TAMPA, Fla. -- The Los Angeles Rams slugged to their facility in Thousand Oaks, California, on Sept. 13, played video from their season-opening 28-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and saw a team they did not recognize. They held a players-only meeting that day, and the veterans spoke up. They talked about how well they played down the stretch of the 2015 season, evidence to them that this team was significantly better than it showed on Monday Night Football. They vowed to stick together.
"We got to understand that this is our team, as far as the players," Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers said, "and we had to understand that we have each other’s back."
The Rams are 2-1 now, something few could have foreseen. They are atop the NFC West, with the same record as a Seattle Seahawks team they beat in their emotional home opener in Week 2. With their back-and-forth 37-32 triumph over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the Rams became the first team in 13 years to capture back-to-back victories after being shut out in their season opener.
The previous team to do that? The 2003 New England Patriots, who finished that regular season 14-2 and won the Super Bowl.
"One week at a time," Rams defensive end Robert Quinn said. "I think we still have a little bit more work to do."
The Rams are a perpetual work-in-progress. Their offensive line is still having a hard time opening up lanes for Todd Gurley, their passing game still doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, and their secondary can be better. But they've won in spite of that, first against a team that has been to the playoffs four years in a row and then on the road against a young group that could be close to getting there.
The Rams are 2-1 for the time since 2006, six years before the arrival of Jeff Fisher, who might finally sign his extension now.
After the game, the Rams' COO, Kevin Demoff, tweeted ...
What a great road win for @RamsNFL. A true team victory. I can feel it coming back again like rollin thunder chasing the wind. I can feel it
— Kevin Demoff (@kdemoff) September 26, 2016
The Rams entered Raymond James Stadium as the only NFL team yet to score a touchdown and in danger of becoming the first team since the 1976 expansion Buccaneers to not reach the end zone in the first three games. But their first drive ended on a 77-yard hookup between Case Keenum and Brian Quick, who nearly lost his job because of the inability to secure the football during training camp.
The Bucs scored 13 points on a couple first-half turnovers, a pick-six by Keenum and a fumble by Kenny Britt. But the defense made two big plays, getting an interception from Mark Barron (made possible by a big hit from Trumaine Johnson on Charles Sims) and a 77-yard fumble recovery and touchdown by Ethan Westbrooks, thanks to Quinn's strip of Jameis Winston.
Gurley struggled early but managed 85 yards on the ground, scored two touchdowns and put together a nice drive down the stretch, breaking off three runs of at least 9 yards. Tavon Austin stepped up, racking up 104 yards from scrimmage while scoring on a 43-yard pass play, which he finished with a nifty spin move on his defender.
When the dynamic receiver managed only a 5-yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter and gave his offense terrible field position with only a six-point lead, it was the defense that stepped up. It was the secondary, still shorthanded without E.J. Gaines, that provided exceptional coverage with four seconds left and the Bucs 15 yards from a winning touchdown. It was Quinn, who never gave up on the play, trailed Winston and delivered the decisive hit.
It was the Rams, once again making a late stop in their own territory and once again coming away with a win few expected.
"By any means necessary," said middle linebacker Alec Ogletree, who came up with the game-ending strip and fumble recovery seven days earlier. "No game is easy to win, especially on the road. For us to do it on the road, it's something special."