Brien Kicks Saints Over Rams, 19-10 : NFC: Former 49er kicker makes four field goals to lead New Orleans to victory over St. Louis.

Doug Brien turned out to be the right kicker for the New Orleans Saints, after all.

Signed this week to replace Chip Lohmiller, Brien connected for a career-high four field goals Sunday, leading the Saints to a 19-10 victory over the St. Louis Rams.

“I’m not sure he knew how much pressure he was under today,” New Orleans Coach Jim Mora said. “If he had missed one of those kicks he would have found out when they started booing him.”

A third-round pick for San Francisco last year, Brien was cut by the 49ers and signed by the Saints to replace Lohmiller, who missed five field goals and an extra point in two New Orleans’ victories.

“I’ve never kicked bad, I just missed a couple of field goals,” said Brien, who was 15 for 20 with the 49ers last season and seven for 12 this year.

Brien kicked field goals of 35, 26, 47 and 42 yards for the Saints (3-6) and drew standing ovations with every kick.

“I guess I didn’t realize it was a pressure thing,” Brien said. “They [teammates] kept hinting that I may get booed if things didn’t go right. I know they loved [former New Orleans kicker] Morten Andersen. I love hearing those stories. Hopefully, I can add some stories of my own.”

Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Rams (5-4), who killed a second-quarter drive with an end zone interception, then set up a 42-yard field goal for New Orleans when Todd Kinchen fumbled a return on the Rams’ 22-yard line.

“We’re just not putting ourselves into a position to have as much good luck as we had with those 14 take-aways in our first four weeks,” said Coach Rich Brooks. “Those take-aways are a big reason we won those first four games.”

The loss was the third in a row and the fourth in the last five games for the Rams, who opened the year 4-0. It was the Saints’ second consecutive victory and third in the last four games.

New Orleans held off a furious fourth-quarter Ram drive when Wayne Martin sacked Chris Miller for a nine-yard loss to give the Rams third and 19 on the Saints’ 34. St. Louis drove to the Saints’ 25 after Kinchen returned the kickoff 50 yards. Dean Biasucci’s 52-yard field goal attempt hit the cross bar and bounced back.

“We’re not scoring any points. We’ve only had one touchdown in the last few games,” Kinchen said. “We can’t rely on the defense forever.”

Miller was 12 for 23 for 164 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice and intercepted once.

“We were definitely frustrated,” Miller said. “We’re not scoring enough and we’re not producing in the red zone. We’re just not getting it done.”

The Saints’ Jim Everett completed 17 of 25 for 189 yards. He was sacked three times.

The Rams were without their leading rushers, Jerome Bettis, who was inactive because of a sprained foot, and Leonard Russell, who did not play because of a turf toe.

Mario Bates rushed for 106 yards in 22 carries and became the first Saint to rush for 100 yards in back-to-back games since Ironhead Heyward in 1990. Bates had 106 yards in 22 carries.