St. Louis Rams Come Together for Impressive Team Victory Against Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Heading into the St. Louis Rams’ Sunday matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, things looked like they had hit rock bottom. With career backup-turned-emergency starter Shaun Hill banged up with a quad injury, the team turned to their next backup, Austin Davis, who was coaching high school quarterbacks a year ago and less than two months ago was working as a camp arm and acting as a “dummy” quarterback for one-on-one pass-rushing drills.

But Davis, who had his fair share of struggles in his NFL debut last week, found some believers on Sunday, going 22-for-29 for 235 yards while directing the Rams to their first win of the season. The offense was by no means fantastic–Zac Stacy scored the Rams’ only touchdown, allowing the Rams to finally do what every other NFL team had already done by putting a TD on the board. Considering the options that the Rams had at their disposal on Sunday, though, it was a very impressive victory.

Wide receiver Tavon Austin was lost in the second quarter with a knee injury from which he did not return. In his place, fellow wideout Austin Pettis picked up the slack, finishing with three catches for 46 yards and grabbing a 27-yard pass which was extremely important in getting the Rams into range for Greg Zuerlein to kick the go-ahead field goal late in the fourth quarter. It should also be noted that Jared Cook and Brian Quick, who both have been rather inconsistent over their respective Rams careers, both had great games as well, with Cook catching four passes for 46 yards and Quick having a team-leading seven receptions for 74 yards.

While the Rams’ defense wasn’t spectacular, allowing the Bucs to pick up 332 yards of total offense (including 157 on the ground), they made big plays when it mattered. That was particularly true during the anticlimactic yet thrilling conclusion to the game, where Tampa drove 48 yards down the field, but safety T.J. McDonald knocked rookie receiver Mike Evans to the ground after he made a 29-yard catch with mere seconds left, which caused Evans to remain on the ground with an apparent injury, which in turn forced an automatic clock runoff, ending any chance of a Tampa comeback. The second-year safety had a great game overall, blocking a punt and a field goal before his game-ending hit.

It’s very possible that this may be the last we see of the Rams in the fashion we saw them today. Head coach Jeff Fisher reaffirmed after the game that Hill will return to the starting position whenever he is fully recovered, sending Davis back to the bench. And Pettis, who played such an important role today, could perhaps be the odd man out of the lineup if second-year receiver Stedman Bailey returns to the lineup next week following a possible agreement on the NFL’s new drug policy, which may negate Bailey’s current suspension. That could be particularly true if Austin is healthy enough to play next week.

Next Sunday, the Rams will take on the Dallas Cowboys, who picked up their first victory of the season over the Tennessee Titans today. While St. Louis is far from out of the woods following the injuries to players like Sam Bradford, Trumaine Johnson, Hill, and Austin, the win over Tampa should at least create some confidence for the Rams and enable them to return their full focus to having a productive winning season.