National Football League wrap: Rams win, 31-23, in possible swan song

He’s cooled off considerably lately but still went over the G-mark, (1,000-yards) with two games to spare Thursday night.

Several stars from the 1999 Super Bowl championship team attended the finale, including Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, plus Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk from the NFL Network.

Regardless of the fact that the Rams haven’t had a winning season since 2003, the St. Louis fans were electric last night, spurred on by fantastic play from Tavon Austin, Aaron Donald, and the pressure the Rams defense put on Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston.

Following the 31-23 defeat to the Rams, Smith said his team has to look at the big picture. Even if they do or not, they left their heart on the field for a 31-23 victory. Running back Doug Martin collected 91 yards on 18 carries, and wide receiver Mike Evans grabbed nine passes for 157 yards. They outgained St. Louis 509-319, won the first down battle 30-16, had almost three times as many pass attempts, and none of that mattered.

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. He had just 125 yards passing the first three quarters but finished with a career-best 363, his first 300-yard effort, for Tampa Bay (6-8). Austin made it 7-0 just over three minutes into the game by taking a short pass from Keenum and bolting 17 yards.

Besides the emotional backdrop of the potential final home game in St. Louis, the team was inspired by a FaceTime chat with Bailey on game day. And one of those resulted from a fumbled kickoff return by Arizona deep in Cardinals territory in Game 4.

Fisher said Keenum was “much more comfortable” and a lot more decisive against Tampa Bay. Gurley scored on a 3-yard run to give St. Louis a 21-3 halftime lead.

Winston agreed, calling Thursday night a “lesson learned”.

Todd Gurley added six exclamation points just before the 2-minute warning in the second quarter.

St. Louis answered with another Austin touchdown, this time on an end-around sweep he turned into a 21-yard touchdown run, his 10th score of the season. Perhaps in the history of the franchise.

So the Rams took a commanding 21-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Barth cut into the deficit with a 32-yard field goal midway through the third quarter.

“Gotta move forward…. Our playoff hopes are probably done, but the season ain’t over yet”, the rookie said. But when he got started, he got started, racking up 575 yards rushing in his first four starts. Tampa Bay quarterback Winston placed a lot of blame on himself for the Bucs’ loss.

Meanwhile, the Bucs have struggled on offense despite Doug Martin getting 68 yards on just 12 carries.

Tampa got a late field goal and touchdown to make things more interesting, but Bryce Hager’s recovery of an onside kick with 1:33 to play sealed the deal for the Rams.

The team announced 51,295 tickets had been distributed for the 66,000-capacity dome. There will be a vote among the owners in January, and the fans were well aware of that fact-in what may have been the last home game at the Edward Jones Dome, the people inside the half-full stadium shouted “Keep the Rams” at full throat all the way through the game. “And it’s hard to win on the road when you don’t play consistent football”.

Owner Stan Kroenke wants to move the team to Los Angeles next season, and plans to file for relocation in January.

If the Rams are officially eliminated from playoff contention with a Seattle Seahawks victory on Sunday, it should be interested to see how Gurley’s workload is monitored over the final two weeks.

National Football League owners will meet in Houston next month to address, among other things, the fate of the Rams and their possible departure.