Buccaneers vs. Rams 2013: St. Louis wins, loses OT Jake Long in the process

The Rams handled the Buccaneers at home on Sunday and our SB Nation writers are sounding off about the results.

by Mike Kaye

Dec 23, 2013, 5:19 PM UTC

Michael Thomas

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Buccaneers vs. Rams 2013, Week 16: St. Louis edges Tampa Bay

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The Rams used the solid performances of several young players to vanquish the Buccaneers, 23-13. The St. Louis defense held Tampa Bay's offense to just 170 yards. The Rams offense then turned on the jets and produced 270 yards, with a 109-yard performance by rookie running back Zac Stacy. On defense, Robert Quinn continued to dominate opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks with three sacks.

The Buccaneers failed to get anything going on offense during the game. Wide receiver Vincent Jackson was the lone bright spot with 98 receiving yards. Quarterback Mike Glennon was held to 158 passing yards on 26 throws and Bobby Rainey was stopped for 37 rushing yards on 20 carries. That type of production did not help the Tampa Bay defense, despite the unit's sack and two forced fumbles.

For Douglas M of Turf Show Times, the win was bittersweet due to the loss of one of their most important starters:

The sad news of the day centers around the injury to starting left tackle Jake Long. While the extent of his injury is still unknown, the scuttlebutt traveling around the Twitter-verse is it's a ACL. If so, this could drastically Jeff Fisher and Les Snead's draft plans if they were thinking of passing over some of the offensive line talent in the 2014 draft class. Rodger Saffold stepped in and played a great game on the left side, shifting over from the right guard position.

JC DeLaTorre of Bucs Nation is excited about the season coming to a close after a very rough year:

If this is our Bucs life, let’s see the afterlife.
Someone has to pay for this disaster of a season. Mark Dominik? Greg Schiano? Mike Glennon? Sullivan and Sheridan? All of the above?
Someone. You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect different results (although Mike Sullivan tried that Sunday with the running game).
Something must change.