Surprising Rams are 2-1 but have tough road aheadARIZONA

Sep 21, 2017 - 7:48 PM THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Rams were a happy bunch after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday to go to 2-1 for the first time under Jeff Fisher.

But they weren't content, and that's telling.

Yes, the Rams are in first place for the first time any of the current players can remember. Yes, they have put together a two-game winning streak and created some positive momentum after a dreadful season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

All good, positive developments.

But in a sign one of the youngest teams in the league is starting to get it and mature and turn the corner, there was less talk about what they just did in beating the Bucs to what still needs to be done to keep things moving in the right direction.

The Rams have been on a decade-long quest for that kind of maturity and insight and accountability, and it seems now they are getting it.

And with a big game looming Sunday on the road against the Arizona Cardinals, it bodes well for their chances to stay on track.

"There's a million things we can do better," said Rams guard Rodger Saffold. "We can't become complacent even for a second. The next thing for us is to go out and do exactly what we did this week -- go out on the road and take care of business against a good team."

Said quarterback Case Keenum: "I think it's great. I think we are in a good spot. I think we are getting better each week, which is what you want to do. Going on the road and being successful is obviously really good, too.

"We're going to have another tough test with another with a really good football team on the road."

Two big developments occurred on Sunday: Keenum had his best game of the year throwing for 190 yards and two touchdowns to finally get the offense untracked.

And while Todd Gurley didn't top the 100-yard mark, he found a rhythm in the second half to finish with 87 yards and help set up some play action passes for Keenum.

When Gurley and the running game is functioning, it opens things up for Keenum.

"We're getting (Case) Keenum the ball in our game plan and playbook," said wide receiver Kenny Britt. "You can tell Case is getting more comfortable back there in the pocket.

"And you see as the game goes on, the defense loosens up and that guy in the backfield took advantage of it."

As for Gurley, the Rams will keep chipping away. But the sense is he's getting close to a big-time performance.

"I said last week that he was really close -- if you watch it, he's really close, he was even closer than really close," Fisher said. "We're fine there, we'll be alright.

"Now, granted, we have a big challenge this week in their run defense. He made some runs that were spectacular -- just short plays, things that weren't there and eh found them. Again, that run, that 15-and-a-half-yard run was pretty special. He feels good, we're getting a sense that there's more and more each week -- commitment on behalf of the defense to stopping him, but we're still finding ways.

"The 100-yard games and those kind of things, they'll come. But right now, he's a major part of our offense, as is, as we talked about at the start of the season -- as is (wide receiver) Tavon (Austin). Tavon was very productive for us."

SERIES HISTORY: 76th regular-season meeting. Cardinals lead the series, 38-35-2 and went four straight seasons from 2006-10 winning eight consecutive games over the Rams.

--The Rams made a point of emphasis to cut down on penalties this year. That hasn't happened, as they've been penalized 27 times for 249 yards and lost two players -- Aaron Donald and Eugene Sims -- to disqualification for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he will continue to emphasis cutting down on infractions.

"I'm not going to go into specifics, that's my presentation," Fisher said. "But we had a long discussion today about it. It's nice to be able to discuss it after a win. You look at the penalties and they're like anything else. The big thing, as I mentioned yesterday, is the ones that don't have anything to do with the play -- and that's what kind of gets under the coach's skin -- the false starts, the defensive offsides and the things that happen after the play. You're in control of that.

"The things that take place during the course of the down, you're really not in control unless you're grabbing as a defensive back. And then you look, if you really look at them, there's five or six or seven that I disagree with. Penalties are penalties, but at this rate, it's not good. We have to coach better and we have to talk about things and we have to be aware of a hard count on second-and-10 or third-and-one. Just bring it to their attention and we did that. Our focus is more on Arizona, however, than it is on our team penalties."

--WR Kenny Britt has caught plenty of flak for not developing as the Rams hoped since being drafted in the second round ion 2012, and his bout with dropped passes certainly hasn't endeared him to Rams fans.

Ironic, then, that Britt was responsible for the Rams first touchdown when he hauled in a touchdown pass from Case Keenum in the first quarter against the Bucs Sunday.

Nevertheless, the Rams want to see more improvement from Britt.

"His problems weren't holding onto the ball, they were catching the ball. He didn't have a Kenny Britt fumble, they were drops," Fisher said. "He's worked on that, he's not dropping them on purpose and he made a couple really good plays in the game. It's just about him being consistent. You don't want to see the drops, drops are hard to overcome.

"We had four this weekend at Tampa and they're hard to overcome - we had one or two on defense. You have to catch the football when you're given the opportunity."

As far as the touchdown, Fisher was pleased but also pointed out Britt simply did what

"From that standpoint, yes, but that's expected. We expect him to make that play, that's his job -- run past the corner in that particular defense and go make that play and he made it. The alternative would not have been good, but he made the play and he's got to do it again."

NOTES: WR Nelson Spruce practiced Wednesday after missing the first three games because of a knee injury. ... WR Pharoh Cooper practiced Wednesday after missing the first three games because of a shoulder injury. ... CB E.J. Gaines practiced Wednesday after missing the first three games with a leg injury. ... DE William Hayes did not practice Wednesday with an ankle injury. ... CB Lamarcus Joyner did not practice Wednesday with a toe injury. The status of all the injured players for Sunday's game was uncertain. ... S Marqui Christian was claimed off waivers from the Arizona Cardinals and DB Isiah Johnson was released