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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- There's simply no stopping the St. Louis Rams, whose offense may be even more potent than last season. The defending Super Bowl champions once again lit up the scoreboard as Kurt Warner fired four touchdown passes in less than three quarters, leading the undefeated Rams to a 57-31 demolition of the winless San Diego Chargers. It was the Rams' highest total since a 59-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on November 10, 1996. St. Louis' biggest output during last season's Super Bowl run was 43 points. "It was one of those things where we knew their strength was against the run, so we were going to attack their weakness and see if we couldn't take advantage of that," Warner said. "We were able to do that and once we started moving the football and doing the things we wanted in the pasing game, why stop." With the Rams (5-0) heading into their bye, coach Mike Martz promised his players a week off if they remained unbeaten. They were not about to look that gift horse in the mouth. "Without a doubt, this week off was a lot of motivation for us to play well today," St. Louis receiver Isaac Bruce said. "I think you can tell that everyone went out there and played extra hard today." "There's no doubt that we wanted seven days off, but I would like to think we played because we are just getting better and better every week," Warner said. The Rams extended their NFL record by eclipsing 30 points for the 11th straight game. In their five victories this season, they are averaging over 43 points. St. Louis amassed 614 yards, the second-highest total in franchise history. The Rams had 735 yards against the New York Yankees on September 18, 1961. St. Louis' 217 points this season is the most in a five-game span since the Houston Oilers in 1961. "In my mind, (San Diego linebacker) Junior Seau is the best defensive football player in this league," Martz said. "We went into this game and tried to negate him and if we had to throw the ball on every snap, we would. That's the kind of respect we have for him." Warner picked apart the Chargers' secondary like a surgeon, completing 24-of-30 passes for 390 yards, raising his total for the year to 1,947 yards. He is on pace to shatter Dan Marino's NFL record of 5,084 yards. "They did a great job," Seau said. "They have a good offense. They were very effective. They took advantage of the one-on-one situations with their fast receivers. You have to get Kurt Warner uncomfortable. We weren't able to do that." Ironically, Warner was facing the team against whom his life changed last year. Having appeared in just one NFL game, he was ticketed for the backup role, but that all changed in an exhibition game against the Chargers on August 28, 1999 when expected starter Trent Green went down with a season-ending knee injury. Warner took over as the Rams' starter in last year's opener and the rest is history. Today, he produced his fifth straight 300-yard passing game, tying Joe Montana for the second-longest streak in NFL history. Warner threw TD passes of nine yards to Bruce and 13 yards to running back Marshall Faulk in the first quarter, helping the Rams jump out to a 17-3 lead. Bruce had nine receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns, passing Elroy Hirsch for second place on the Rams' all-time receiving yardage list with 6,432. The two TDs give him 46, third in Rams' history. "Right now, it all starts with our offensive line and a lot of credit has to go to them," Bruce said. "They project Kurt and that gives him time to find the people and to get us the ball. We have a lot of weapons and we all look out for each other. We block for each other and we enjoy seeing each other do well." Warner spread the wealth around as three St. Louis receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark. Faulk grabbed six passes for 116 yards, while Az-zahir Hakim added five receptions for 104 yards. Faulk was limited to 55 yards on the ground, but Justin Watson picked up the slack with 102 yards on 14 carries. It marked the first time a team had a 300-yard passing game, three 100-yard receiving games and 100-yard game on the ground since Detroit did it against New Orleans on November 23, 1995. "All the hype, it's definitely true," Chargers defensive back Rodney Harrison said. "They are a high-powered offense." Jermaine Fazande's two-yard TD run pulled the Chargers (0-5) within 20-10 midway through the second period, but Warner responded with a seven-yard TD pass to Torry Holt with 2:41 left in the half. Jeff Wilkins booted a 31-yard field goal as time expired to make it 30-10 at the half. The Chargers tried to get back into the contest as Jim Harbaugh tossed a three-yard TD strike to running back Fred McCrary three minutes into the third quarter. Replacing the injured Ryan Leaf, Harbaugh completed 27-of-40 passes for 348 yards withg an interception and two touchdowns. But Warner needed only 63 seconds to strike again, firing a 12-yard TD pass to Bruce that made it 37-17 and sent the quarterback to the bench for the rest of the afternoon. I've never seen anything like that on offense," said Harbaugh, who became the 43rd NFL quarterback to pass for 25,000 career yards. "They score so fast, it's an outstanding group. I felt going in, we would have to be flawless, no mistakes. I didn't do that." After Wilkins hit the fourth of his five goals, backup Green got into the act, finding Faulk for a 48-yard TD strike that upped the margin to 47-17 with four minutes left in the third. Watson completed the Rams' scoring with a 12-yard TD run with 3:11 left in the game. "They play fast, their tempo is fast and they execute," Chargers coach Mike Riley said. "I don't know if you can stop them. You have to stay with them and score points."
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