Some day, Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo would like this team to play like the Vikings.

“It’s a measuring stick,” Spagnuolo said after Minnesota beat his team 38-10. “We have to get a good look at those guys across there because that’s what we want to look like eventually.”

When the 0-5 Rams look at the 5-0 Vikings, they see a team that doesn’t find new ways to fail every week.

When they look at Minnesota, Rams players see confident players making winning plays instead of costly errors.

They are worthy models to emulate. While the Rams continue their march to oblivion -– 32 losses in 37 games, and counting -– the Vikings are headed toward the playoffs.

“That was a good football team we played,” Spagnuolo said, repeating a familiar refrain.

The Rams actually played them to a physical standstill Sunday afternoon at the Edward Jones Dome. Man on man, they held up fine.

They made progress with both their rushing attack and their passing game. The Rams actually attacked the Vikings with deep throws, making Minnesota defend the whole field.

In many ways, this was a breakthrough game. Quarterback Marc Bulger, in relief of battered Kyle Boller, even threw a TD pass to Donnie Avery.

“We were able to move the ball,” said Rams running back Steven Jackson, who piled up another 109 yards from scrimmage. “The offensive line did a fairly good job of protecting our quarterbacks. I think we allowed our receivers to make plays. They were actually able to stretch the field.”

But at critical moments in the game, they made mistakes instead of plays.

On one mishap, Jackson never got a handle on the handoff from Boller. The ball got away from him and Minnesota recovered the fumble.

Jackson shouldered the blame. “It’s me dropping the ball,” he said.

On another blunder, tight end Daniel Fells caught a pass at the Minnesota 5 and then spit up the ball -– in the air, no less -– to Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson.

“I just didn’t hold onto the ball,” Fells said.

The capper was a fourth-down interception in the end zone, with Minnesota safety Tyrell Johnson going up to get a ball Boller put up for grabs.

And earlier in the game, the Vikings returned Boller’s comical fumble (on a whiffed pass) for a touchdown.

So despite out-gaining the explosive Vikings 207-157 in the first half, the Rams still trailed 17-3. Their offense gave up one touchdown and failed to score two others.

The second half brought more agony. The Rams actually finished with more yards than Minnesota (400 to 377) and still lost by 28 points.

Try as it might, this team cannot stem its self-destructive tendencies. History keeps repeating itself, despite the massive overhauls of the Rams roster, coaching staff and front office.

Maybe there is something in the water out at Rams Park. These guys keep telling us they are making progress, yet they keep losing every time out.

Will it ever end?

At least Avery and Keenan Burton had some fun in the passing game for a change.

“The guys are working hard every day,” Bulger told reporters after the game. “They’re going to be great players. It’s rough when you’re so young and you get thrown in there, but we don’t have any other options now. I think it’s going to pay off in the future.

“I think you can see now week to week these guys are going to get better and better. We noticed that this week.”

Yeah, but a 38-10 loss is still a 38-10 loss. Mistakes are still mistakes. So the Vikings move on with an unbeaten record while the Rams regroup, again.

“We could go in the film room and pick out 30 plays in there and just look at those 30 and say the Rams would have won the ballgame,” Spagnuolo said. “But it’s not like that. You have to look at all of them.”