EARTH CITY, Mo. — When the final statistics are scrutinized, it’s difficult to believe the St. Louis Rams found a way to lose to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday.

There was the Rams outgaining the Eagles 466-352, having 29 first downs to 22 for the Eagles, and averaging 6.2 yards per play to Philadelphia’s 5.0. Then, there was Rams quarterback Austin Davis passing for 375 yards, while averaging 12.9 yards per completion and 7.7 per attempt, compared to Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who passed for 207 yards with a completion average of 8.6 yards and per attempt average of 5.6.

However, at the end of the day, the only numbers that mattered were the points on the scoreboard: 34 for the Eagles and 28 for the Rams.

How the Rams fell behind 34-7 near the end of the third quarter is another in a litany of games where the Rams find new ways of beating themselves.

Mostly, the ultimate result was traced to two touchdowns scored by the Eagles on a blocked punt return and a fumble recovery in the end zone following a sack of Davis. Add to that a 24-yard drive by the Eagles that also came after a sack/fumble. That’s 21 of Philadelphia’s 34 points scored during the frustrating afternoon.

As head coach Jeff Fisher bluntly put it, “When you have penalties, when you turn the ball over, when you have a punt blocked for a touchdown, and you have numerous drops, it’s not winning football.”

Added defensive end Robert Quinn, who now has no sacks in four games, “We just show that week in and week out we constantly shoot ourselves in the foot. And we have to eliminate those if we want to start putting W’s on the board. We try to look at the positives, but you keep going back to what we did wrong that cost us the game. We gave up a blocked punt, we had a busted coverage and the pass rush wasn’t there. Guys sold out until the clock said zero, but costly penalties and stuff like that will definitely haunt you in the end.”

At the end, the Rams were 48 yards away from making the Cleveland Browns comeback against the Tennessee Titans merely a footnote in history. The Browns overcame a 25-point lead to beat the Titans 29-28 for the largest comeback victory for any road team in NFL history. Had the Rams pulled this one out, it would have been a 27-point comeback.

After slashing the Eagles’ lead to 34-28 and getting the ball back at their own 7-yard line with 1:47 to play, Austin hit wide receiver Brian Quick on a first-down pass to midfield. A short pass to running back Benny Cunningham gained two yards, but on second and third down, wide receiver Austin Pettis dropped two catchable balls that would have advanced the ball to around the 25-yard line.

On fourth-and-8, the Rams inexplicably registered their 10th penalty of the game, this time for delay of game, and a fourth-and-13 pass fell harmlessly to the turf.

Davis, who has shown moxie and leadership in three starts and has passed for 712 yards in his last two games, said, “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I think we’re a good football team. The record is what it is, but we’re a couple plays here and there from being where we want to be. We’ve got to stay the course and we’ve got to find a way to eliminate mistakes and make plays when the game is on the line. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

He then acknowledged, “This is a tough one, though.”

As guard Rodger Saffold said, “We’ve got so much fight. But you don’t come out with a win. There’s no moral victory for us. We’re sick of it. It is amazingly frustrating, and it seems like it’s the same story year after year.”

REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus — Huh? Not an A for a game in which QB Austin Davis completed 29 of 49 passes for 375 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 103.7? Well, that was impressive, especially after Davis hit just one of his first six passes for 15 yards and was 10-for-19 for 123 yards in the first half. Before his final three passes were incomplete, Davis was 14-for-18 for 195 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. However, the negatives were four sacks, including two that resulted in fumbles recovered by the Eagles. One resulted in a touchdown, and the other gave the ball to the Eagles at the Rams’ 24-yard line. Two plays later, Philadelphia scored on a 24-yard pass play that turned out to be its final points of the game. WRs Brian Quick (5-87) and Kenny Britt (3-68) combined for eight receptions and 155 yards with Quick scoring twice and Britt registering his first touchdown with the Rams.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B — RBs Benny Cunningham (11-42) and Zac Stacy (7-47) combined for 89 yards on 18 attempts for a 4.9-yard average. Cunningham scored on a 14-yard run, but Stacy suffered a calf injury.

PASS DEFENSE: B-plus — There was the miscommunication on a 24-yard touchdown pass from QB Nick Foles to WR Jeremy Maclin, but Foles passed for just 207 yards, completing 24 of 37 passes. CB E.J. Gaines had an interception, and there could have been more when pressure caused Foles to throw the ball up for grabs several times.

RUSH DEFENSE: B-minus — Eagles RB LeSean McCoy was bottled up most of the afternoon. Although he gained 81 yards, it took 24 carries, an average of just 3.4 per attempt. However, Darren Sproles had 51 yards on just seven rushes and hit the Rams for some critical third-down conversions.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D — This was one of the poorest days on special teams the Rams have had in a while. The most glaring mistake was a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown just 23 seconds into the game. P Johnny Hekker also had a 36-yard punt when the line of scrimmage was the 30-yard line. Another punt was returned 23 yards by Darren Sproles. K Greg Zuerlein did have four touchbacks on five kickoffs. Benny Cunningham did average 25.2 yards on five kickoff returns with a long of 31.

COACHING: B-minus — Head coach Jeff Fisher blamed himself for Ray Ray Armstrong’s penalty, saying he put up with the player’s mistakes for too long. He also second-guessed himself for not calling timeout before an end-of-game delay penalty turned a fourth-and-8 into fourth-and-13. Fisher said he simply felt confident they would make the 13 yards. It is that belief that certainly helped the Rams overcome a 34-7 lead and get into position to win the game.