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ST. LOUIS - Marshall Faulk still knows how to get into the end zone, zooming past Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Jim Brown on the career touchdown list.
Faulk ran for three scores Sunday to help the Rams beat the Vikings 48-17 in a duel of division leaders.
He had his third consecutive 100-yard game after going 10 games without one. It was even better that he passed two childhood heroes, giving him 127 touchdowns, No. 5 all-time. Brown had 126 TDs and Payton had 125.
"That's pretty good," Faulk said. "Those are huge names, guys that I idolized, of course."
Cris Carter is No. 4 on the touchdown list at 130.
Faulk missed five games this season with a broken left hand and surgically repaired right knee and returned three games ago averaging 2.8 yards a carry. The past three games he has 311 yards, a 5.1-yard average and four touchdowns.
"I don't know what all the way back is, but we are playing good right now and running the ball effectively," Faulk said. "It's just all working now."
Faulk had 108 yards on 17 carries and scored on runs of 18, 5 and 7 yards.
The Rams tied the Eagles for the best record in the NFC at 9-3 and won their 12th consecutive game at home. The North Division-leading Vikings are sinking fast after a 6-0 start.
"Well, that wasn't very good," coach Mike Tice said. "That wasn't very good at all. We're just very disappointed.
"December is what counts. We're a young team that needs to grow up. You just have to make enough plays to win."
The Rams had two one-play touchdown drives created by turnovers. Faulk broke free off left tackle for the game's first score, and Marc Bulger scored on a 12-yard scramble after Tyoka Jackson intercepted a Daunte Culpepper pass that was tipped by Tommy Polley, making it 34-17 in the third.
The defense scored a third quick touchdown when Aeneas Williams scooped up Culpepper's fumble and returned it 90 yards in the fourth quarter. It was his 12th career touchdown.
Bulger also was impressive, limiting mistakes after throwing 10 interceptions in the previous four games. He shook off a second-quarter pickoff by Brian Williams that led to a Vikings touchdown and was 15-for-20 for 222 yards and a touchdown.