St. Louis Rams Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Regular Season/Postseason Results

Season Date Result Location
2002 September 23, 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26, St. Louis Rams 14 Tampa Bay
2001 November 26, 2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, St. Louis Rams 17 St. Louis
2000 December 18, 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38, St. Louis Rams 35 Tampa Bay
1999 January 23, 2000 St. Louis Rams 11, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 St. Louis
1994 December 11, 1994 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Los Angeles Rams 14 Tampa Bay
1992 December 6, 1992 Los Angeles Rams 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 Tampa Bay
1990 September 16, 1990 Los Angeles Rams 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 Tampa Bay
1987 November 29, 1987 Los Angeles Rams 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 Los Angeles
1986 October 5, 1986 Los Angeles Rams 26, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20, OT Los Angeles
1985 October 13, 1985 Los Angeles Rams 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 Tampa Bay
1984 November 25, 1984 Los Angeles Rams 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33 Tampa Bay
1980 September 11, 1980 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10, Los Angeles Rams 9 Tampa Bay
1979 January 6, 1980 Los Angeles Rams 9, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 Tampa Bay
  September 23, 1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21, Los Angeles Rams 6 Tampa Bay
1978 November 5, 1978 Los Angeles Rams 26, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Los Angeles
1977 November 6, 1977 Los Angeles Rams 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 Los Angeles

St. Louis Rams lead series 10-6-0
Points Scored: St. Louis Rams 364, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 296


Rams-Bucs A look back

The first meeting ever was in 1977. The betting line was -21 points. The Rams covered 31-0.

One year later the Rams barely won as rookie kicker Frank Corral connects on his third game winning FG with less than a minute to play. Rams 26-23

I had to hit a 8 team parlay for 1340.00 two weeks before their 1979 regular season game. I bet 1100 of it and the Rams never cross the fifty yard line. 21-6 bucs. Not a happy 6 hour drive home.

In 1984, Eric Dickerson ran for almost 200 yards as the Rams beat the Bucs 34-33.

In 1985 the Rams stay undefeated at 6-0 with a 31-27 win. Deiter Brock threw for 200 yard. And Dickerson ran for 110.

In 1986, the game went into overtime at 20-20. Dickerson burst threw for a 42 yard winning TD.

In 1987, Jim Everett's third pro start he lit up the scoreboard as the Rams win 35-3.

In 1992,In the biggest comeback ever by a Ram team.Losing 27-3 as they score 28 unanswered points in a 31-27 win.


IT'S A LOCK

The second week of the season I played a 8 team parlay card and hit it. (dumb luck). It came to $1320.00.

My girlfriend (now my wife) Cindy and I decided to go to Tahoe the 4th game of the NFL season.

I just bought a 1973 Porsche 914-6 and wanted to see how it ran in the mountains.

This is before sports gambling took off.

In fact, Harrah's sport book didn't open until 8am Sunday Morning.

As I am waiting for it to open, these two guys started talking saying the Rams are a lock today.

Lay 6 1/2 points against Tampa Bay.

"It's a lock" one said to the other.

Now I am at the window and cash the

parlay ticket in. With 1300 plus in my hand the clerk says "do you want to make a bet".

I hand him 1200 and say "give me the Rams for 1200".

The game didn't start until 1pm.

It was easy to get Cindy on the slot machines.

Now the game, Jim Youngblood intercepts a pass and takes it for a TD.

I am pissed that I don't have everything I own on the game. Cindy ask "you didn't bet it all on this game, did you?"

I said "It a lock".

The Rams never get past the 50 yard for the entire game and lose 21-6.

I swear if she would of said "You mean we came all the way here for NOTHING."

I would see if that 914 could fly off the mountain. What a ride home.


1979 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Jan. 7, 1980

TAMPA - What's wrong with the Los Angeles Rams? A week ago, they disposed of America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys. Sunday, they beat the World's Team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

LISTEN

So, the Rams are no longer the National Football Conference's bridesmaids.

They defeated the Bucs, sentimental favorites around the world, including the hostages in Iran. Los Angeles prevailed 9-0 on three field goals by Frank Corral in the NFC Championship Game at Tampa Stadium and will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIV, Jan. 20, at Pasadena, Calif.

It is small consolation for the Bucs that they do not have to concern themselves with the massive Steelers, the three-time Super Bowl champs who knocked off Houston 27-13 for the AFC championship earlier Sunday.

But as things developed Sunday, it surely feels that way.

The Bucs not only lost to the Rams, they were physically beaten.

Left in the wake were quarterback Doug Williams with a torn bicep in his right arm, All-Pro defensive end Lee Roy Selmon with a sprained left ankle, defensive end Wally Chambers with a swollen knee and linebacker Cecil Johnson with a sprained ankle.

How bad was it?

Williams completed only two of 13 passes for 12 yards. The Bucs gained only 177 net yards. Selmon was not credited with a tackle.

