' 40 with 2:53 left.

The Rams got the ball back, but William Peterson sealed the victory when he intercepted an underthrown ball from Warner at the St. Louis with 1:43 to go. Warner was 26-of-39 for 266 yards and two interceptions, and a no-huddle offense the Rams used for the first time this season wasn't enough help.

"I made too many mistakes and I lost this game for this team," Warner said. "I didn't get it done."

Collins, who threw three interceptions in the Giants' narrow opening loss to San Francisco, was 22-for-26 for 307 yards and kept his mistakes to a minimum against a defense that gave him plenty of time to pick his targets.

"I thought he played a real smart game," Fassel said. "My opinion coming out of the first two games is that I think we can throw the ball on people."

Adam Archuleta picked off a tipped pass in the third quarter to give the Rams the ball at the Giants' 37. St. Louis trailed only 20-14, but Warner fumbled it back two plays later at the New York 17.

Collins connected on all but one of his 12 first-half passes for 146 yards, leading the Giants to 195 yards in total offense and a 17-7 halftime lead.

Faulk cut the gap to a point on a 1-yard run on the Rams' opening drive of the second half, and his second-effort 8-yarder got his team to 23-21 with 8:24 remaining.

New York had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Bryant on its first possession of the game, but the Giants followed with another impressive drive, capped by a 28-yard touchdown pass from Collins to rookie tight end Jeremy Shockey, who easily outran linebacker Tommy Polley on a sideline pattern for a 10-0 lead.

Sehorn's interception return of a ball tipped by Kenny Holmes, who had a sack earlier in the same series, gave the Giants a 17-0 lead with 9:44 to go in the half. Sehorn and Rams coach Mike Martz engaged in a war of words last year when Sehorn criticized the coach for being impatient and Martz responding, "All I know is we run by Jason Sehorn."

Sehorn wasn't interested in firing back Sunday, saying only, "I could really care less what people like that say about me."

The Rams finally got on the scoreboard with a 6-yard pass from Warner to Ricky Proehl, who caught a ball thrown well behind him with 4:38 to go.

St. Louis blew a few scoring opportunities: Jeff Wilkins was wide left on a 34-yard field goal attempt early in the second quarter, two plays after a false start penalty negated a 20-yard TD pass to Faulk. A delay of game call effectively ended a drive late in the half.