Week 17 Game Recap: St. Louis Rams 41, Minnesota Vikings 21

What you need to know

St. Louis Rams

RB Steven Jackson had a monster game scoring a career high four touchdowns and rushing for 142 yards against a defense that had not given up a 100 yards to any single running back this year and was giving up a league low 54 yards a game on the ground. He scored two of his four touchdowns in the second quarter, one on a four yard run and the second on a ten yard shuffle pass from QB Marc Bulger. Jackson added a two yard run in the third quarter and broke off a 59 yard touchdown down the left side of the field in the fourth quarter. He looked especially impressive in what was a meaningless game for both teams, looking quick and powerful rushing the ball. Jackson had great success against Minnesota in the red zone, scoring three of his four touchdowns from the ten yard line or closer.

QB Marc Bulger had nice game going 19 for 30 for 248 yards and one touchdown. He didn’t have to throw ball as much in this game because the Rams had surprising success rushing the ball against a tough Minnesota run defense. The Rams built up a big lead in the second half and didn’t need to pass much after the third quarter. St. Louis’ success rushing the ball in the red zone against Minnesota was a big reason why Bulger only had one touchdown pass in this game. And his one touchdown pass came on a ten yard shuffle pass to RB Steven Jackson in the second quarter. The Vikings didn’t get much of a pass rush on Bulger and he had a lot of time to sit in the pocket and find his receivers. He and the pass offense had little trouble moving the ball through the air against Minnesota most of the game and he avoided making any mistakes.

WR Torry Holt had a game high nine receptions for 90 yards. He got off to a slow start, but did most of his damage against the Minnesota secondary in the second and third quarters. St. Louis moved the ball in the passing game easily against a Vikings defense that was giving a league worst 238 yards of passing offense coming into the game. Holt was kept out of the end zone by the Vikings, and RB Steven Jackson’s success in the red zone didn’t give him or the other receivers many opportunities for touchdowns.

Minnesota Vikings

Rookie QB Tarvaris Jackson got his second start of his career in this game. Things got off to a rocky start for him when he threw an interception on the third play of the game and had it brought back for a touchdown. Jackson came back in the first quarter and led the Vikings to a 64 yard touchdown drive in which he scored on a one yard run. But Jackson failed to make plays after that drive when the game was still close and didn’t get much help from his teammates. The Minnesota line was out played as the Rams got good pressure on Jackson and shut the running game down. Jackson got a touchdown pass late in the game with about two minutes left in the fourth quarter when St. Louis had the game well in command. He finished with pretty good numbers going 20 for 34 for 213 yards and one touchdown pass and one touchdown run. But he had two costly interceptions in the first half that lead to 14 points for St. Louis and he was unable to move the Vikings offense when the game still winnable.

RB Chester Taylor struggled to gain many yards, but did manage to score a touchdown in the second half. The Minnesota line struggled to open holes for Taylor and he only had 30 yards on 11 carries in the first half. The Vikings fell behind by a big margin early in the second half and Taylor only got two carries in the half. But one of those carries was from the Rams one yard line after a pass interference penalty and he punched it in for a touchdown. Taylor finished the game with 13 carries for 29 yards and one touchdown. He set a Minnesota team record with 304 carries this season and became only the fourth back in team history to reach 1,200 rushing yards in one season.

WR Travis Taylor finished the game with a team high five receptions in the game and 54 yards receiving. He caught a three yard touchdown pass late in he game when QB Tarvaris Jackson threw up the ball among several defenders in the end zone and Taylor made a nice catch coming up with the ball.

The Minnesota defense failed to set a post-merger (since 1970) record for fewest yards rushing allowed in a season when RB Steven Jackson ran for a 59 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Vikings gave up 168 rushing yards in the game. The Ravens set the record for fewest rushing yards allowed (970 yards) in 2000. The Vikings missed the record by 15 yards and Jackson became the first player to gain 100 rushing yards or more on Minnesota since October of 2005.

What you ought to know

QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 19 - 30 - 248 - 1 TD / 0 INT

Bulger and the passing offense got off to slow start as he went two for six for 36 yards in the first quarter. He didn’t get much help from his receivers early on as Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Aaron Walker dropped easy catches early in the game. Bulger got into a rhythm in the second quarter leading the Rams on a 53 yard drive after a Minnesota turnover. He completed three passes for 45 yards on the Rams’ first offensive touchdown drive of the game. Bulger came back in that quarter and led the Rams down the field again. He had a ten yard touchdown pass to Steven Jackson late in the second quarter on shuffle pass. He finished the half with good numbers going eight for 16 for 134 yards and one touchdown.

Bulger picked apart the Vikings’ pass defense in the third quarter as he led the Rams to two scoring drives. Midway through the third quarter he led the Rams on 12 play, 73 yard drive in the third quarter that was capped with a two yard touchdown run by Steven Jackson. St. Louis got up big in after the third quarter and went to more conservative game plan to run down the clock. Bulger was 11 for 14 for 114 yards in the second half and did a great job of making good decisions, and protecting the ball.

RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 25 - 142 - 3, Rec: 2 - 24 - 1 (3 targets)

Jackson got off to good start against Minnesota’s number one run defense by running for 17 yards on his first carry of the game. It would set the tone for things to come for him. Jackson got a couple of carries inside the Minnesota six yard line and got into the end zone on a four yard carry on his second attempt. It was a rare rushing touchdown allowed by the Minnesota defense that had only given up six rushing touchdowns all season coming into this game. Jackson got another nice run late in the second quarter for 13 yards and a first down. He had an impressive first half running the ball considering the Vikings were only giving up 54 rushing yards a game coming into this game, and he surpassed that average himself in the first half by gaining 62 yards on 15 carries. Jackson capped a big first half by scoring his second touchdown of the game on a ten yard shuffle pass for ten yards.

Jackson’s big game continued in the second half as he scored his third touchdown of the game on a two yard run late in the third quarter. The Rams kept pounding the ball in the second half as they built up a big lead in the second half. In the fourth quarter, Jackson broke a 59 yard run off the left side and out ran the Vikings secondary for touchdown. It was Jackson’s fourth touchdown of the game and a very impressive run. The Rams were up 41-7 after that touchdown and Jackson’s day was over at that point as the game was well in hand for St. Louis.

RB Stephen Davis, Rush: 4 - 4 - 0

Davis had four carries for four yards as he came in for starter Steven Jackson in mop up duty late in the game as St. Louis had put the game away with a big lead in the fourth quarter.

WR Torry Holt, Rec: 9 - 90 - 0 (13 targets)

Holt only had one pass thrown his way in the first quarter and he dropped a very catchable ball on what would have been a first down for St. Louis. He caught his first pass midway through the second quarter on 13 yard reception over the middle. On the next play, Holt came back and caught an 18 yard pass along the left sideline to the Minnesota six yard line. He did a great job of keeping his feet in bounds on that reception. On the Rams next drive of the game, Holt came up with a big first down catch for 12 yards deep in Minnesota’s territory. He had three catches for 43 yards in the first half.

He caught two 11 yard passes midway through the third quarter and a nine yard pass to the Vikings two yard line to set up a Steven Jackson touchdown run. Holt had 14 more receiving yards in the game but the Rams did not throw the ball much in the fourth quarter as they had a big lead over Minnesota.

WR Isaac Bruce, Pass: 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rec: 4 - 66 - 0 (7 targets)

Bruce was worked into the offense early as he caught a 13 yard pass on the Rams’ first drive of the game, but he was given a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty when he threw the ball at the defender after the play. Bruce came back two plays later and found a hole in the Vikings’ zone defense for a 23 yard gain. Bruce caught a 14 yard pass on the next drive of the game moving the ball into Minnesota territory. He had three catches for 50 yards in the first half.

Bruce came out caught a pass early in the second half on 16 yard play on the Rams’ opening drive in the second half. The catch helped set up a Jeff Wilkins field goal. That would be Bruce’s only reception of the second half. The Rams went to a more conservative offense in the second half as they built up a big league and did not throw the ball much after the third quarter.

WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 2 - 39 - 0 (2 targets)

Curtis made a big play catching a 31 yard pass late in the second quarter putting the Rams in scoring range. Curtis caught an eight yard pass for a first down in the third quarter. Those were Curtis’ only receptions in the game.

WR Dane Looker, Rush: 1 - 13 - 0

Looker had a 13 yard run on an end-around on the Rams’ first drive of the game.

TE Aaron Walker, Rec: 1 - 26 - 0 (2 targets)

Walker dropped an easy pass late in the first quarter but had a big 26 yard reception down the middle of the field in the third quarter.

PK Jeff Wilkins 2 - 2 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 11 points

Wilkins had a nice game going two for two for field goal attempts and adding five extra points in the game. He hit a 42 yard field on St. Louis’ first drive of the game. In the third quarter, Wilkins boomed a 53 yard field goal for his second of the game.

STL Rush Defense

The Rams came into this game giving up almost 150 yards a game on ground, the second worst in the league. But the run defense did a good job of stopping the Minnesota’s ground game holding there running backs to only 48 yards rushing.

STL Pass Defense

Cornerback Ronald Bartell got an easy interception for a touchdown when rookie quarterback Tarvaris Jackson telegraphed a pass intended for Billy McMullen on a quick out on the third play of the game. Bartell took it 38 yards for the touchdown. Bartell got his second interception of the half when he picked Jackson again in the second quarter. The Rams also got three sacks in the game and consistent pressure on Tarvaris Jackson.

QB Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 20 - 34 - 213 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 7 - 34 - 1

Jackson’s day got off to rough start as on his second pass of the game when he locked onto his receiver on a quick out and Rams’ cornerback Ronald Bartell read the play and got an easy interception. Bartell returned the ball 38 yards untouched for a touchdown. Jackson drove the Vikings down the field on a drive late in the first quarter. He made a good play with his feet when he scrambled for his first career rushing touchdown from the one yard line. Jackson did a good job of buying time in the pocket by scrambling around on some plays, something that Brad Johnson is not able to do. Although, Jackson does not seem to be a run-first type quarterback, he seems comfortable to sit in the pocket and wait for his receivers to get open. Midway through second quarter, when Jackson was moving the Vikings offense again and starting to get into a grove, he made another mistake in Ronald Bartell’s direction and he threw his second interception of the game. Jackson simply threw an ill advised pass when the Rams got good pressure on him. He was 11 for 18 for 107 yards in the first half, but had two costly interceptions that lead to two of the three touchdowns St. Louis had in the half.

