Rams End Season With Third Straight Win On The Road

Good idea. Bad timing.

The St. Louis Rams’ bid to establish some momentum finally hit full stride Saturday - on the last day of their season - with a 30-18 victory over the error-prone Carolina Panthers.

Jerald Moore rushed for 112 yards and Tony Banks threw for 163 yards and a touchdown for the Rams, who won three of their last four games after starting the season 2-10 under new coach Dick Vermeil. Even with their strong finish, the Rams still wound up in last place in the NFC West.

Jeff Wilkins added three field goals to help St. Louis put together its first three-game winning streak on the road since 1990.

Carolina completed a transition from division champion one year to expansion team look-alike the next. The Panthers were penalized a franchise-record 12 times and Kerry Collins had three passes intercepted to push his NFL-leading total to 21.

Collins finished with 132 yards on 11-of-25 passing as Carolina lost for the third time in four games. Keith Lyle had two of the interceptions to help drop the Panthers to 2-6 this season at Ericsson Stadium, where they went 9-0 last year.

Many in the announced crowd of 58,101 spent the game alternately showering Collins with boos after his poor throws and directing mock cheers at him on the rare occasions when he completed crucial passes.

The loudest fan reaction of the game came with 11:22 remaining when Steve Beuerlein trotted onto the field to replace Collins and was greeted with roars of approval.

Beuerlein led the Panthers on a 78-yard scoring drive on his first possession, capping it with a 2-yard toss to Ernie Mills with 5:08 left, but it wasn’t enough.

It was the last game for Carolina nose tackle Greg Kragen, a 13-year veteran who said before the season that this year would be his last. It also turned out to be the final game for Panthers linebacker Sam Mills, who announced his retirement following the game after 12 seasons.