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 "It was pretty awesome," St. Louis defensive end William Hayes said.
"It was a beautiful thing. We haven't always put the best product on
the field for them. I can say the support they gave us tonight was
awesome."
In return, the Rams offered one of their better performances of the
year, leading wire to wire in a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.
Rams quarterback Case Keenum completed 14 of 17 passes for 234 yards
and two touchdowns, finishing with a 158.0 passer rating, just 0.3
shy of a perfect mark.
St. Louis wide receiver Tavon Austin scored touchdowns on the ground
and in the air, while running back Benny Cunningham supplied an
electrifying 102-yard kickoff return to set up kicker Greg
Zuerlein's 19-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
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.
"It was very noticeable," St. Louis punter Johnny Hekker said of the
loud crowd. "It gave us a little extra gear. You could see the signs
they had. ... They were very passionate."
Waving gold towels to go along with the all-gold uniforms the Rams
donned, the fans had reason to cheer from the get-go. Cunningham's
43-yard kickoff return set them up with a short field, and Keenum
cashed it in with a 17-yard scoring strike to Austin 3:06 into the
game.
After kicker Connor Barth bombed a 53-yard field goal for Tampa Bay
with 4:52 left in the first quarter, Keenum made it 14-3 when he
found wide receiver Kenny Britt yards behind cornerback Jude
Adjei-Barimah for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
Keenum then went 5-for-5 for 57 yards on a nine-play, 75-yard
scoring drive late in the first half that running back Todd Gurley
finished with a 3-yard run at the 2:09 mark to give St. Louis a 21-3
halftime lead.
Although the teams had just three days to prepare for the game,
Keenum said that might have aided the Rams.
"You keep things simple," he said. "A lot of guys prepared really
well. You couldn't script a better opening drive."
Keenum maintained his scalding hand on the third quarter's first
drive, zinging completions of 25 and 15 yards to tight end Jared
Cook and an 11-yard strike to Austin. That set up Austin's 21-yard
reverse with 5:35 left in the quarter for a 28-6 advantage.
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The Buccaneers (6-8) rallied behind rookie quarterback Jameis
Winston, who threw for 238 of his 363 yards in the fourth quarter,
finding tight ends Luke Stocker and Austin Seferian-Jenkins for
short touchdown passes.
Seferian-Jenkins' 9-yard scoring catch with 1:34 left drew Tampa Bay
within a possession, but linebacker Bryce Hager fell on an onside
kick to seal the verdict.
"We're headed in the right direction, but we're not there yet,"
Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith said. "When so much is at stake, you
want to play better football. You've got to be able to not give up
long touchdown passes and big plays."
Winston completed 29 of 50 passes, losing a fumble and throwing an
interception to end promising second-half possessions. Running back
Doug Martin collected 91 yards on 18 carries, and wide receiver Mike
Evans grabbed nine passes for 157 yards.
However, Tampa Bay's already slim playoff hopes absorbed a fatal
blow from a team that might have given its much-maligned fan base a
perfect farewell gift.
"I know our future here is uncertain," Hekker said, "but I know our
fans are passionate. I hear from them constantly that they hope we
stay in St. Louis. You could hear the chants all night."
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. He finished the night with 48 yards on 21
carries. ... Tampa Bay has allowed just one 100-yard rusher this
year, tied for second in the NFL. ... Rams LB James Laurinaitis
finished with six tackles, giving him 1,003 in his career.
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