Four times in the last five years, the Rams had been one step away from the Super Bowl, only to be denied.

But they came to play Sunday and it was not the Rams" team that lost 21-6 at Tampa Stadium on Sept. 23.

"We've waited for this day a long time," declared Rams coach Ray Malavasi.

So 1979-80 ends 11-7 for the fourth-year Bucs, who would have been the youngest team ever to play in the Super Bowl.

Although disappointed in defeat, an 11-7 record and the championship game were more than many expected of this team.

"We got to the NFC Championship Game and most teams don't get that far and we are an expansion team," said linebacker Richard "Batman" Wood. "I'd like to accomplish one thing before I retire and that is to go to the Super Bowl."

But the Rams thoroughly dominated this game. They had the ball for 37 minutes, 49 seconds to only 22:11 for Tampa Bay. They had 369 yards of offense against the No. 1 defense in the NFL.

Corral's foot was the difference between these two teams once before - in 1978 when his field goal beat the Bucs, 26-23, at Los Angeles.

Sunday, he kicked the Rams into the Super Bowl and the Bucs out of it with field goals of 19 and 21 yards in the second quarter and 23 yards in the fourth. He missed one of 37 yards in the third period.

The Bucs were not without their chances.

A 42-yards halfback pass from Jerry Eckwood to Larry Mucker caught the Rams flatfooted and gave Tampa Bay a first down at the Rams" 34 in the third period when it was 6-0.

Mike Rae had replaced Williams at quarterback, but the Rams stopped the Bucs at the 29.

However, on third down, the TV replay showed that there was contact between Rams safety Eddie Brown and Bucs tight end Jimmie Giles in the end zone before the ball arrived. Had a penalty been called, it would have been first down at the 1-yard line.

A 27-yard Rae touchdown pass to Giles was wiped out by an illegal procedure penalty in the fourth quarter.

"The penalty came because of the timing on the motion," Rae said. "We were just a little off in our timing on the ball. It was not their fault (line). Maybe it was mine for not being in there (playing very much)."

Rae completed only two of 13 passes himself and that meant the Bucs were five of 27 overall.

"We had a great season for how old we are and it's just a crying shame that we couldn't even get seven points," offensive tackle Dave Reavis said. "I'll bet if we had gotten ahead, our defense would have held them."

"We let them convert third and long too much," said linebacker Dewey Selmon.

"They changed their offense some. They ran a bunch of traps. They are a much improved offense from when we played them before."

Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo, who replaced the injured Pat Haden in the 12th week of the season, completed 12 of 23 passes for 163 yards. But it was the Rams" ground attack that controlled the game. Cullen Bryant ran 18 times for 106 yards and became only the second player all season to gain 100 yards against Tampa Bay. Wendell Tyler got 86 yards on 28 carries.

The Rams had 77 plays to the Bucs" 54 and rushed 53 times to the Bucs" 26.

The stats were about as one-sided for L.A. as they had been for the Bucs in their 24-17 divisional playoff win over the Eagles the week before.

The shutout was only the second of the year for the Bucs. But the other came just four games earlier.

It was the first game in the history of the NFC championship (and before 1970, the NFL championship game) in which no touchdowns were scored.

The margin of victory could have been much more. The Rams drove from their 37 to the Tampa Bay 18 on their first possession when Tyler fumbled on a hit by Chambers and Wood recovered at the 16.

On their next possession, a 35-yard Ferragamo pass to Preston Dennard helped move the Rams from their 31 to the Bucs" 4. Bryant scored from there, but L.A. was penalized for illegal formation and Corral had to kick his 19-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.

On that penalty, the officials said tackle Doug France reported in as a tight end, but a wide receiver covered him to the outside.

Ferragamo completed all five of his passes for 62 yards in a second-quarter drive that got to the Bucs" 4 before Corral had to hit his 21-yard field goal.

For a moment, the Rams thought they had a third-quarter touchdown on a 20-yard Ferragamo pass to Dennard. The official raised his arms, then ruled it no good.

Corral missed his 37-yard field goal after that. Tampa Bay stopped another scoring threat when Wood dropped Tyler short on a fourth-and-two at the Buccaneer 25 in the fourth period.

However, Mike Fanning sacked Rae and Eddie Brown returned Tom Blanchard's low, line-drive punt 16 yards to the 50, setting up Corral's 23-yard field goal.

The effort by the Rams was typified by the performance of All-Pro defensive end Jack Youngblood. He played despite the pain from a hairline fracture of the left fibula, which he received in the Dallas game.

Before kickoff, Youngblood confided that "it hurts like hell."

LISTEN

"He wasn't 100 percent healthwise, but he gave us 100 percent," Malavasi said. "He was a great inspiration to his teammates."


1999 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Their offense collapsing, their cover blown, the St. Louis Rams looked ready to call it a season.

