EARTH CITY, Mo. — It was a long wait for St. Louis Rams quarterback Shaun Hill after he was injured late in the first half of the season opener against Minnesota. Backup Austin Davis played well and retained the starting job for the next eight games.

However, coach Jeff Fisher went back to Hill when Davis continued to have turnover issues, especially in the fourth quarter. After the Week 10 loss to Arizona, Hill got the nod against and took advantage of it Sunday in a 22-7 win over the Denver Broncos.

He completed 20 of 29 passes for 220 yards and a passer rating of 102.7, 37.4 higher than the 75.3 rating of Denver quarterback Peyton Manning. Most important, he didn’t have a turnover, and struck quickly with a perfectly thrown pass to wide receiver Kenny Britt that turned into a 63-yard touchdown in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead.

It was a memorable day for Hill because his 9-month-old son, Theo, was at his first game, wearing a No. 14 jersey that said “Lil Hill.” Memorable not only for Theo’s presence, but because he’s named after Hill’s father, Theodore, who died in January 2011.

“Coincidentally, this is the first win I’ve had since the last game he was alive,” Hill said. “A lot of emotions went into this one, for sure.”

While Theo doesn’t understand what’s going on, the video will be saved, and it was so important for Hill to get another shot at playing, never knowing what the future holds.

“This is the first game he’s been to that I’ve started and finished. That was kind of important, too, for me when I was just thinking about coming into the season. I was like, ‘Man, he’s 9 months old. I’d really like for me to have some pictures of myself and him in this job. I don’t know how long I’ll be playing. It was important for me to come back and be able to do it some during his life.”