ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Falcons don't expect to be invited back to "Monday Night Football" anytime soon.
The St. Louis Rams dominated both sides of the ball as Aeneas Williams forced two early turnovers and Marc Bulger threw for 352 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in a 36-0 rout of the Falcons.
Williams set the tone for a defense that forced four turnovers, recorded a safety and posted its first home shutout in 10 years. Cornerback Travis Fisher finished the scoring with a late 74-yard interception return.
"We knew that we had not had a shutout in the dome," defensive end Grant Wistrom said. "It was just nice to go out and finish the game, play a complete four quarters and come away with the goose egg."
Bulger and Torry Holt took care of the offense. Bulger was brilliant, completing 23-of-34 passes with two meaningless interceptions. Holt had 11 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
"It all starts up front," Holt said. "I tell the 'O' line at practice, 'It all starts with you guys.'"
"That's what they have been doing all year for me," Bulger added. "When you get that kind of protection, our receivers are going to get open."
Bulger also rushed for a score and Jeff Wilkins kicked a pair of field goals for the Rams (3-2), who remained one game behind first-place Seattle in the NFC West.
"We're a football team that's trying to put together some wins and to continue to do the things that we have done in the past," Holt said.
The Falcons (1-5) did nothing right in suffering their fifth straight loss. While leaving receivers wide-open all night, they managed just 209 total yards and nine first downs, compared to 496 and 26 for the Rams.
"It started off good and promising, but it just turned sour," offensive tackle Bob Whitfield said. "It probably ruined Monday Night Football's ratings for the next century. It will be few and far between before we get another Monday night."
The Falcons drove deep into Rams' territory in the first quarter before Williams picked off Doug Johnson in the end zone to keep the game scoreless. Williams ranks second among active players with 52 career interceptions.
"The interception was reading the quarterback's eyes and going over and being aggressive when I have an opportunity to make a play on the ball," he said.
With St. Louis leading, 3-0, in the second quarter, Williams popped the ball loose from tight end Alge Crumpler and recovered it. After 10 years as a standout cornerback, Williams is playing safety for the first time.
Following the interception, the Rams drove from their own 1 to the Falcons' 10-yard line before Wilkins kicked a field goal. After the fumble, Bulger capped a 58-yard drive with a three-yard sneak up the middle, making it 10-0.
Bulger also threw a perfect 21-yard TD strike to Holt early in the third quarter for a 17-0 lead and rolled out before finding Holt from 14 yards in the fourth for a 26-0 cushion.
"I'm more excited for the defense shutting those guys out, giving them a goose egg here at home," Holt said. "I think that's a tremendous confidence-builder for our defense."
Even when the Rams did something wrong, the Falcons couldn't capitalize. Bulger overthrew Holt on an interception by cornerback Tod McBride, but offensive tackle Kyle Turley poked out the ball with his left hand and running back Arlen Harris recovered.
Wilkins followed with a 38-yard field goal to make it 29-0 with 3:45 to play. Just over two minutes later, Fisher picked off an overthrow by backup Kurt Kittner, raced down the right sideline and cut left before finding the end zone on a 74-yard return.
"The only thing we can do is go up," said Johnson, who continues to play for the injured Michael Vick. "That's probably the worst that I've seen."
The Rams posted their first home shutout since September 12, 1993, when they played in Los Angeles. The Falcons had not been blanked since October 3, 1993 in Chicago.
"A shutout is so difficult to do in the National Football League," Rams coach Mike Martz said. "The progress of this defense has really been amazing."
St. Louis recorded a safety when Wistrom tackled T.J. Duckett in the end zone on a run off left tackle with 2:15 left in the third quarter. The Falcons tried the same play one snap earlier, barely making it past the goal line.
It was the fourth safety allowed by Atlanta this year, one off the NFL record set by the 1999 Pittsburgh Steelers.
When the schedule was made, the game was billed as a battle between St. Louis' vaunted offense and Vick. But Bulger played for Kurt Warner, Rams running back Marshall Faulk sat out with a broken hand and Vick remained sidelined with a broken leg.
St. Louis hasn't missed a beat without Warner, a former MVP who went down with a concussion in a season-opening loss to the New York Giants and has not played since.
Bulger, the low-paid backup in his fourth year out of West Virginia, has won three of his four starts this season and nine of 11 lifetime. He is 8-0 at home.
"I thought Marc played very well," Martz said. "He just has to stay in tempo. He hung in there and stepped up in the pocket and made some terrific throws."
Regardless of who plays for the Rams, they continue to pound Atlanta. They have won the last seven meetings, scoring at least 31 points in each.
Without Vick, Atlanta's offense continued to struggle. It totaled one yard in the second half until its penultimate drive, which resulted in Fisher's interception return.
Johnson was just 10-of-23 for 134 yards. The Falcons finished with only 73 rushing yards.
Things got so bad for Atlanta, Woody Dantzler was called on to spark the offense at quarterback early in the fourth quarter. He took one snap, losing five yards on a scramble. "I don't have much to say," Falcons coach Dan Reeves said. "We got beat in all areas. There's no question they were the better team."
