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Rams hang on the edge Redskins

Sep 17, 2012 - 1:47 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Sam Bradford had three touchdown passes on 26-of-35 attempts for 310 yards to lead the St. Louis Rams to a 31-28 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.

Danny Amendola totaled 15 catches for 160 yards and a score while Matthew Mulligan and Brandon Gibson each caught a touchdown pass for the Rams (1-1), who snapped an eight-game losing streak that went back to last season.

Amendola tied an NFL record for most first half catches with 12, tying a record set by Reggie Wayne with Indianapolis in 2007.

Daryl Richardson carried the ball 15 times for 83 yards while Steven Jackson added nine carries for 58 yards in the win for St. Louis, which won its home- opener after going 1-7 in front of the fans last season.

"This was a great win for all the guys in the locker room," said St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher. "There are so many lessons to be learned from tonight and the biggest one is that we never let any adversity get to us."

Robert Griffin III again impressed as the rookie was all over the score sheet, going 20-for-29 with 206 yards, one touchdown and one interception while also carrying the ball 11 times for 82 yards and two scores for the Redskins (1-1), who were coming off last week's season-opening win against New Orleans.

"You're judged on wins and losses. We lost the game, so I didn't play well enough," Griffin said. "I didn't make enough plays."

St. Louis trailed by five points on its first drive of the second half, but that didn't last long as the fourth play of the drive saw Bradford hit a wide open Gibson in the right side of the end zone on a 34-yard score for a 23-21 lead.

Washington came right back to grab the advantage when Griffin carried the ball into the end zone from seven yards out for a 28-23 lead with 5 1/2 minutes to play in the third.

A 53-yard run from Richardson got St. Louis down to the Washington 6, but Bradford was picked off by London Fletcher in the end zone.

The Rams defense held and forced a punt from the Redskins, which was blocked by Mulligan and Eugene Sims recovered it at the Washington 24.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Bradford found Mulligan in the end zone from a yard out for a score. Richardson then ran the ball in for a two- point conversion and a 31-28 lead.

After each team punted, the Redskins got down to the St. Louis 39, but had to punt the ball away.

The 'Skins did, though, hold the Rams to a three-and-out, but a 66-yard punt from Johnny Hekker pinned Washington back at its own 21 with under five minutes to play.

Washington was forced to a three-and-out and punted, but a Richardson fumble was recovered by the Redskins at their own 37 with 2:40 to play.

On a 3rd-and-8, Griffin hit Josh Morgan for a seven-yard play, but Morgan then flipped the ball at a Ram and was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct. Billy Cundiff lined up for a 62-yard field goal attempt, but he missed it well to the right and the Rams ran out the clock.

The game started off terribly for St. Louis as on the first snap Amendola fumbled a catch and Josh Wilson returned it 30 yards to give the Redskins a quick 7-0 lead.

St. Louis got things together on its next drive and moved the ball into the Washington red zone, but stalled and Greg Zuerlein hit a 39-yard field goal to cap the 11-play drive with just over nine minutes to play in the first.

After an exchange of punts, Washington went on a 10-play, 71-yard drive that saw Griffin fake a handoff and take it in himself from five yards out for a 14-3 lead with 19 seconds left in the first. The drive was helped on a personal foul call to Sims after he hit Griffin at the end of a run out of bounds.

The Rams then went on another long drive as the team ran 15 plays and ate up seven minutes of the clock, but only came away with another three points on a 33-yard field goal by Zuerlein to make it a 14-6 game with just over eight minutes left in the second.

It took just four plays for Washington to extend its lead as Griffin found Leonard Hankerson in stride and Hankerson took it 68 yards for the first touchdown of his career and a 21-6 game.

On the first play of St. Louis' next drive, Bradford and Amendola hooked up on a 56-yard play. That set up a 1-yard catch by Amendola in the end zone to make it a 21-13 game with 1:58 left in the second.

Cortland Finnegan picked off Griffin to give the Rams the ball with under a minute to play in the half and that led to a 42-yard field goal by Zuerlein to make it a 21-16 game at the break.

Game Notes

Jackson was benched for the rest of the game after spiking the ball in the second quarter when he was ruled short of the goal line and incurring a 15- yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag ... Washington still leads the series with St. Louis 24-12-1 ... The Rams totaled 452 yards on offense and the Redskins had 373 ... Zuerlein has hit all six of his field goal attempts in this his rookie season ... Washington has its home opener next Sunday against Cincinnati ... The Rams play in Chicago next Sunday.