Rams hold back Buccaneers in possible last home game

There was a lot of uncertainty going into the game, as it was the Rams last home game of 2015 and could have possibly been the last game they played in the city of St. Louis.

The Rams have struggled due to their putrid passing game, which is dead last in yards (173/game), touchdown passes (8), yards per pass (6.0) and quarterback rating (69.2). Tampa Bay will be matching up against Gurley with a Lavonte David-led run defense that allows just 3.4 yards per carry, second only to the Denver Broncos.

Keenum completed 14 of 17 passes and 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.

Todd Gurley rushed 21 times for 48 yards and a touchdown and caught both of his targets for 31 yards in the Rams’ Week 15 win over the Buccaneers.

Benny Cunningham had a 102-yard kickoff return to the Tampa Bay 3 in the fourth quarter and a 44-yard return on the opening kickoff capped by Austin’s 17-yard scoring reception.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent their first round pick this year on the talented but polarizing Jameis Winston, and the overall results so far have been positive. For the game, Winston was 29-for-50 for 363 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.

Instead of using a running play to score, Tampa Bay had to throw three passes from the 6, and all three fell incomplete, forcing the Bucs to settle for a field goal that cut their deficit to 31-16. Gurley gashed the Lions defense for over a hundred yards and two touchdowns, while the defense kept the pressure on Matt Stafford all day.

Watch a preview of the Buccaneers-Rams game by the CBS NFL Today crew in the video below. “I believe at 41 we’re going to continue to write good two-way action”.

It will be interesting to see if the attendance is any better on Thursday as fans come out to take in the moment, and it will also be intriguing to see how the team approaches the situation. Martin has 1,124 rushing yards this year, his first such 1,000-yard season since his rookie year back in 2012. “We’ve been friends since we were high schoolers”, Winston said.

But all it takes is a win by surging Seattle (8-5) on Sunday against visiting Cleveland (3-10) to eliminate the Rams from postseason consideration for the 11th consecutive season. “I just want to show the world how good this team really is”.

The UNDER has cashed in each of the past 5 games between the two teams.

The Buccaneers had faint playoff hopes dimmed completely with the loss. It keeps alive Fisher’s hope to avoid a losing record for the first time in four seasons with the Rams. Doug Martin picked up 68 yards on 13 attempts, moving past Adrian Peterson as the NFL’s leading rusher. Now with Foles on the bench for the foreseeable future, the Rams have gone back to basics and kickstarted their team by relying on their talented rookie tailback, Todd Gurley, and the ground game.

Or maybe the Rams simply have clicked – finally – on offense with new coordinator Rob Boras calling the plays and Case Keenum making his third start at quarterback.