Tavon Austin burns the Buccaneers defense again on Thursday night

One of three teams angling to move to Los Angeles for next year, the Rams (6-8) didn’t allow potential distractions of a short week and a home finale for all time sidetrack them. They saw a glimpse of what they could be in that November stretch where they won three of four, but as soon as the month turned into December, the Bucs played right into the negative norms that have circled the franchise for far too long.

“There’s no telling what will happen but the fans today were incredible”, Keenum told reporters. “I think it was a great atmosphere and I think it was a great atmosphere for the nation to watch and see”.

Other inactives for Tampa Bay: quarterback Ryan Griffin, offensive tackle Demar Dotson, tight end Brandon Myers, defensive end George Johnson and defensive tackle Akeem Spence.

-WR Donteea Dye dropped a potential touchdown pass in the third quarter that could have pulled Tampa Bay within 21-9 and then almost made a colossal blunder in the fourth quarter, throwing the ball in the air before the play was over after thinking he was down at the 4. And while Todd Gurley and Tavon Austin are rising stars who evoke memories of Faulk and Holt from the franchise’s Super-Bowl-winning heyday, current quarterback Case Keenum hasn’t exactly been channeling vintage Warner in his first two starts this year in relief of the ineffective Nick Foles.

Jameis Winston owned the fourth quarter.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver found himself literally within touching distance of a touchdown during his team’s 31-23 defeat to the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night. In the second half, he stood on the sidelines, not even a helmet in his hand, as if knowing he wasn’t going into the game. “We’ve tripled our win total of previous year and we want to quadruple it when we get these last two wins”.

The Rams have now strung together a two-win streak following their five-game skid. “They were loud for us today, and they played a big part in us winning this game”.

“They’re great fans”, he said. Their playoff hopes all but crushed already, the Rams gave the loyal St. Louis crowd an exciting victory in what could be the last time the team plays in the Gateway City.

Against the run, this unit was as good as it has been all season, bottling up Todd Gurley and holding the Rams to just three yards per carry. “I mean, you had no problem telling who we had on the field but we had difficulty telling who they had on the field.”… But he finished 29 of 50 for a career-high 363 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. They did. But that’s what you get to do when you build up a huge lead early on. Win. Keenum and Kenny Britt would connect on a 60 yard bomb early in the first quarter, and would also connect with the likes of Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks.

Tampa Bay’s night was full of miscues and penalties, nine for 56 yards, rendering their statistical dominance irrelevant.

Austin added a 21-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter and showed off his speed the entire night, showing that he was the best player on the field in the week 14 matchup.