ST. LOUIS -- Mike Martz wins because he makes the unconventional conventional.

The aggressive Rams coach empties his backfield even though quarterback Kurt Warner might be vulnerable to concussions. On Sunday against the NFC Champion New York Giants, Martz let right tackle Ryan Tucker play one-handed against one of the league's best defensive ends, Michael Strahan.

Even though Strahan used the talented Tucker like a rusty gate, Warner survived six sacks, 16 hurries, six more hits and a fumble to hold on in a strange 15-14 victory that kept the Rams undefeated at 5-0.

	Marshall Faulk has his knee checked by a team trainer after he was injured in the third quarter.

Yet the aftermath of the victory might test Martz's courage. Halfback Marshall Faulk suffered a bone bruise on his right knee that will sideline him at least one week. An MRI showed no ligament or cartilage damage even though the team announced at first that Faulk had strained his right medial collateral knee ligament and will out for three or four weeks. Faulk will miss the game next week against the Jets and will be evaluated before the key Oct. 28 home showdown against the Saints.

With the Faulk scare, though, can he risk exposing his quarterback to hits with Trung Canidate or Robert Holcombe in the backfield against the Jets and Saints for the next two weeks? Probably. But as Martz reviews videotapes of the Giants game he might get a few more scares.

First of all, the Rams were lucky to win. They won because of Giants stupidity. Halfback Ron Dayne cost the Giants a crucial fourth-quarter field goal opportunity when was penalized 15 yards for throwing the ball at a Rams defensive lineman on what would have set up a third-and-1 at the Rams 30.

The Rams won because tight end Dan Campbell cost New York a 41-yard Morten Andersen field goal in the first half because of a holding penalty. Instead of leading 10-6, the Giants went into halftime trailing, 9-7.

And the Rams won even though every Rams fan kept wondering when Martz would give Tucker some help at right tackle.

"We want to stick to our game plan," said Tucker, who played despite a partially separated left shoulder and a broken left thumb encased in a thick cast. "We do a lot of open protections, so we don't have a right or left tackle."

For 2½ years, the Rams got away with such bravado. To hell with protections, Martz thought. Things are a little more delicate this year. First, you have to wonder about Faulk's knee. Since Nov. 5 of last season, Faulk has undergone two arthroscopic knee procedures and missed a good portion of training camp resting it.

Asked if the injury Sunday happened to his good or bad knee, Faulk joked, "I don't know, I don't have a good knee," Faulk said.

Faulk makes the Rams offense go. He has missed only two games in his three seasons with the Rams. They lost to Carolina, 27-24, last November. The next week, they beat the Giants, 38-24, and Faulk made his miracle return for the Monday night game against the Redskins and finished the season.

If Faulk's injury didn't send a scare into Martz's fearless game plans, what happened later in the fourth quarter might have. Warner got hit by -- guess who? -- Strahan and defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin after Canidate got a break when Giants safety Sam Garnes was called on interference in the end zone with 4:26 left in the game.

Warner only had the wind knocked out of him, but everyone flashed back to his concussion problems from last year. A year ago, the Rams could lose Warner and settle on Trent Green, who was originally brought to St. Louis to run Martz's offense. This year, they have Jamie Martin and Marc Bulger.

So listen up, Mike, get Tucker some help on the right side or Warner might be the next to go.

"Our tackles are on an island, so Ryan was out there and he was fighting and battling," right guard Adam Timmerman said. "It's tough with that cast. When you lose your fingers, it's not that we hold, but you can't hold. Strahan is one of the best, so he knows he can get inside of you. It makes for a long day. That's tough, but our offensive line is set up for getting much help."

Martz did use more two tight end sets with Ernie Conwell and Jeff Robinson, but he kept them in motion and sent them into pass routes more than what he kept them near the line of scrimmage.

"We kept the extra tight end in so that they would use an extra linebacker," Conwell said. "With that, we used a lot of quick passes. We tried more three- and five-step drops."

	“	It was kinda frustrating all day. We had penalties. We turned the ball over (four times in the second half). It seems as though everything we were doing, our backs were against the wall. ”
		— Kurt Warner

Still, the Rams varied little from their aggressive game plan, and they paid somewhat of a price. With Strahan crashing in unblocked for four sacks, six tackles and a forced fumble, the Rams offense didn't look like its smooth, seamless self. For example, in the half, the Rams had three dives between 48 and 73 yards, but they settled for field goals. That's not the Rams. In the third quarter, three of their five drives ended in turnovers. That's not the Rams.

"We got so much pressure, we could only make plays when we had time," said Warner, who completed 28 of 46 passes for 316 yards and no touchdowns. "They got to me a lot. It threw our timing off."

Even when the Rams fell behind, 14-9, in the fourth quarter when Ike Hilliard caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kerry Collins with 13:33 left, the Rams couldn't get into their usual rhythm. Warner started a drive from the Rams 18 and it was a struggle. During that series, the sidelines kept sending in different personnel switches with 15 to 17 seconds left on the 40-second clock. Once, that led to a delay of game penalty. Another time, they got the snap off with little time to spare.

The series ended when Strahan beat Tucker and caused a sack and a fumble from the hands of Warner.

"It was kinda frustrating all day," Warner said. "We had penalties. We turned the ball over (four times in the second half). It seems as though everything we were doing, our backs were against the wall."

Finally, Martz tried something different. He replaced the struggling Tucker with Rod Jones and he sent a tight end over to help. The Rams, with Canidate as the featured back, marched from their 23 to the end zone for the game-winning score, a 1-yard touchdown run by Canidate on a handoff from backup Jamie Martin. The Rams won the game 15-14 and felt devilish in doing so.

"No one remembers when we used to win these types of games in 1999 and 2000," Conwell said. "We're hoping that no one remembers this win."

Warner agreed that the victory was ugly. He was banged up. The Rams survived four second-half turnovers and 12 penalties.

"It was pretty ugly," Warner said.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.