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FOXBORO, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Bill Belichick had no answer for "The Greatest Show on Earth." Kurt Warner attacked Belichick's aggressive defensive scheme, throwing for a season-high 401 yards and three touchdowns as the St. Louis Rams posted a 24-17 victory over the New England Patriots. Considered one of the best defensive minds in football, Belichick, the Patriots' coach, has earned the reputation for being one of the league's elite game strategists whose defensive game plans have been consistently credited for defusing some of the league's most potent offenses. On Sunday, Belichick used numerous blitzes to try and slow down the Rams' high-powered offense which has earned the nickname, "The Greatest Show on Earth" for its explosive style. But Warner had little trouble dissecting Belichick's scheme, completing 30-of-42 passes and two interceptions. Warner's third TD of the game, an 11-yard toss to fullback James Hodgins with 10:32 remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Rams a 24-10 lead. It was the second career 400-yard game for Warner, who passed for 441 yards in last season's opener against Denver. "They did a lot of blitzing. They came in with a good scheme," Warner said. "Fortunately, we were able to fix those problems in the second half." After Tom Brady threw a 10-yard TD pass to David Patten with 7:46 left, bringing the Patriots within a touchdown, St. Louis' offense again came up big. The Rams squashed any hopes for a New England comeback, holding the ball for the final 7:37 of the contest and converting three third downs along the way. St. Louis finished with 482 total yards, including 22 plays of at least 10 yards, and 26 first downs. "They blitzed us as soon as we got off the bus," Rams coach Mike Martz said. "It took a little while to get going. They (Patriots) did a great job of mixing it up." Marshall Faulk, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, accounted for 153 yards and a touchdown for the Rams (8-1), who have the league's best record and remained one game ahead of San Franciso in the NFC West. Brady went 19-of-27 for 185 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for New England (5-5), which failed in its bid for its first three-game winning streak of the season. "We just missed too many opportunities tonight," Belichick said. "The game went about really the way we expected it to go. It was a tough hard-fought game. But both sides made some plays. But in the end, we just couldn't make enough of them. That's just disappointing." "I know why we lost, we made enough plays to win but they made more," Patriots cornerback Ty Law said. "We have to blame ourselves. They're a great team and I don't want to take anything away from them, but we beat ourselves." The Rams also showed they could play some defense. Trailing 10-7 in the second quarter, the Rams were on the verge of falling further behind. But on 1st-and-goal from the St. Louis 4, Antowain Smith was hit by linebacker London Fletcher and fumbled and Aeneas Williams recovered for the Rams at the 3. That play proved decisive as Warner orchestrated an eight-play, 97-yard drive before halftime that put the Rams ahead for good. Martz also thought the fumble was the big play. "The telling point for the whole season no matter what happens the rest of this year; the telling point is that the defense took the ball away on the three-yard line and we went 97 yards before the half," he said. "That says it all in mind of what this team is about." Warner accounted for all the yardage on the drive, completing 7-of-9 passes. He capped the march with 31 seconds left before intermission, finding Faulk over the middle for a nine-yard TD, giving St. Louis a 14-10 advantage. "We never got any big plays. We just made plays and plays all the way down," Warner said. Ricky Proehl also was big on the march, catching three straight passes that totaled 49 yards. In the third quarter, Warner lost a fumble on a bad snap and Larry Izzo recovered for the Patriots at the St. Louis 45. But on the next play, Brady's pass over the middle was intercepted by Fletcher and returned 18 yards to the New England 42. Fletcher finished with 11 tackles. That turnover led to a 35-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins, that gave the Rams a 17-10 lead with 3:06 left in the quarter. Warner provided the breathing room in the fourth quarter, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive with his 11-yard TD toss to Hodgins, who was wide open in the right flat. Brady, who entered the contest 5-2 as the starter since taking over for the injured Drew Bledsoe, attempted to rally the Patriots by connecting Patten with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 7:46 remaining. But that was the last time he would see the ball on the night. On the Rams' final drive, Warner converted a 3rd-and-7 play, finding Faulk for 18 yards. He also kept the chains moving with a nine-yard pass to Faulk on 3rd-and-3. With the Patriots out of timeouts, Faulk provided the final dagger, running for six yards on a 3rd-and-4 play to the New England 12 at the two-minute warning. Warning took a knee on the next three plays to kill the clock. Faulk carried 20 times for 83 yards and added seven catches for 70 yards. Faulk was one of three Rams with seven catches as Isaac Bruce totaled 130 yards and Torry Holt 89, including a 16-yard touchdown in the first quarter. "We knew Belichick would throw blitzes at us. We just didn't know from where," Holt said. Brady made the game's first big mistake, when his first pass attempt of the night was intercepted by cornerback Dexter McCleon at the New England 9. Three plays after the miscue, Warner found Holt over the middle for a 16-yard touchdown pass and 7-0 advantage. But a miscue by Warner later in the first quarter allowed the Patriots to tie the game when cornerback Terrell Buckley brought back an interception 52 yards for a touchdown. Adam Vinatieri kicked a 33-yard field goal 54 seconds into the second quarter, giving New England a 10-7 lead. Troy Brown finished with eight catches for 91 yards for New England.
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