St. Louis ? Steven Jackson quickly is showing the St. Louis Rams that he is as good as advertised.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound rookie out of Oregon State bowled over the Redskins for 125 yards on 25 carries and scored on a five-yard run, helping the Rams to a 28-3 victory Friday night over Washington.

Rams coach Mike Martz said his brawny runner “just keeps getting better and better.”

“When he hits that pile, he’s relentless,” Martz said. “You’d better be prepared to tackle him. He’s what everyone at Oregon State said he was.”

Jackson ran for 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns in three seasons at Oregon State and was the first running back taken in April’s draft. He said he simply wanted to make a good impression and perhaps move up the depth chart behind Marshall Faulk, who had 11 yards on four carries.

The bruising back got better as the game went on, rushing for 103 yards in the second half.

“I tend to wear down the defense in the latter part of the game,” Jackson said. “That’s where I get my big runs. That’s Steven Jackson of college football and what helped me get to this level.”

When asked whether it was a breakout game for him, Jackson shrugged.

“For some of the people who haven’t seen me run, I guess so,” he said. “But not for me. I’m not satisfied. I had a couple of mistakes out there that I have to clean up.”

Torry Holt had seven catches for 143 yards for the Rams (1-2), including a seven-yard TD from Marc Bulger in the second quarter. That was the first touchdown by the Rams’ starting offense in three games this preseason. In its previous two outings, St. Louis mustered just 13 points.

Bulger was 6-for-12 for 78 yards, including the scoring pass to Holt, but drew boos after overthrowing wide open receivers on several occasions.

Overall, Martz liked what he saw from his team.

“This was really a week for this team to come together,” he said. “We’re excited, passionate about this game.”

St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger, left, is sacked for a four-yard loss by Washington's Renaldo Wynn during the first half of their preseason game. The Rams won, 28-3, Friday in St. Louis.

Jets 17, Giants 10

East Rutherford, N.J. — Eli Manning got his first dose of real NFL defensive schemes, and it had to taste awful.

The Jets threw all kinds of defensive looks at the Giants, but while starting quarterback Kurt Warner handled them decently and led his team to a first-quarter touchdown on Ron Dayne’s nine-yard run, Manning seemed befuddled.

Manning’s first pass was intercepted by Donnie Abraham, and he also was intercepted by Reggie Tongue in the third quarter. He went 4-for-14 for 20 yards with two interceptions, two sacks and a fumble. Warner was 9-of-11 for 104 yards.

Broncos 31, Texans 17

Denver — Jake Plummer threw for 159 yards, ran for a score and led Denver’s top unit to its first two touchdowns of the preseason. Plummer finished 12-for-22 with an interception, and Quentin Griffin had 54 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Saints 17, Bears 13

Chicago — Third-team quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan set up his own go-ahead touchdown run with a long pass, lifting New Orleans. The sloppy game at Soldier Field took 31/2 hours to play and featured 30 penalties, including 18 on the Bears (2-1).

Jaguars 9, Packers 7

Jacksonville, Fla. — Josh Scobee’s confidence grew with every kick. So did his chances of becoming Jacksonville’s kicker. The rookie took advantage of an opportunity to prove he can be the answer to the Jaguars’ kicking woes, booting three field goals to account for all of Jacksonville’s points.

Brett Favre played a half for Green Bay (1-2), throwing a 52-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson in the second quarter.

Seahawks 26, Chargers 20

San Diego — Philip Rivers, the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL draft who ended his holdout earlier this week, completed his first three passes for 72 yards.

But the rookie misfired on his next seven throws, two of which were intercepted.

Matt Hasselbeck completed 18 of 28 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown to lead the Seahawks (2-1).

Vikings 23, 49ers 10

Minneapolis — Daunte Culpepper went 20-for-27 for 204 yards and a touchdown, and Minnesota needed help from its reserves to deal San Francisco its third straight exhibition loss.

The Vikings outgained San Francisco 326-61 in total yards in the first half and took a 16-0 lead into halftime before allowing the 49ers to close the gap slowly.