After a short punt gave the St. Louis Rams field position on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ side of the field, Steven Jackson went right back to work against Tampa’s struggling run defense, carrying the ball twice for 25 yards to put the Rams back in their red zone.
After a Sam Bradford incompletion led to fourth down Josh Brown made a field goal that appeared to put the Rams up 13-3, but the Buccaneers’ sixth penalty of the night gave them a new lease on life. Kenneth Darby ran up the middle on what was now first-and-nine to put the Rams near the goal line, and Sam Bradford completed a two-yard pass to Michael Hoomanawanui to put the Rams up 17-3.
Bradford has been inaccurate at best, owning a 6-for-14 line to go along with his two short touchdown passes, but it hasn’t mattered—through the first half the Rams have 122 rushing yards on just 19 carries. Steven Jackson broke Eric Dickerson’s Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams all-time rushing record in the first quarter—and through the first half it looks like he’ll be able to put the new record pretty far away.