NEW ORLEANS -- Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams got the last word.
The New Orleans Saints bragged all week about their improved play after they won three of four games, but Warner put an end to the talk with four touchdown passes Monday night, lifting the Rams to a 34-21 victory.
“You just get tired of all the talk,” Rams coach Mike Martz said. “I just think that we all felt that we had something to prove.”
The game, New Orleans´ first on a Monday night since 1994, was interrupted briefly when fans threw bottles and debris on the field after a call they disagreed with.
“I think the fans were unacceptable in what they did,” Saints coach Jim Haslett said.
Thirteen people were arrested on a variety of charges. Fifteen others were ejected from the Superdome.
The victory clinched a playoff spot for the Rams (11-2), and St. Louis is a game ahead of Chicago in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.
The Saints´ loss also clinched a postseason berth for San Francisco. The 49ers, a game behind, still have an outside chance of catching the Rams in the NFC West, but St. Louis´ two wins over San Francisco gives them the tiebreaker.
The Saints (7-6) remain in contention for a wild card spot, with a key game coming up in Tampa next week against the Bucs, who have the same record.
Warner was 23-for-32 for 338 yards. Three of the TD passes went to Isaac Bruce, and the other to Marshall Faulk.
“We haven´t gotten the ball to Ike enough the last few weeks,” Warner said. “We know how explosive he is and what he means to this football team.”
St. Louis lost two fumbles, increasing their league-leading giveaway total to 37. One set up a Saints touchdown and the other prevented a score by the Rams.
But New Orleans had its own problems, including 16 penalties for 132 yards. An onsides kick in the first quarter and a fake field goal in the second both failed.
“We didn´t play as well as we would have liked,” Haslett said. “The penalties hurt us. Turnovers hurt us.”
The Rams led 21-14 at the half, taking the lead on a 4-yard pass from Warner to Faulk with 28 seconds left.
New Orleans opened the scoring with a 4-yard TD pass from Aaron Brooks to fullback Terrelle Smith.
After the failed attempt at an onsides kick, the Rams needed just eight plays to score on Warner´s 6-yard pass to Bruce.
Warner found Bruce again six minutes into the second quarter on an 11-yard TD, giving the Rams a 14-7 lead.
Az-Zahir Hakim fumbled a punt late in the period, and Fred McAfee recovered at the St. Louis 38. Three plays later, Brooks found Joe Horn from 6 yards to tie it at 14.
The Rams then went 79 yards in just 1:28 for the TD that closed the half.
Grant Wistrom intercepted Brooks early in the third quarter, and two plays later, Warner found Bruce all alone down the sideline for a 40-yard score that made it 28-14.
New Orleans closed to 28-21 on a 28-yard TD pass from Brooks to Willie Jackson. It came after the Saints had first-and-goal at the 4, then moved back by four consecutive penalties -- delay of game, illegal motion, holding and a personal foul.
“The thing about penalties is that they are uncalled-for,” said Brooks, who completed 23 of 40 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice and sacked five times.
Jeff Wilkins´ 43-yard field goal in the first minute of the fourth period made it 31-21. Wilkins added a 27-yarder seven minutes later.
NOTES: Monday night´s game was the 64th and final regular-season game in which the Saints and Rams will face each other as divisional rivals. Next year, the Saints move to the new NFC South. ... Bruce went over 1,000 yards for the season, the fifth of his career, setting a Rams record. ... Saints safety Sammy Knight leads the NFL with 11 takeaways.
