The St Louis Rams have consigned the Houston Texans to a fourth consecutive defeat in the NFL with a comfortable 38-13 victory at the Reliant Stadium.
The Rams opened the scoring in the first quarter when Cory Harkey ran unchallenged into the end zone after collecting a short pass from Sam Bradford.
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Greg Zuerlein hit a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but Randy Bullock responded with a 20-yard kick of his own to get the Texans on the scoreboard.
The visitors took a commanding lead into the break after Bradford found Lance Kendricks wide open in the end zone, with Bullock's late field goal making it 17-6 at the halfway stage.
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The Rams really took control of the match with two scores in quick succession midway through the third quarter. First, Bradford threw to Brain Quick for his third touchdown pass of the day, before Keshawn Martin fumbled a punt return, allowing Daren Bates to run in and increase the gap to 25 points.
Things got even worse for the Texans late in the quarter as TJ Yates, who had replaced the under-fire Matt Schaub, threw an interception in the red zone that Alec Ogletree returned for a 98-yard score.
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Houston finally got their first touchdown of the match with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter as Ben Tate just about got the ball over the line with a one-yard run.
There was to be no dramatic late comeback, however, as the Rams held out for their first away win of the season to improve their overall record to 3-3.
Barney Corkhill
