St. Louis Rams outclass Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-13 – NFL Week 16 Recap
St. Louis Rams outclassed Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 28-13, in Week 16 game on Sunday, December 23, 2012, at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL.
Buccaneers stretched their losing streak to six games with this defeat. They started well, but could not stand against Rams’ solid defence.
Buccaneers were sacked five times and made five turnovers in the game. Their kicker Connor Barth kicked a 29-yard field goal in first quarter and started the score with 3-0.
Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman was intercepted in the beginning of second quarter, on which Rams rookie cornerback Janoris Jenkins scored on 41 yards return.
At 05:56 Barth scored another field goal of 49 yards and took the score to 6-7.
When 32 seconds were remaining in the second quarter, Rams running back Steven Jackson rushed for 5 yards and scored a touchdown.
In third quarter, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford threw two consecutive touchdown passes, to tight end Lance Kendricks for 80 yards and wide receiver Austin Pettis for 5 yards respectively, and led the score to 28-6.
At 08:50, Freeman threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Williams and ended the game at 28-13.
Both of the teams did not get the chance to increase their score in the final quarter. Out of last seven games after their bye week, Rams have won four, lost two and tied one.
They are 7-7-1 in this season. According to Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, he and his team will concentrate on the next game against Seattle Seahawks, in order to finish the season with eight wins.
He said:
"So we don't even have like one in a million chance? Well, we're going to play hard. We're going to finish up strong,"
Talking about staying unbeaten in the division, he added:
"This is a chance to finish out on a winning note and a chance to be undefeated in the division. If we're able to do that, I'd say then we can jump into the offseason with optimism for next year."
Bradford has completed 13 of 27 passes for 196 yards and scored two touchdowns with an interception.
He said:
"We found the playoffs aren't in the picture still, but if we go up and beat Seattle, we'd be undefeated in our division and finish with a winning record, which are two things we'd really like to accomplish next week."
On the other hand, Freeman had another bad week. He completed 30 of 54 passes for 372 yards and scored one touchdown with four interceptions.
Buccaneers have won six and lost nine games in this season, and they are tied with Carolina Panthers for 3rd position in National Football Conference (NFC) South.
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