Originally published on Dec. 28, 2018
By Zane Miller
The Last Hurrah is a
series that discusses the final major sports events at sporting venues around
the world.
On Thursday, December
17th, 2015, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced the St. Louis (now Los Angeles) Rams
in what is currently the final NFL game played at the Edward Jones Dome in St.
Louis, Missouri.
Edward Jones Dome (then
known as Trans World Dome after the now-defunct airline) was opened in late 1995,
midway through the ’95 NFL season, replacing their old facility of Busch
Memorial Stadium that was being used temporarily as the brand new stadium was
still under construction. However, the stadium was completed as anticipated
before the end of the season, allowing the Rams to move in for the second half
of their first year in St. Louis after their relocation from Los Angeles.
However, the city of St. Louis, which owns the stadium, and the Rams made a bizarre
agreement which stated that the stadium would be required to be in the ‘top
quartile’ of the NFL stadiums in terms of fan amenities. This stipulation would
come back to bite the city later.
The early days of the
facility saw a significant amount of success, peaking with the Rams’ Super
Bowl-winning season in 1999, leading to the team’s nickname as “The Greatest
Show on Turf”, both a play on words based on the Dome’s turf field as well as a
reference to their explosive offense. In January 2002, after Trans World Airlines
went out of business the previous year, the name was changed to Edward Jones
Dome after the Edward Jones investment firm, headquartered in the St. Louis
area, bought the naming rights for $31.8 million.
However, the team struggled
throughout most of the 2000’s and the first half of the 2010’s with mediocre
play and a number of quarterback and coaching changes as a result. These
factors also seemed to take its toll on the fanbase, as every season from 2008
through 2015, the Rams were ranked in the bottom five in home game attendance among
NFL teams. In fact, in 2015, the Rams were ranked dead last, with an average of
52,403 per game, narrowly beating out the Minnesota Vikings who had just 27
more per game on average.
Despite the stadium still
being relatively new, it struggled to keep up with the ‘top quartile’ agreement
between city and team, due to the influx of new NFL stadiums that were opened
in the years after the Edward Jones Dome was completed, including
state-of-the-art facilities such as Lucas Oil Stadium for the Indianapolis
Colts, AT&T Stadium for the Dallas Cowboys and State Farm Stadium for the
Arizona Cardinals, all of which were built for more than twice the amount of
Edward Jones Dome and all of which have hosted at least one Super Bowl to this
point. In all, 20 new NFL stadiums were built between late 1995 and 2015, thus
making it nearly impossible to meet the high standards set forth by the
negotiations.
Not surprisingly, the stadium
was unable to meet the terms for the fan amenities, despite an extensive
renovation process in 2010, nearly done out of desperation at that point. In
fact, the stadium was commonly ranked in last or nearly last in stadium
rankings conducted by publications such as USA Today and Sports Illustrated.
Due to the breach of
contract by the city, as well as the negative public image of the stadium and
low attendance, the Rams began exploring their options for relocation, and were
free to do so without consequence again due to the breach of contract. Los
Angeles seemed like the likely option with an NFL-ready stadium already built
as well as a new facility ready to break ground and the familiarity with the
team having played there for many years before their relocation to St. Louis. While
a formal announcement wasn’t made until after the conclusion of the regular
season, the fans knew that time was running out.
The Buccaneers started
then-rookie Jameis Winston at quarterback, the starter for all regular season
games that year. Winston was having a respectable rookie season, leading the
Buccaneers to a 6-7 record and even keeping them within reach of a playoff
appearance. The Buccaneers were coming off of a loss to the New Orleans Saints,
who at the time were the worst team in the NFC South, just four days earlier,
so a road win against the Rams would be just what the doctor ordered to getting
back their momentum.
The Rams, on the other hand, were struggling
through yet another quarterback change, with Case Keenum starting after
replacing future Philadelphia Eagles hero Nick Foles, who was benched after
Week 10 but came in for two more games after Keenum suffered a concussion. With
starting the season as a backup and the games lost due to injury, Keenum only
had a chance to start two games before heading into this one. However, Keenum
had a 1-1 record in the games he started, even earning his first career win on
Sunday against the Detroit Lions. Despite their 5-8 record, the Rams were
coming in with momentum and looked to close out their home schedule on a high
note.
The game got underway at
about 7:25 at night, with both teams wearing ‘Color Rush’ uniforms worn at the
time for Thursday night games, as the Buccaneers wore all red with gray trim,
while the Rams had essentially an inverse of their throwback jerseys, using all
yellow with dark blue trim.
