The Rams dropped a 37-17 decision to the Bills in Buffalo Sunday afternoon and fell out of a tie for first in the NFC West. St. Louis jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and seemed poised to run away with the game, but the Bills responded with touchdown -drives of 71 and 51 yards to take the lead. Both drives were capped with touchdown passes to Mark Campbell, who caught three scores from Drew Bledsoe Sunday. The Rams responded with a 71-yard scoring drive—Marc Bulger hit Torry Holt on an 11-yard strike and the Rams gained a 17-14 advantage. The Bills were able to get a 21-yard field goal from Rian Lindell before the end of the half to tie it up at 17. In the third quarter, the Bills took over, thanks in large part to the Rams poor special teams play. After going three-and-out in their first possession of the second half, Jonathon Smith returned Sean Landetta’s punt 53 yards to the St. Louis five yard line to set up a five yard pass from Bledsoe to Campbell. Later in the quarter, Nate Clements raced 86 yards into the end zone on a punt return to help give the Bills a 31-17 advantage. On the ensuing kickoff, Eric Flowers muffed the return and Buffalo recovered on the St. Louis 31 yard line and eventually made good on a field goal. They booted another field goal before the end of the third and no one scored the rest of the way. The loss, mixed with Seattle’s 24-17 win over the Dolphins knocked St. Louis out of first place in the division. Rams quarterback Marc Bulger passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns, but was picked off twice. The Rams had four turnovers and just 35 yards rushing in the loss.
