Buccaneers vs. Rams: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were supposed to be fighting for their postseason lives with a level of urgency Thursday night in their game against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome.

Instead, it was the Rams who controlled the contest from the opening kickoff and never trailed on the way to a 31-23 victory that wasn't as close as the final score indicates. Quarterback Case Keenum was efficient in 17 passing attempts with 234 yards and two scores, while running back Todd Gurley added a touchdown run and Tavon Austin found the end zone twice.   

As for the Buccaneers, rookie quarterback Jameis Winston threw for a season-high 363 yards, but most of his production was after it was too late, as Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times pointed out:

Thursday night's game made headlines before the action started because of the color-rush uniforms of each team. Robert Klemko of Sports Illustrated compared the on-field action to a battle between red ketchup and yellow mustard:

CBS Sports reacted to the final outcome:

The mustard-clothed Rams struck first with an impressive six-play, 57-yard drive on the game's opening possession. Gurley did the heavy lifting, but it was Austin who scored on a 17-yard catch. The receiver made a handful of shifty moves in the open field on the way to the end zone, as the NFL shared:

Michael David Smith of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk noted Austin made some history in the process:

The Buccaneers answered with a 53-yard field goal from Connor Barth, but St. Louis extended its first-quarter lead to 14-3 with a 60-yard bomb from Keenum to Kenny Britt and the ensuing extra point. NFL Network passed along the connection:

Katie Sharp of SB Nation pointed out it was a welcome change of pace for the Rams offense:

Things continued to go downhill for the visiting Buccaneers in the second quarter when running back Doug Martin was stuffed on a fourth-down play deep in St. Louis' territory. Naturally, the Rams turned the ensuing possession into a touchdown to take a 21-3 lead into the halftime locker room after Gurley powered his way to the end zone from the 3-yard line. NFL on CBS reacted to the celebration:

Gurley also reached 1,000 yards on the season with the score and joined some fairly impressive company, per NFL Total Access:

Tampa Bay started the second half in promising fashion and drove all the way to the 6-yard line, but a costly penalty and a drop from receiver Donteea Dye forced it to settle for a field goal to cut the lead to 21-6. 

St. Louis responded with another formidable drive largely because Keenum was getting anything he wanted against a porous Tampa Bay secondary. Sports Illustrated commented on the quarterback's efficiency as the Rams marched right back down the field:

"

Case Keenum is slingin' it wherever he wants today.

— SI NFL (@si_nfl) December 18, 2015"

Keenum complied most of the yardage, but Austin ran it in for the score on an end-around from 21 yards out. Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated was not impressed with Tampa Bay's defense:

It looked like the Buccaneers wouldn't put up much of a fight, but they remained within striking distance with a four-play, 98-yard drive in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Tight end Luke Stocker capped the possession with a three-yard score, and the Buccaneers noted on Twitter that Mike Evans went over 1,000 receiving yards on the season during the drive.

Auman pointed to Winston's impressive control during the possession:

The momentum was short-lived, though, because Benny Cunningham returned the ensuing kickoff 102 yards to the 3-yard line. St. Louis only parlayed that into a field goal, but it pushed the lead to three scores again at 31-13. Things looked dire for the visitors, although Auman demonstrated that it could have been different if they took care of more opportunities:

The Buccaneers closed it to a two-score game with another field goal with less than eight minutes remaining, but it was yet another instance of Winston and Co. coming up short in the red zone.

Tampa Bay had one more realistic chance to get back in the game, but Winston threw an awful interception inside St. Louis territory. It was a terrible throw, but Myles Simmons of the Rams' official website praised the man who registered the turnover for the victors:

The Buccaneers defense finally came through and forced a quick change of possession, and Winston led the offense down the field for a touchdown to trim the lead to 31-23. He found tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins for a nine-yard score, but there was less than two minutes left in the game. The rookie quarterback made some franchise history in the process, though, per the Buccaneers:

Any hopes of a comeback ended when St. Louis pounced on the subsequent onside kick, and the Rams finished their 2015 home schedule with the eight-point victory.

What's Next?

The 6-8 Rams are not much of a playoff threat with two games remaining and the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings both sitting at 8-5, but they have an opportunity to at least make a statement in their division down the stretch and build some momentum heading into the offseason.

St. Louis finishes with two road games against the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers and can shake up the postseason race with an upset of the two-time defending NFC champion Seahawks.

As for the 6-8 Buccaneers, they missed a golden chance to remain within realistic striking distance of the playoffs with Thursday's loss. Tampa Bay finishes with a winnable home game against the 5-8 Chicago Bears and then has a trip to face the undefeated Carolina Panthers.

At this point, the best Winston's team can probably hope for in the final two contests is to make headlines by ending Carolina's undefeated streak.

Postgame Reaction

There was plenty of discussion throughout the game about the two uniforms, and even Gurley weighed in on the yellow-and-red clash, per Simmons: “It was cool, man. It was ketchup and mustard out there today...Everybody was energetic, had a lot of energy.”

It was also noteworthy that “Keep the Rams” chants rained down from the crowd after the victory since there is speculation the team could move to Los Angeles. Coach Jeff Fisher commented on the fans, per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com:

"

We appreciate our fans. I was a little concerned, you know, came out for warmups and thought most people were going to stay home and watch it. But, I mean, they came in. They must've been outside having a good time because they came in and it was great to see them. They saw a good ballgame.

"

As for Tampa Bay, missed opportunities proved to be the difference in the game and likely ended its postseason hopes. Evans recognized that, per Auman: “We just couldn't score in the red zone. That killed us right there.”

Tampa Bay coach Lovie Smith also discussed the loss, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times: “There's a lot of things that were close. We just didn't play consistent football.”

Winston at least had a positive attitude and was ready to move forward in the aftermath, per Stroud: “Got to learn a lesson. Our playoff hopes are probably done. But we got a lot to play for. Our mentality doesn't change.”

The Buccaneers have a future to play for, and the 2015 season has been a positive step after a disastrous 2014 campaign. Perhaps they will convert on more of those opportunities next year as they chase their first postseason spot since 2007.