1K
In the Madden simulation of the St. Louis Rams vs. ClevelandBrowns game, it turned out to be a thriller at Edward Jones Dome. The Rams jumped out to an early 6-0 lead behind a 34-yard touchdown rush by Todd Gurley, the first of his career. Greg the Leg uncharacteristically missed the extra point. The Rams offense went silent for the rest of the half and the Browns capitalized in the second quarter, scoring on a one yard rushing touchdown by Duke Johnson and then a 47 yard field goal by Travis Coons to give the Browns a 10-6 lead at the half.
The Rams offense found life again in the third quarter, with two drives ending in two Todd Gurley rushing touchdowns, he finished the day with three touchdowns. The Rams led 20-10 at the end of three but Cleveland wouldn’t give up. Josh McCown connected with WR Taylor Gabriel for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to cut the Rams lead to 3. A couple drives later, the Rams added a field goal to extend their lead to 23-17. Then with just 1:34 remaining in the game, McCown threw a touchdown pass to red hot tight end Gary Barnidge, who coming into the game had caught a touchdown in four straight games including two last week against the Denver Broncos. This gave the Browns a 24-23 lead.
With two timeouts remaining, the Rams offense had to come through. Foles drove the ball down the field, hitting both Stedman Bailey and Kenny Britt for completions of over 20 yards on the drive. The Rams drove the ball into Cleveland territory, and Greg Zuerlein, despite missing an extra point and a 36 yarder earlier in the game, hit a 38 yard field goal to give the Rams a 26-24 lead with eight seconds remaining. The Browns returned the kickoff to the 23 yard line and three seconds remained on the clock. McCown threw up a Hail Mary as time expired and it was knocked down. Rams won 26-24.
Final stats:
QB
STL: Nick Foles 16/32 181 yards 0 TD 1 INT
CLE: Josh McCown 19/38 239 yards 2 TD 2 INT
RB
STL:
Todd Gurley 27 attempts 135 yards 3 TD
Tre Mason 13 attempts 45 yards 0 TD
Benny Cunningham 2 attempts 8 yards 0 TD
Nick Foles 2 attempts 4 yards 0 TD
CLE:
Isaiah Crowell 23 attempts 79 yards 0 TD
Duke Johnson 9 attempts 31 yards 1 TD
Josh McCown 2 attempts 7 yards 0 TD
WR
STL:
Stedman Bailey 6 receptions 66 yards 0 TD
Tavon Austin 3 receptions 18 yards 0 TD
Kenny Britt 3 receptions 51 yards 0 TD
Jared Cook 3 receptions 45 yards 0 TD
Lance Kendricks 1 reception 1 yard 0 TD
CLE:
Gary Barnidge 6 receptions 32 yards 1 TD
Travis Benjamin 5 receptions 72 yards 0 TD
Brian Hartline 4 receptions 67 yards 0 TD
Taylor Gabriel 2 receptions 47 yards 1 TD
Andrew Hawkins 2 receptions 21 yards 0 TD
Defensive Stats
STL:
Aaron Donald 5 tackles 1.5 sacks
Chris Long 2 tackles 1 sack
Robert Quinn 3 tackles 1 sack
Lamarcus Joyner 10 tackles .5 sack 1 INT
James Laurinaitis 10 tackles 1 INT
TJ McDonald 11 tackles (team high)
Akeem Ayers 7 tackles
CLE:
Total team sacks: 6
Pierre Desir 2 tackles 1 INT
Kicking
STL:
Greg Zuerlein 2/3 XP 2/3 FG. Long: 49
CLE:
Travis Coons 3/3 XP 1/1 FG. Long: 47