Then Kurt Warner played like an MVP, getting the Midwest Express attack the one and only touchdown it needed. The unheralded defense did the rest, and the Rams are on the way to the Super Bowl to play the Tennessee Titans.

Warner hit No. 4 wide receiver Ricky Proehl with a 30-yard touchdown pass with 4:44 remaining Sunday to lift St. Louis past Tampa Bay 11-6 for the NFC championship.

"It didn't matter who did it," the quarterback said. "As long as he was wearing a Rams jersey, it didn't matter.

"But when it comes down to making a play, we've made plays all year long. Ricky came through today." Proehl had six catches for 100 yards. None of those -- or the 33 receptions he made this season, or the 467 of his entire 10-year career -- meant anything close to his leaping grab over backup cornerback Brian Kelly.

"I'm the guy they're always trying to get rid of," he said. "I'm the guy they are always trying to replace. You know, there's 100 Ricky Proehls out there. I beg to differ."

Tennessee, which won the AFC crown in Jacksonville 33-14, handed the Rams their first loss in their seventh game of the season, but opened as 8-point underdogs.

"We know we're in for just as tough a game against the Titans," said Warner, a former Arena Leaguer who got a chance to play this year only because starter Trent Green wrecked his knee in the preseason.

Tampa's gallant defensive effort looked like it would be enough to steal the victory. But quarterback Shaun King made several critical mistakes down the stretch, including an interception at midfield by fellow rookie Dre' Bly that set up the winning drive. "We brought them into our zone, we brought them into our misery," said Warren Sapp, the Defensive Player of the Year, "and we had them down 6-5 and just kept battling ... and it came down to one play." Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy said: "It's a very tough feeling, difficult to be that close to a Super Bowl and not get it done."

The Bucs never have gotten it done. Nor have the Rams, whose only Super Bowl appearance came in the 1979 season, when they beat Tampa Bay 9-0 for the NFC championship. Then they fell to the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

And they aren't likely to get it done if their offense can't get out of its own way, even if their defense plays "spectacularly," as coach Dick Vermeil described it.

"I think we showed people we can play every kind of game," said Marshall Faulk, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year who certainly didn't play his kind of game. The record-setting running back was held to a total of 49 yards.

"They wanted to play ball control and take the deep ball away from us. We did the same to them and thought our offense could make more plays than them."

No, none of that mattered. Apparently, Proehl and the Rams have a guardian angel in their corner.

How else can you explain why several things went perfectly for Proehl's touchdown play, 585 H-Choice?

First there was the TV timeout that gave QB Kurt Warner time to tell Proehl to watch for the safety to blitz. Why? Because when that happens the Bucs' cornerback usually squats on his coverage, expecting a short route like a hitch or a curl. "If the safety comes, make the sight adjustment and run a fade," said Warner. "Yeah," responded Proehl, "yeah, I got you."

Then Rams tackle Orlando Pace read the blitz and, after chipping his man, slid over to pick up another rusher, giving Warner time to go deep, instead of to Marshall Faulk, his first option.

LISTEN

They made one more play, offsetting the gallant defensive effort by the Bucs, who held St. Louis to 309 yards, 91 below its season average. It was Proehl's first TD of the season, and he finished with six catches for 100 yards.

"If you are ever going to bet on someone coming up with a big play, bet on Ricky Proehl," said Vermeil, the NFL Coach of the Year.

LISTEN

After Bly brought his interception to the Tampa Bay 47, the league's highest-scoring offense (526 points during the season, 49 in last week's playoff victory over Minnesota) finally got into the end zone.

But the Rams had to survive a last-ditch march on which they got two of their five sacks on King, who still managed to lead the Bucs to the St. Louis 22. "We made a couple of plays, but I took a couple of sacks, and that's a no-no at that time," said King, who finished 13-of-29 for 163 yards and two interceptions.

A video review that overturned an 11-yard reception by Bert Emanuel hurt Tampa Bay with 47 seconds remaining. King then threw two incompletions, and the sellout crowd reached supersonic noise levels in the Trans World Dome.

It helped that Tampa Bay was more inept on offense than the usually quick-striking Rams. The Bucs only gained 203 yards.

St. Louis' Grant Wistrom raises his arms to signal a Rams safety in the second quarter of their 11-6 win over the Buccaneers. AP "I think we showed the NFL and the world something today," Rams defensive tackle D'Marco Farr said. "The Bucs thought their defense was going to come in here and walk all over us. We held them without a touchdown and proved that we are a pretty good defensive team."

The battle was certainly in the trenches, with the Rams holding the Bucs to Martin Gramatica's two field goals, while they got one field goal, a safety off a poor snap, and Warner's dramatic strike to Proehl. At the end, as the players gathered around a stage for the trophy presentation, the cheering never abated.

Bly waved a victory towel as he raced around the field, while other Rams simply hugged and reveled in their first trip to the Super Bowl in 20 years, when they played in Los Angeles.

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