Jackson struggled moving the ball in the second half and finding open receivers. He did make some plays with his legs as he had 34 yards rushing on seven carries. Late in the third quarter he was knocked out of the game in what looked like an arm injury. Jackson returned to the game two plays later and was sacked on his first play back. His biggest pass play of the game came with three minutes left in the game when the Vikings were 28 points down. He threw a screen pass to Mewelde Moore who took it 50 yards to the Rams two yard line. Jackson was able to throw his only touchdown pass of the game a couple of plays later when he scrambled to his right out of the pocket and threw up a pass that Travis Taylor was able to come up with among several defenders.

QB Brad Johnson, Pass: 1 - 1 - 12 - 0 TD / 0 INT

Johnson came in for two plays after Jackson hurt his arm late in the third quarter and he completed his only pass of the game for 12 yards.

RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 13 - 29 - 1, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets)

Taylor got an early scoring opportunity in the first quarter when he got a carry on the St. Louis five yard line and took it the one yard line. But he did not get an opportunity to score from there as Tarvaris Jackson scored two plays later. Taylor saw very little running room early on in the game as the Vikings’ line didn’t open many holes against a weak Rams’ rush defense and he had only eight carries for 12 yards halfway through the second quarter. He finally broke a long 16 yard run in the second quarter after he shook off a couple of tackles in the backfield. It would be by far his longest run of the game. The Minnesota line looked unimpressive against the Rams’ defense that came into the game giving up the second most rushing yards in the league. Taylor had 30 yards on 11 carries in the first half.

The Vikings had a big deficit in the second half and did not give the ball to Taylor until nine minutes left in the game. But he got his first carry of the half with the ball on the Rams one yard line after a pass interference penalty. He cashed in on the opportunity by getting a touchdown on a one yard run. Taylor would only get one more carry in the game and that would be for a loss of two yards.

RB Mewelde Moore, Rush: 1 - 10 - 0, Rec: 3 - 57 - 0 (6 targets)

Moore caught a screen pass and took it 50 yards late in the game when the game was out of hand. He got the ball to the two yard line and that set up a touchdown pass to Travis Taylor. Moore finished the game with three receptions for 57 yards and one rush for tens yards.

RB Artose Pinner, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0

Pinner got one carry for nine yards late in the game.

WR Travis Taylor, Rec: 5 - 54 - 1 (6 targets)

Taylor had a 21 yard reception up the middle of the field in the third quarter, his longest of the game. He added four more catches for 32 more yards in the game including a three yard touchdown catch with about two minutes left in the game. He finished the game with a team high five receptions and 54 yards.

WR Billy McMullen, Rec: 4 - 47 - 0 (8 targets)

McMullen caught his longest pass of the game on a 20 yard reception as time expired in the first half. McMullen drew a big pass interference penalty late in the game that placed the ball on the one yard line of the Rams and set up Chester Taylor touchdown. He came up with a 16 yard pass late in the game and added two more catches for 11 yards. McMullen had a team high eight targets in the game as young receivers like himself were given an opportunity to show what they could do in what was a meaningless game for Minnesota.

WR Martin Nance, Rec: 4 - 33 - 0 (7 targets)

Nance got a lot of playing time in this game after spending most of the season on the practice squad this season. He is rookie and the Vikings coaching staff wanted to get a look at what he could do in a game. Nance had four catches for 33 yards in the game and had seven targets.

WR Bethel Johnson, Rec: 1 - 19 - 0 (2 targets)

Johnson’s only catch of the game was a 19 yard reception on the right sideline on Minnesota’s second drive of the game. He had a 65 yard kick return in the fourth quarter that set up the Vikings’ second touchdown of the game.

WR Troy Williamson

Williamson was inactive for this game. He was listed as probable on the injury report because of a hamstring injury. Williamson has been plagued by dropped balls this season and he has been a major disappointment this year.

TE Jermaine Wiggins, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (3 targets)

Wiggins had a ball thrown to him in the end zone in the first quarter, but it was way over his head. He had another ball thrown his way on a short pass out in the flat but Wiggins dropped it. He had one catch for five yards.

PK Ryan Longwell 0 - 0 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points

Longwell didn’t have any field goal attempts, but had three extra points in the game.

MIN Rush Defense

The Vikings’ rush defense has been nothing short of spectacular this season as they had only given up 2.6 yards a carry and 54 yards per game coming into this contest against the Rams. But they had there worst game of the year by giving up 168 rushing yards to St. Louis, including 142 yards to Steven Jackson. Minnesota came up 15 yards short of breaking the Ravens record of fewest yards in season.

MIN Pass Defense

The Vikings didn’t get much of a pass rush on Marc Bulger and didn’t cause any interceptions in the game. They had no sacks and gave up 225 yards passing to the Rams.