Defense Carries Load as Rams Snap Streak

The St. Louis Rams ended a five-game losing streak by keeping their bumbling offense on the sidelines.

The Rams were out-gained 538 yards to 204, but they compensated with five interceptions--all of them deep in St. Louis territory--in a 17-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Anthony Parker scored his second defensive touchdown in two weeks on a 92-yard return in the first quarter on one of his two pickoffs. Keith Lyle also had two interceptions for the Rams (2-5), who got almost no help from the NFL’s worst offense in winning for the first time since defeating Cincinnati on the opening weekend.

They also avoided the embarrassment of losing to the league’s two newest teams on consecutive weekends. The Rams lost, 45-13, at Charlotte last week.

“I’ve had a lot of crazy wins,” Coach Rich Brooks said. “I’m not going to sit and analyze it. I’m just happy to get a win.”

St. Louis’ offense started slow and never really got going. The Rams had the ball for three plays in the first quarter, only 5:21 in the first half, and finished with eight first downs to 36 for the Jaguars (3-5).

“We didn’t do much at all,” quarterback Tony Banks said. “I’m going to be learning for some years, probably.”

Parker also stopped a drive at the Ram 12 in the second quarter. Lyle picked off a tipped ball in the St. Louis end zone in the second quarter, and Gerald McBurrows ended up with a ball that Pete Mitchell couldn’t hold onto to give the Rams possession at their 10. Lyle later picked off a deflected ball in the Ram end zone and returned it 68 yards to the Jacksonville 34 with 3:50 to go.

The Rams needed one more defensive stop to clinch it. With eight seconds left, Todd Lyght hauled down Willie Jackson at the five-yard line after Jackson broke a tackle on a 34-yard play, and the clock ran out on the Jaguars, who were out of timeouts.

“At that point I was just like, ‘We’re in big trouble,’ ” Lyght said. “Fortunately the clock was working with us.”

Wide receiver Andre Rison was just one of several irate Jaguars. He said the referee had told him they’d have time for one more play.

“He lied right to my face,” Rison said. “How can he do that?”