By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

Statistically speaking, the Rams battled the Minnesota Vikings, one of the best teams in the NFL tooth and nail for most of their game on Sunday.

Offensively, the Rams posted their best performance of the season, picking up 400 yards of total offense and 27 first downs as well as controlling the ball for more than 32 minutes.

Defensively, the Rams battled the Vikings, limiting star running back Adrian Peterson to 69 yards rushing and coming up with creative ways to get pressure on quarterback Brett Favre.

Even the special teams got some solid returns from Danny Amendola and punter Donnie Jones was his usual, excellent self.

But sometimes, the statistics don’t tell the whole story. And Sunday was one of those days as Minnesota beat the Rams in the statistic that matters most, points, on its way to a 38-10 victory at the Edward Jones Dome.

“I thought we went toe to toe with them for most of the game,” Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “There was a point there where it got out of hand but especially in the first half. We didn’t finish things, we shot ourselves in the foot and that’s the reason for the score of the game and the loss.”

Despite outgaining the Vikings’ explosive and balanced offense, the old adage about turnovers came back to haunt the Rams on Sunday.

And it wasn’t just the number of turnovers the Rams had compared to what they created so much as the crucial situations in which those giveaways occurred that ultimately decided the game.

From the opening moments of their first possession when quarterback Kyle Boller rolled out and hit tight end Randy McMichael for a 35-yard gain, the Rams offense seemed to have a rhythm it had not yet reached during the first four games of the season.

Boller was able to get out of the pocket and deliver the ball on the run, spreading it around to a variety of receivers. Running back Steven Jackson was his usual, powerful self and the offensive line was doing a solid job of keeping Minnesota’s talented front four at bay.

Each time the offense pieced another long drive together, though, the Rams were unable to get any points on the board because of a costly turnover. All told, the Rams had three turnovers inside Minnesota’s 10-yard line.

“Our biggest opponent right now is ourselves,” center Jason Brown said. “You saw that time and time again we moved the ball very well, go the length of the field at least three times and we have to be more efficient in the red zone area. You look at the denials we had in the red zone, if we were more efficient in those areas it’s a tie ball game all the way into the fourth quarter. I know the scoreboard doesn’t show that but in order to understand what I’m talking about you have to have seen the whole game and seen those critical errors that we had down there in the red zone.”

Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, the Rams were piecing together a drive to potentially tie the game. On first-and-10 at Minnesota’s 35, Boller dropped back to pass and as he cocked his arm to throw, simply dropped the ball.

Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen recovered and raced 52 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Undeterred, the Rams offense bounced back and put together another impressive drive two possessions later. They marched 85 yards on 14 plays and had a first down at Minnesota’s 1 when Boller attempted to hand off to Jackson.

But Jackson never had the ball and it came out as Allen again recovered to stop the drive. Despite that, linebacker James Laurinaitis got the ball right back for the Rams by intercepting Favre and returning it to Minnesota’s 25.

The Rams settled for a field goal on that possession to cut it to 14-3 as Laurinaitis was excited by his first career interception, especially coming against Favre who he watched a lot as a kid.

“It’s pretty cool,” Laurinaitis said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was. To be honest with you, I’d put that ball on the ground to get a win.”

The Vikings countered with a field goal before the Rams put together another strong drive that would end in a turnover.

This time, the Rams marched 67 yards on nine plays to Minnesota’s 8 when Boller hit tight end Daniel Fells around the Vikings’ 4. As Fells turned his back to the goal line and tried to fall forward, the ball was jarred loose and recovered by linebacker E.J. Henderson.

“That’s one of those things we can’t allow to happen,” Fells said. “When you are in the red zone you have to come away with some sort of points. You’d love a touchdown but you have to come away with some points and we turned the ball over when we were down there.”

Down 24-3 in the fourth quarter, the Rams opted to go for it on fourth down at Minnesota’s 9 and Boller, attempting to make something happen, fired a pass into the end zone intended for Keenan Burton.

Minnesota safety Tyrell Johnson intercepted it, ending the drive. The Vikings would add two more scores and quarterback Marc Bulger, replacing a shaken up Boller, hit receiver Donnie Avery for a 27-yard touchdown for the final margin.

Despite the final score, the positives in this Rams loss will be much easier to discern than from the previous four.

Still, Spagnuolo and his team would like to see what could happen when the mistakes are officially eliminated.

“It’s always encouraging,” Spagnuolo said. “We could go into the film room and pick out 30 plays and just look at those 30 and say the Rams should have won that football game. But it’s not like that. You count all of them.”

And ultimately, the only statistics that truly matter are the ones that go next to the team’s name on the scoreboard.