NFL Game Summary - St. Louis at Kansas City
Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Jamaal Charles rushed for 73 yards with two touchdowns, and the Kansas City Chiefs' defense stood tall in a 34-7 win over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
Alex Smith, who threw just one incompletion in the first half, finished with 226 yards on 24-of-28 passing for the Chiefs (4-3), who have won four of their last five.
Kansas City, which won its sixth straight over St. Louis, totaled seven sacks in the victory. Knile Davis returned a kickoff for a touchdown and also rushed for a score.
The Rams (2-5) couldn't build off of last week's emotional home win over Seattle. Austin Davis went just 15-of-25 for 160 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and the Rams' rushing unit was limited to just 84 yards.
On the third play of the game, Austin Davis and Kenny Britt got together for a 43-yard pitch-and-catch to the KC 13. St. Louis' signal-caller then finished off the 6-play, 65-yard drive with a 1-yard TD toss to Lance Kendricks for an early 7-0 lead.
It was all Kansas City from there.
Playing in their first home game since a 41-14 win over New England on Sept. 29, the Chiefs didn't get on the board until early in the second quarter, but it would be the first of 34 unanswered points. Smith, who was nearly flawless in the first half with 14-of-15 efficiency for 111 yards, hit Travis Kelce for a 17-yard gain on 3rd-and-6 from the Rams 18. Charles then took a handoff up the middle for a 1-yard score to tie the game.
Smith and Charles had trouble with the exchange on Kansas City's ensuing possession, and St. Louis recovered at the Chiefs 14. The Rams couldn't cash in, however, as Davis was sacked for a loss of 14 on third down and Greg Zuerlein missed a 38-yard field goal attempt.
"I thought after the first drive that the Rams put together, then we settled down defensively and played pretty good," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "Offensively, I thought we started out sloppy and then picked it up as it went. Things worked out good."
Cairo Santos closed the first half with a career-long 53-yard field goal that gave the hosts a 10-7 lead at the break.
Kansas City used the momentum from its rookie kicker to open the third quarter, as Knile Davis took the kickoff 99 yards for his second career return touchdown.
"Davis has done a great job all around," Reid noted. "He has been given quite a handful to deal with given all the injuries."
The Chiefs drove inside the red zone on their following touch and Santos knocked down a 28-yard field goal to make it a 20-7 game.
"We clearly got out played the second half of this game, in all three phases," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "We started fast but we didn't finish."
Charles, who also had four receptions for 44 yards, broke the game open early in the fourth as he weaved through defenders for a 36-yard touchdown run, then Knile Davis waltzed into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown later to put it away.