St. Louis 27, Arizona 14

TEMPE, Ariz., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Marshall Faulk gained 236 all-purpose yards Sunday, including 178 on the ground, as the St. Louis Rams extended their winning streak to three games with a 27-14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

St. Louis (3-5) opened the season with five consecutive losses and its problems were only amplified when quarterback Kurt Warner went down with a broken hand in Week 4. But the Rams have bounced back led by the brilliance of Faulk, who had one of his best all-around games against the Cardinals.

"I was a little under the weather this week, but somethimes I don't pay attention to things that go on with me," he said. "I had a fever throguhout the week but that wasn't going to stop me. I try not to think about it during the game."

Faulk ran 27 times and fell five yards shy of his season high, which he set against Seattle in St. Louis' last game two weeks ago. He also caught five passes for 58 yards and scored his 250th career touchdown.

The All-Pro running back has 519 yards rushing, 16 catches and six touchdowns during the Rams' winning streak. He sealed the victory late in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard touchdown run.

St. Louis is seemingly unbeatable when Faulk plays well, going undefeated in 19 games when he has rushed for at least 100 yards.

"We came into the game with an objective defensively to contain Marshall," Arizona Coach Dave McGinnis said. "We didn't do it. We didn't tackle him. They were able to possess the ball way too long because of their use of Marshall Faulk."

Marc Bulger completed 20 of 29 passes for 245 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for St. Louis, which outgained Arizona, 415-235.

"We are playing as a team right now and its not because of me," said Bulger, who is 3-0 as a starter. "I am getting a lot more comfortable as the weeks go on."

"Our defense did a great job," St. Louis coach Mike Martz said. "We took away in the red zone and we took away at the end of the game. That is the defense you like to see and that is the defense that I believed in."

The Cardinals (4-4) were limited to 235 yards and committed three turnovers, including a pair of fumbles. Jake Plummer completed 19 of 30 passes for 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

"We just didn't execute offensively the way we wanted to," said Arizona running back Marcel Shipp, who was held to 15 yards on three carries. "We had spurts at times but not enough to win a ball game. We focused all week on executing plays but we didn't get the job done today."

St. Louis took a 7-0 lead on Bulger's first-quarter touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl. Jeff Wilkins extended the lead with a field goal early in the second, but Plummer connected with Frank Sanders on a eight-yard touchdown pass with 2:31 left in the first half to bring Arizona within 10-7.

But the Rams responded with seven-play, 82-yard drive that took only 98 seconds. Bulger completed five of seven passes on the drive and tossed a seven-yard scoring strike to Torry Holt with 58 seconds left for a 17-7 halftime cushion.

The Cardinals pulled within 17-14 early in the fourth quarter. David Barrett intercepted Bulger and handed the ball to Justin Lucas, who ran 35 yards for his second touchdown of the season.