PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Sparked by a dominating defense that sacked Kurt Warner eight times and forced five turnovers Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles dealt the playoff hopes of the defending NFC champion St. Louis Rams a potentially fatal blow with a 10-3 victory.
Two weeks ago, the Eagles lost star quarterback Donovan McNabb for possibly the remainder of the season with a fractured ankle. In last Monday's win at San Francisco, backup Koy Detmer went down with a dislocated elbow, leaving untested A.J. Feeley to make his first career start against the Rams.
Feeley did not have to do much since the Eagles' defense overwhelmed Warner and the Rams offense the entire afternoon.
"I think that we played awesome," Eagles Coach Andy Reid said. "You can go around to a bunch of different people but I will start with (defensive coordinator) Jim Johnson. What a great job he did with the scheme when you are dealing with so much firepower from the Rams' offense."
Defensive end N.D. Kalu led the defensive charge with four sacks while end Hugh Douglas two. Douglas did not have to work against Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Pace, who left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.
"I think that if Orlando stays in the game, that changes things to an extent," said Rams Coach Mike Martz. "We've had our share of injuries up there. It's not a good team to lose your tackle against."
"We didn't stop doing anything," Warner said. "We kept attacking and we kept trying to do things. But their defense was a good defense and they capitalized on that a bit."
Kalu gave the credit for his performance the secondary.
"You should put an asterik next to my sacks because our defensive backs were just as good covering," he said. "He (Warner) was holding the ball. It had nothing to do with what I was doing.
"Bobby Taylor, Al Harris, Troy Vincent and B-Dawk (Brian Dawkins). They were just covering him so good. So that is why I had so many today."
Kalu also said Warner did not seem like the same player that led the Rams to two wins over the Eagles last season.
"I don't want to take anything away from him," he said. "He looked a little jittery. He didn't look like himself. Maybe he has an injury and maybe not telling anyone. Maybe he's one of those tough guys and he's keeping it to himself. I wouldn't take anything away from him. It might come back to burn you."
Cornerback Bobby Taylor accounted for the game's lone touchdown, returning an interception 23 yards for a score in the first quarter.
Warner had three of the Rams' five turnovers with two interceptions and a fumble.
"You got to take it personally," Warner said. "My job is to go out there and make plays and help this team win and I haven't done that. So yeah, I take it personally. And I got to do my job to fix it."
St. Louis (5-7), which beat Philadelphia in last season's NFC championship game, fell to 0-6 with Warner as the starting quarterback this season. Marc Bulger went 5-0 before Warner returned from a thumb injury in last Sunday's loss at Washington.
Warner had been 35-8 as the starter entering this season, leading the Rams to two Super Bowls.
The Rams were held without an offensive touchdown for the first time since a 16-3 loss at Carolina on Dec. 3, 2000.
"It breaks my heart that we played that well on defense and then not to follow it up with a good performance on offense," said Martz, whose club recovered four fumbles.
The Eagles (9-3), who committed four turnovers, have all but locked up the NFC East, moving three games ahead of the New York Giants. Philadelphia is 8-0 against the NFC.
With defensive coordinator Jim Johnson using a variety of blitzes, the Eagles continually pressured Warner, doing most of their damage on the edges with Kalu and Douglas. Kalu did most of his work against untested Andy King.
"It changed the tempo when they lost (Pace)," Johnson said. "We thought the matchup was pretty good. Kalu is so quick. If you are not used to against him every day, you don't realize how quick he is."
Warner also was not helped by the return of star running back Marshall Faulk, who was back after missing two games with a high ankle sprain. Faulk carried nine times for 29 yards and had four catches for 22 yards.
