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The Tampa Tribune, published 15 September 2014
When Lovie Smith arrived in Tampa in January, the new head coach of the Bucs said special teams would play a critical role in the club’s success. Smith proved prophetic regarding Sunday’s game as the Rams deflected Mike Koenen’s punt in the second quarter and blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt by Patrick Murray on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
“It’s hard to win games when you get a punt and a field goal blocked in the same game,’’ Bucs G Logan Mankins said. “You’re kind of setting yourself up for failure.’’
T.J. McDonald, a second-year safety, knifed through to get a hand on Koenen’s punt from the Tampa Bay 25. St. Louis turned that mistake into the first of Greg Zuerlein’s four field goals, taking a 10-7 lead into the half. After Chris Owusu’s 45-yard kickoff return late in the third quarter, a Bucs drive stalled at the Rams 6-yard line and Murray had a chance to pad Tampa Bay’s advantage to 17-13. But rookie cornerback E.J. Gaines blocked the kick and the Rams went ahead 16-14 five minutes later.
“I don’t look up to see where guys are coming from,’’ said Koenen, who suffered the eighth block of his 10-year NFL career. “As a punter, you never want to hear that second thud. Those were big plays — one cost us field position and the other took three points off the board.’’
Poised back-up
For the second consecutive week, the Buc sdefense faced a reserve quarterback and struggled to get off the field. Carolina won with Derek Anderson under center instead of the injured Cam Newton and, on Sunday, the Rams turned to third-stringer Austin Davis. With starter Sam Bradford out for the season and backup Shaun Hill unable to play because of a thigh injury, Davis registered a passer rating of 99.1 and the Rams converted 5-of-11 on third down.
“That was definitely frustrating,’’ Bucs CB Alterraun Verner said. “As a defense, we were on the field way too long — and that’s not because of anything our offense was not doing. It was us self-destructing. They made the plays they needed to make, but we’ve got to get better in a hurry because we’ve got a short week and Atlanta is going to come out with full fury after they lost today.’’
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