Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Los Angeles Rams Match Player Stats On Dec 17, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Dec 17, 2015

ST. LOUIS -- If this was their last NFL game in the Edward Jones Dome, the St. Louis Rams left with a bang.

Quarterback Case Keenum efficiently sliced up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense, throwing for 234 yards and two touchdowns Thursday night as St. Louis bagged a 31-23 victory.

Keenum completed 14 of 17 passes as the Rams (6-8), who are one of three franchises angling to move to Los Angeles, gave the announced crowd of 51,295 plenty of excuses to wave the gold towels that matched the team's all-gold uniforms.

Wide receiver Tavon Austin scored a pair of touchdowns, including a 21-yard run on a reverse with 5:35 left in the third quarter for a 28-6 lead. Running back Benny Cunningham added a 102-yard kickoff return to the Tampa Bay 3 to set up a 19-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein in the fourth quarter.

Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston completed 29 of 50 passes for 363 yards and fourth quarter touchdowns to tight ends Luke Stocker and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Winston also threw an interception and lost a fumble to abort second-half drives.

Kicker Connor Barth booted three field goals for Tampa Bay (6-8), which harbored wild-card playoff hopes until losing the last two games.

St. Louis dominated the first half with an infrequent display of offense, using big plays to produce three touchdowns. Austin put it up 7-0 just over three minutes into the game by taking a short pass from Keenum and bolting 17 yards.

After Barth drilled a 53-yard field goal with 4:52 left in the first quarter, the Rams answered less than two minutes later as wide receiver Kenny Britt hauled in Keenum's 60-yard scoring strike.

The Buccaneers owned the ball for more than seven minutes to open the second quarter, but got nothing as running back Doug Martin was stuffed for a 2-yard loss by defensive tackle Aaron Donald on 4th-and-1 at the St. Louis 23.

The Rams promptly marched 75 yards in nine plays for a 21-3 lead, running back Todd Gurley capping the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run at the 2:09 mark.

NOTES: St. Louis RB Todd Gurley reached the 1,000-yard mark with his touchdown run, becoming the team's first rookie to do so since Jerome Bettis in 1993. ... Tampa Bay has allowed just one 100-yard rusher this year, tied for second in the NFL. ... Rams LB James Laurinaitis made six tackles, putting him at 1,003 for his career.