The Rams got on the board
first, as Keenum found wide receiver Tavon Austin on a short pass which Austin
ran in for a touchdown, breaking two tackles along the way. The extra point was
good as the Rams took a 7-0 lead with 12:06 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams traded punts before
the Buccaneers got the board, as kicker Connor Barth hit a 53 yard field goal
with 4:57 to go to make it a 7-3 game. However, the Rams responded on the very
next possession with a 60 yard pass from Keenum to wide receiver Kenny Britt for
their second touchdown of the game, with the extra point going through to make
it a 14-3 game with 3:23 remaining in the first. The teams would trade punts
once again to send the teams into the second quarter with the Rams holding a
14-3 lead.
While the Buccaneers had
a promising drive to start the second quarter, however, with a fourth and 1 at
the Rams’ 23-yard line, they opted to go for it instead of kicking a field
goal, but it backfired as a run by running back Doug Martin was stopped for a
two yard loss. The Rams took advantage of the momentum and took it down the
field, culminating in a three yard touchdown rush by running back Todd Gurley with
2:16 to go in the half, with the extra point good to make it a 21-3 lead at
halftime, with the Buccaneers going three-and-out on their next possession.
At halftime, the Rams honored a couple of their
best-known players from the 1999 championship run with running back Marshall
Faulk and quarterback Kurt Warner receiving a round of applause from the crowd
for their accomplishments.
The Buccaneers led off the third quarter with a
32-yard field goal from Barth, making it 21-6, however the Rams followed it up with
a touchdown run on a reverse play, with Keenum faking a handoff to Gurley
before tossing it back to Austin, who ran in from 21 yards out. The extra point
was good, allowing the Rams to take a 28-6 lead. Despite a Buccaneers fumble
both forced and recovered by defensive tackle Doug Worthington late in the
third, giving the Rams the ball back near midfield, they would be unable to
take advantage and would end with a punt. However, the Rams would hold onto the
28-6 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Buccaneers would not go down easy though, as they
finished their next drive with a three yard touchdown pass from Winston to tight
end Luke Stocker with 13:09 left. The team then went for a two-point conversion
afterward and it was successful at first, however a holding penalty negated it,
prompting the Buccaneers to kick the extra point instead to draw it to 28-13.
On the ensuing drive, a long kick return by Benny
Cunningham set up the Rams at the three yard line, however they would go three
and out and had kicker Greg Zuerlein make a 19-yard field goal to extend their
lead to a 31-13 advantage with 10:42 to go.
The Buccaneers made it a two possession game once
again on their next drive, with Barth drilling a 24-yard field goal to make it
a 31-16 game with 7:34 remaining after being unable to capitalize on a first
and goal.
The Rams went three and out on their next possession, but
the defense would come up big as cornerback Trumaine Johnson got the first
interception of the game for the Rams with just under five minutes remaining. The
Rams would punt, giving the ball back to the Buccaneers and while they would
score a touchdown with 1:39 remaining as Winston hit tight end Austin
Seferian-Jenkins for the last touchdown to be at Edward Jones Dome, with the
extra point good to make it a one possession game late, however the ensuing
onside kick was fell on by linebacker Bryce Hager, all but sealing the victory
for the Rams as they took a pair of kneeldowns to finish the game with a 31-23
win.
Both teams went to a 6-8 record on the season, with
both teams also missing the playoffs. The Buccaneers lost the last two games of
their season against the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers respectively, falling
to a 6-10 record, while the Rams carried the momentum into a win against the
Seattle Seahawks, but falling short of a .500 record with an overtime loss to
the San Francisco 49ers. In all, the Rams finished 7-9 in their final season in
St. Louis.
On Tuesday, January 12th, 2016, the Rams made the
formal announcement that they would be moving to Los Angeles to play at the Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the 2016 season, continuing until the completion
of the tentatively-named Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park in Inglewood,
California for the 2020 season, leaving the St. Louis area without an NFL team
for the first time since 1994.
Following the announcement of the Rams’ departure, Edward
Jones pulled out of their sponsorship of the stadium, as it was now renamed as
The Dome at America’s Center, which was the original name of the stadium during
the planning and construction phase. The stadium continued to hold concerts and
other events after the team’s relocation.
However, football is slated to return to the dome in the near future, as in January 2018 the XFL announced that they would be returning in 2020 following a 19-year absence, and in November 2018 announced St. Louis as one of the eight teams, along with the announcement that The Dome at America’s Center will be the home stadium for the team through at least the 2022 season.
Link to stats database: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201512170ram.htm
Watch game highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXWsaVBEhlQ
Other sources:
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2012/03/edward-jones-extends-dome-naming.html
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