The St. Louis Rams were down to their third-string quarterback, but still managed to pull off a stirring road victory Sunday in Tampa with a 19-17 victory over the Buccaneers. Our takeaways:
- The Bucs got a big dose of bad fortune to end this game. Josh McCown connected on a long pass to Mike Evans to the Rams' 32-yard line with time winding down. There should have been enough time to run up, spike the ball and attempt a game-winning 50-yard field goal. But Evans was hurt on the play and Tampa was out of timeouts. So the officials had to call an injury timeout, and there was a 10 second run-off that finished off the game.
It's a tricky, necessary and somewhat murky rule. Evans was hurt well before 10 seconds were left, but the officials didn't call the timeout until it was clear he couldn't continue. It was bad luck more than anything.
- Rams quarterback Austin Davis deserves a ton of credit. He threw for more than 8 yards per attempt and directed a terrific late drive to take the lead. His late throw to Austin Pettis was legitimately one of the plays of the day in the NFL. Davis had a lot of nice throws in the game. Coach Jeff Fisher said that Shaun Hill, however, will remain the starter if he gets healthy again.
- The Buccaneers have lost five of their 11 defensive starters since Week 1 started. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoybroke his hand during this game; the team was already missing its two starting defensive ends. It's unclear if McCoy will be able to play through the injury in future weeks, but he was knocked out of this one early.
- No team has endured a worst start to the season than Tampa. They've lost back-to-back games at home, this one to a third-string quarterback. Their injury luck has been terrible, and the offense is not easy on the eyes.
- One positive: Bobby Raineylooked good in place of Doug Martin on Sunday. He racked up 144 yards, and it wasn't just one fluky run. Tampa's offensive line consistently got push.
The latest "Around The NFL Podcast" recaps every Sunday game from an upset-heavy Week 2 in the NFL, and considers what RGIII's injury could mean for the Redskins.
