ST. LOUIS — Kim Herring returned a fumble by Keyshawn Johnson 59 yards for a touchdown in the St. Louis Rams' 26-16 exhibition victory over the Super Bowl champion Tampa Buccaneers on Monday night.
Kurt Warner was perfect on his only drive of the game, going 7-for-7 for 55 yards to set up a field goal, while the Bucs' defense failed to lay a hand on him. Former Utah State receiver Kevin Curtis caught three passes for 32 yards for St. Louis.
The Rams (1-1) also ended a five-game losing streak in the preseason. They were 0-4 last year following a Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, and then began the regular season 0-5.
The Bucs (2-1) sputtered after totaling 50 points in their first two preseason games, although Brad Johnson was 7-for-9 for 55 yards in a little over one quarter.
Offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker sat out with a sprained ankle for Tampa Bay, which has won each of the last three regular-season meetings against the Rams.
The Bucs managed only 111 yards of total offense in the first half, falling behind 16-0.
Tampa Bay's defense, led by Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks, played most of the first quarter, surrendering only an opening 14-play, 66-yard drive.
Buccaneers third-string quarterback Chris Simms played most of the second half and threw two touchdown passes and two 2-point conversion passes.
The Rams' defense had very few big plays last year. St. Louis had only an interception return by Dre' Bly, but gave up nine defensive touchdowns.
Keyshawn Johnson fumbled at the end of a 9-yard reception when Adam Archuleta hit him as he was falling. The ball came loose, Herring scooped it up and scored untouched to give the Rams a 10-0 lead with 14:09 to go in the second quarter.
The Rams again rested Marshall Faulk and Aeneas Williams, wishing to save them for the regular season. Jeff Wilkins, who missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt and had an extra point blocked in a 7-6 loss to the Raiders last week, was 4-for-4 on a series of chip shots with a long of 37.
Rams quarterbacks were 13-for-13 in the first half. Backup Marc Bulger, who was 6-1 as the Rams' starter while Warner was sidelined by a broken pinkie and hand last year, was 6-for-6 for 82 yards.