Case Keenum, Tavon Austin lead St. Louis Rams past Tampa Bay Buccaneers

(AP Photo/L.G. Patterson). St. Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley, right, is congratulated by quarterback Case Keenum after scoring on a 3-yard run during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, Dec. 17…

Maybe it was the sight of several Rams greats, from Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk – working the game for the NFL Network – to Orlando Pace, Torry Holt, and Aeneas Williams, who were also in the house.

In the first half of this one, Austin burned the Buccaneers defense and made them look silly en route to the end zone. He has all of the assets needed to be effective at this level, and it looks as though he has the running back needed too.

“We were protecting good enough”.

Donald is a half-sack shy of the franchise mark by a defensive tackle set in 1995 by D’Marco Farr, who had an extremely quick first step especially early in his career.

Quarterback Case Keenum certainly played inspired. “Our playoff hopes are probably done, but the season ain’t over yet”. “When he doesn’t run, they can’t score”, Marshall said. Instead, Tampa Bay can start preparing for next season – and getting some good feelings out of the team’s last two games.

Winston’s toughest competition will be Marcus Mariota, Amari Cooper, and Todd Gurley.

Cook is second on the Rams in receiving just behind Britt with 412 receiving yards, but has yet to haul in a touchdown this season. The Bucs can preserve their own defense by hammering the ball with RB Doug Martin. “You get a day or so to catch your breath”. On the team’s second drive the Bucs turned more to Winston, but he continued to be jittery and off target as the Bucs settled for a field goal.

There is plenty of talent on hand (though most of it is hurt and out for the year), from Robert Quinn to Chris Long to Alec Ogletree to Janoris Jenkins to Tavon Austin, and there’s even the makings of a solid offensive line.

Sims has emerged as the Bucs go-to back out of the backfield on third downs. The 26-year-old has recorded six touchdowns in his last 10 games, including five on the ground. There’s been numerous indications this season, from the attitudes of front office members all the way to the marketing team’s decisions to more heavily reference Los Angeles in promotional material, that would seem to show the Rams’ plans to be in California next year.

The Bucs got the ball to start the third quarter down 21-3, and they immediately got to work, actually relying on the pass – and it worked, with Mike Evans making a pair of ridiculous catches (one negated by penalty), dropping a ball (oops), and Adam Humphries turning a low pass into a first down. Like Sims, Austin has contributed both carrying and catching the football. With their ability to put pressure on the QB to go along with a talented secondary the Rams will make Winston’s night hard. But rookie quarterback Jameis Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, wasn’t sharp. Four out of the Rams five wins this season have come at home. If the Bucs want to ensure a win this game, they are going to need to continue to stop the run as well as they have been.

Perhaps some of that Warner karma rubbed off on Keenum, because he completed 10 of his first 12 passes Thursday for 175 yards and two touchdowns.