ST. LOUIS (AP)—Ryan Torain’s(notes) breakout game helped the Washington Redskins
build a cushion. It made it a lot easier for the defense to punish Sam Bradford(notes),
too.

Torain ran for 135 yards and a 20-yard score with his first carries of the
season, and the Redskins overcame a potentially devastating turnover with two of
their seven sacks in a 17-10 victory over the winless St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

The Redskins, 3-1 for the first time since 2008, roll into their bye week
looking like NFC East contenders, their only loss coming by two points last
Monday night to the Dallas Cowboys.

“The key is to keep getting better, not play your football in September and
October, and we haven’t done that,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “Hopefully we’ll
keep getting better each week.

“I think we made some strides with our running game.”

The Rams (0-4) were held to just 177 total yards and one touchdown for the
fourth straight week, not enough to climb back from a 17-0 third-quarter
deficit. Steven Jackson scored on a 15-yard catch in the fourth.

There are few positives heading into the bye week for the Rams, who have
trailed all season save for about 6 1/2 minutes.

“The plays are there to be made,” Jackson said “It’s more than one
reason. We keep coming up short and it’s very disappointing, because you have a
defense fighting their tails off.”

Torain missed the first two games with a broken left hand and had no touches
in Week 3, but averaged 7.1 yards on 19 carries after stepping in for a
banged-up Tim Hightower(notes). Torain was untouched until near the goal line on his
scoring run that made it 14-0 in the second quarter and added a 39-yard burst
that set up a field goal in the third quarter.

“It was great to see him running like that,” offensive tackle Trent
Williams(notes) said. “He was really getting it done out there.”

James Laurinaitis’(notes) interception and 15-yard return of an underthrown pass
from Rex Grossman(notes) gave St. Louis (0-4) the ball at the Washington 19 with about
five minutes remaining. The Rams went in reverse with an illegal shift on first
down, Stephen Bowen’s(notes) sack for a 10-yard loss on second and Brian Orakpo’s(notes) sack
for a 5-yard loss on third down.

That left them with fourth-and-30 and a punt from the Redskins 39. On their
last possession, the Rams ran out of downs on their own 39.

Bradford used a hard count to throw off the defense and it backfired,
resulting in four of the Rams’ five false starts, a glaring statistic for the
home team. Tackle Rodger Saffold(notes) in particular had a rough game overall.

“I’m not going to lie,” Bradford said. “It’s getting frustrating. I think
we’re a better team. From the outside, it doesn’t look it.”

Orakpo had 2 1/2 sacks and Bowen added 1 1/2 for the Redskins, who totaled eight
sacks the first three games. Washington shut out its opponent in the first half
for the first time since the opener last year against the Cowboys.

The Rams have allowed 18 sacks on the year and players were booed off the
field at halftime for the second straight week. By the time they showed some
signs of life, many fans had already hit the road.

“This bye week comes at a good time,” Bradford said. “It’s a good time
for us to get away from it and look at things we’ve struggled with and try to
make corrections.”

St. Louis was supposed to contend in the NFC West after a six-win
improvement last season to 7-9 but has regressed in Year 3 under coach Steve
Spagnuolo, who is 8-28 overall. The Rams have been outscored 41-0 in the first
half the last two games and 79-16 in the half overall. They didn’t top 100 yards
total offense against the Redskins until the fourth quarter.

“I definitely understand our fans’ frustrations. There were a lot of high
expectations with this team,” Jackson said. “I don’t think the season is
written off quite yet, but I’m disappointed, too.”

Justin King’s(notes) 50-yard interception return on a ball that went through Moss’
hands put the Rams at the Washington 31 and set up their first score. They
settled for a field goal after rookie Lance Kendricks(notes) dropped a pass in the end
zone.

Notes: Chris Cooley’s(notes) 427th reception, a 4-yarder in the first half, tied
Mike Ditka for 18th on the tight end career list. … Rams OG Jacob Bell(notes)
(hamstring) was sidelined in the first half. DT Gary Gibson(notes) injured his right
hip in the first half, but returned. TE Michael Hoomanawanui(notes) took a blow to the
head, but the Rams did not have a diagnosis. … Shanahan is 3-4 against the
Rams and beat them on the road for the first time. … Jackson has scored 56
touchdowns, breaking a tie with Elroy Hirsch for fifth on the franchise list.

Read More: Donovan McNabb (QB – WAS), Albert Haynesworth (DT – WAS), Washington Redskins

UPDATE: The Redskins have clarified and said Friday, not Saturday, is the first official practice, but it is closed to the public.

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The full Washington Redskins 2011 training camp schedule has been released to the public, and now, we know what it will mean for the players. Training camp will officially begin on Thursday, but the first open practice won’t be until Saturday morning. As it turns out, that also will be the first practice with pads all week.

Mike Jones of the Washington Post reports that the first three days of training camp will not feature full practices. Here is the schedule:

#Redskins timeline: Wednesday is report day, Thursday is physicals; Friday is conditioning work and first official practice is Saturday.

This is hardly a surprise, but now it is official. Players began using the facilities as early as Tuesday, though not everyone was present. Wednesday is the day that everyone needs to report, so it will be interesting to see whether Donovan McNabb and Albert Haynesworth show up.

For more on the Redskins, visit Hogs Haven.