After a busy few weeks resulted in an influx of talent both through free agency and signing their own drafted rookies, the Rams wasted no time putting that talent to work in their preseason opener against the Colts on Saturday night.

The outcome was a 33-10 win for the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome that bolstered them to 1-0 in this preseason and 7-2 under coach Steve Spagnuolo in exhibition games.

“All in all I thought the guys came out and did pretty well,” Spagnuolo said. “One thing I said to them last night was ‘In this league there is no on and off switch.’ It should always be on. It doesn’t matter who you play, when you play, preseason, regular season. I thought they did that today.”

With the starters playing the better part of the first half, the Rams controlled the action almost from the very start of the game, scoring on six of their first seven possessions and holding Indianapolis to just a field goal in the meantime.

After the Colts received, they gained 1 yard on their first two plays. On the third, the Rams’ first and most high-priced free agent made his presence felt.

An errant pass from Indianapolis starter Curtis Painter hit safety Quintin Mikell right on the numbers and he promptly returned it 26 yards to the Colts’ 16. That interception set the tone for a takeaway-filled night for Rams safeties as they combined for three interceptions.

“So far so good,” Mikell said. “It’s still early. We’ve got a lot to work on. It’s good to come out and get some turnovers in the first game and play physical. That’s really what we wanted to do was play physical and get some turnovers.”

Newly-signed running back Cadillac Williams picked up 11 yards on the first play of the drive and three plays later, quarterback Sam Bradford hit rookie tight end Lance Kendricks for a 6-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead the Rams would never relinquish.

Entering the game, Spagnuolo said he’d like for Bradford and the top offense to play 12 to 15 snaps. But the game’s circumstances actually left that group on the field about twice as long.

The short four-play drive was followed by a pair of three and outs, leaving Bradford and Co. with just 10 snaps. Spagnuolo sent that unit back on the field and it responded with the best drive of the night from the top offense.

Bradford continued to build his rapport with Kendricks, hitting him for a gain of 15 yards and a first down. Williams did the bulk of the rest of the work, touching it seven times on the possession’s final eight snaps before bursting in from a yard out for a touchdown and a 17-3 lead.

That would be it for the night for Bradford, who played 24 snaps and finished seven-of-12 for 45 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions or sacks.

“Obviously it was nice to come out and put two touchdowns on the board,” Bradford said. “I thought we did some really good things. I thought our line played great early. They opened some big holes for our running backs, got the run game going and kept me clean. Other than that, we’ve got to keep getting better.”

Kendricks carried his outstanding work on the practice field into the game, emerging as Bradford’s top target. He finished with five catches for 47 yards and the score. Four of those catches resulted in a first down or a touchdown.

Ever the humble young rookie, Kendricks couldn’t even focus completely on all the good things he did.

“I think it went well,” Kendricks said. “I had a couple drops but every rookie has a couple drops here and there. I hope that kind of knocked the rust off for the season but I think I did pretty well.”

Running behind a dominant offensive line, Williams and fellow free agent back Jerious Norwood had their share of success.

Williams finished his night with 11 carries for 40 yards, a catch for 6 yards and the touchdown. Norwood chipped in eight carries for 37 yards to go with two catches for 9 more yards.

“Cadillac hit some seams and kept some drives going,” Spagnuolo said. “And there’s certain things Jerious does that fit what we do whether it’s outside runs or…it was good to see him…it looked like he had his legs under him.”

Of course, not all of the work was being done by new additions. Old reliable kicker Josh Brown had a huge half, kicking three field goals, including a monster 60-yarder as time expired in the first half to make it 23-3 at the half.

Brown would later add a 53-yarder to his night and appeared more than ready for the regular season.

“I feel as good as I have since I was about 25,” Brown said. “I feel really good. I did a lot of hard working out this offseason. I took a different approach. I feel like I was really focused…I really feel like I still have something to prove. I am getting older but I am not (so) old that I am getting out of the game.”

All told, the Rams dominated in all aspects of the first 30 minutes. They outgained Indianapolis 187-124, had 13 first downs to the Colts’ four and held an average field position start of their own 47-yard line to the Colts at their 18.

The Rams offense picked up where it left off in the first half with A.J. Feeley taking the reins at quarterback. Feeley and running back Keith Toston carried the load for the Rams on a drive that covered 73 yards.

Toston touched the ball seven times for 43 yards before finishing the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it 30-3 Rams.

The Colts finally broke through on a broken coverage as Taj Smith got behind the coverage for a 44-yard touchdown pass from Dan Orlovsky to trim the lead to 30-10 Rams.

That would do it for Indianapolis scoring on the night as the teams traded punts for most of the rest of the second half.

While the preseason victory doesn’t mean much in the here and now, it was an encouraging start for the Rams, especially the team’s newest additions.

“For one game,” Spagnuolo said. “They looked really good for one game. I hope it stays that way.”