Rams Win First Game on Jackson's TD

NFL News - November 1st, 2009 - Written by John

If there is any team that might feel somewhat sympathetic to the St. Louis Rams, it would be the Detroit Lions. After all, they once carried the NFL's longest losing streak earlier this year before finally beating the Washington Redskins.

So when the Rams came to Ford Field with similar clouds overhead, losing 18-straight games before Sunday, there would be no better opponent than the Lions. The symmetry was too clear and the Rams finally broke through with a 17-10 over Detroit.

Steven Jackson played the hero, scampering for a 25-yard touchdown with less than two minutes remaining to break a 10-10 tie, and the Lions imploded on their final drive of the game to seal the win. The offensive line was called twice for holding on second down, setting up a long scenario to even get a first down. Matthew Stafford couldn't even move the ball one, throwing three incompletions in a row and St. Louis sat on the ball.

Jackson finished with 149 yards on 22 carries.

The Rams avoided an 0-8 start for the second time in franchise history and quieted to discussion of another winless season that would mirror the '08 Lions. They were actually underdogs in this game by five points, but didn't need the spread.

It didn't come easy though. St. Louis had to throw the kitchen sink to win. To get the first touchdown of the game, the Rams faked a 53-yard field goal in the tail end of the first half. Josh Brown was tossed the ball and nailed a wide open Daniel Fells for a touchdown to make it 10-2 heading into the break.

Detroit's offense didn't score until the fourth quarter. Matthew Stafford, who had been hobbled by a bum knee for the past two weeks, was clearly rusty and only had 162 yards passing and was picked once. It didn't help that he was without leading receiver Calvin Johnson and only completed 14 of his 33 attempts.

He finally managed to find the end zone on a four-yard keeper, and a converted two-point pass to Maurice Morris tied it up at 10. Their only other points came when Stafford was picked in the end zone by James Butler, and Butler ran the ball out of the end zone, and then back in where he was tackled for a safety.

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