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NFL: Davenport leads the Rams to the slaughter

Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, left, is taken down by Brandon Chillar of the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Najeh Davenport is a career backup running back with typical non-descript statistics. Except when he is playing the St. Louis Rams.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' top-rated defense was porous again in a 41-24 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night.

But Davenport's three touchdowns and 123 yards rushing on 24 carries in relief of injured Willie Parker allowed them to break out of a late-season swoon and move one step closer to a playoff berth.

Isaac Bruce caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and moved into third place on the career yards receiving list, moving ahead of James Lofton, for the Rams. Marc Bulger threw three touchdown passes but was intercepted twice and Ike Taylor's 51-yard return on an overthrown ball on fourth-and-10 with 3 minutes, 46 seconds to go put the game out of reach.

Pittsburgh had taken a 10-point lead on a 29-yard field goal by Jeff Reed only seven plays earlier.

Besides the Bruce milestone, the only other highlight for the Rams (3-12) was retiring Marshall Faulk's No. 28 jersey at halftime of the Rams home finale.

St. Louis finished 1-7 at home and had three games blacked out because they did not sell out and in each of the last two weeks there have been nearly as many visitors as home fans in the Edward Jones Dome.

Parker, who leads the NFL with 1,316 yards rushing, limped off the field with a broken bone in his lower right leg in the first quarter after only one carry for minus-1 yard. Davenport eased any worries with a game that rivaled his 178-yard effort for the Green Bay Packers against the Rams, in a 45-17 victory in 2004. He was filling in for Ahman Green at the time.

Ben Roethlisberger was 16-for-20 for 261 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions for the Steelers (10-5), who had lost three of five to fall into a tie with the Browns for the AFC North lead.

The Steelers can clinch the division with a Cleveland loss at Cincinnati tomorrow.
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