Tag: rams buccaneers

Here’s a crazy Tom Brady stat for Rams-Buccaneers in Week 3

Tom Brady has never played an NFL game in Los Angeles. That will change against the Rams in Week 3.

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Tom Brady has started 299 regular-season games in his 21 years in the NFL. He’s also started 45 postseason games and has beaten every team in the league at least once. He’s accomplished just about everything a player possibly can in the NFL, but when the Buccaneers visit the Rams in Week 3, he’ll do something he’s never done before.

Brady will play his first NFL game ever in Los Angeles.

It’s a crazy stat that was shared by Peter Schrager of NFL Network after the 2021 schedule was released, one that’s difficult to believe given Brady’s extensive track record in the league.

Brady has owned a home in Los Angeles, probably visited the city dozens if not hundreds of times and has a career record of 15-5 against teams that have called L.A. home previously or currently do (Rams, Chargers and Raiders). But he’s never once played a game in the City of Angels.

That will change on Sept. 26 when the Rams and Bucs square off, though.

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Sean McVay shares what he learned from watching Bucs win Super Bowl LV

Sean McVay and the Rams beat the Bucs in the regular season, but it was Tampa Bay that won it all.

The Los Angeles Rams came up short of their goal to win the Super Bowl last season, but they do have something to hang their hat on. They were one of just four teams to beat the eventual champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Los Angeles knocked off the Bucs 27-24 in Week 11, the first of two straight losses by the Buccaneers – which were also their last two losses of the season. They ran the table after their Week 13 bye, winning eight straight the rest of the way.

Last week, Sean McVay was asked what he learned from watching the Buccaneers hoist the Lombardi Trophy, knowing his team beat Tampa Bay back in November.

“I think what stands out about that is the resilience of that football team,” McVay said. “I mean, you think about how they respond from a tough game on Sunday Night Football against the Saints, they had the loss against the Chiefs and they played their best football when it was necessary. I think that’s a real credit to Coach (Bruce) Arians’ leadership. Obviously, Tom Brady has an amazing influence on that team, but I thought they peaked at the right time. They found a way to stay together, really find their identity at the right moments and then they played their best when their best was required.”

One of the pivotal point in the postseason for the Buccaneers was Brady’s touchdown pass to Scotty Miller just before halftime against the Packers in the NFC Championship Game. It gave the Bucs a 21-10 lead, which they would never relinquish as they went on to win 31-26.

McVay pointed to that exact play as one that stuck out to him, while also not ignoring the job Todd Bowles did against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

You look at that sequence at the end of the half against Green Bay, just finding ways to win football games, making crunch-time plays. I thought really just from a coaching perspective, they did an outstanding job of being able to adapt and adjust their philosophy,” he continued. “You saw some of the things that Coach Bowles did defensively that really minimized some of those great offenses that they played and it was really impressive. You see the impact that a guy that’s won, that’s done it, that people can look to and say, ‘Hey, this is what it looks like.’ For him to win his seventh, nothing but respect for Tom Brady and you’re just kind of just sitting there in awe. At this point I don’t think you can say you’re surprised, but you just want to say, ‘Hats off to you for another job well done.’”

The Rams had the defense to win it all last season, but the offense lagged far behind with an uninspiring campaign. They ranked first defensively but just 22nd in scoring offense and 11th in total yards.

In their playoff loss to the Packers, the Rams only scored 18 points and gave up 32, which shows both the offense and defense failed them that Saturday. With Matthew Stafford coming aboard, the Rams hope they now have the pieces to finally get over the hump and be the last team standing.

Ronde Barber: Raheem Morris was ‘like a chameleon’ with defensive adjustments

Ronde Barber spoke highly of Raheem Morris, who coached him with the Buccaneers.

The Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff was raided by other teams this offseason, losing six assistant coaches to other jobs and a seventh, Aaron Kromer, to a mutual parting of ways. None of those losses were bigger than Brandon Staley’s departure, however, after he helped the Rams field the No. 1 defense in the NFL last season.

But he’s already been replaced by Raheem Morris, who was the defensive coordinator and interim coach of the Falcons last season. Barber has head coaching experience from his time in Tampa Bay, working with players such as Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp.

Barber recently chatted with Stu Jackson of the Rams’ official site and lauded Morris’ ability to adapt and adjust on defense during their time together with the Buccaneers. He said Morris became “ like a chameleon” with the way he adjusted to opposing offenses, which is great news for the Rams.

“I remember our second year when he was a head coach, and he took over defensive coordinator duties,” Barber said. “He really became like a chameleon. He was able to adjust to a lot of different looks that offenses were giving us. He can have a big playbook, but he also knows how to keep things simple. … It should be interesting, man. He can’t be any more excited to work with 99 (Aaron Donald) and Jalen Ramsey. I mean, you can do almost anything with some of the talent that he has. So I’m looking forward to seeing what it evolves into.”

In every interview Morris has had since becoming the Rams’ defensive coordinator, he’s talked about how excited he is to work with Donald and Ramsey – two cornerstones of the team. He called both players “potential gold jacket guys” and just doesn’t want to “mess them up” from what they’ve been doing lately.

Morris and Sean McVay worked together in Tampa Bay under Jon Gruden and though they went their separate ways after that, they’ve reunited in Los Angeles as two of the most important coaches on the Rams’ staff. McVay has gotten better at adapting to what opponents throw at him, and with Morris appearing to succeed in that area, too, the Rams should be in good shape next season.

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Bears-Saints will determine whether Rams face Packers or Bucs next week

Sunday’s final NFC wild-card game will determine where the Rams play their next game.

The Los Angeles Rams are heading to the divisional round of the playoffs after beating the Seahawks 30-20 on Saturday afternoon, but they don’t yet know who they’ll face next weekend. There are only two possibilities, though, and both games will be on the road no matter what.

They’ll face either the top-seeded Packers, who had a first-round bye, or they’ll visit Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, who beat Washington on Saturday night. And what will decide it is the outcome of Bears-Saints on Sunday afternoon.

The Saints will host the Bears at the Superdome today at 4:40 p.m. ET, a game the Rams and their fans will likely keep an eye on. Here are the two scenarios that will decide who Los Angeles faces next.

Saints win

  • Rams at Packers
  • Buccaneers at Saints

Bears win

  • Rams at Buccaneers
  • Bears at Packers

The NFL hasn’t announced when each game will be played, but it will be on either Saturday or Sunday once again. Four total games will be held in the divisional round after the wild-card round featured six matchups.

The Rams should be rooting for a Bears win over the Saints because they’d be much better suited to face the Bucs in sunny Tampa Bay, who they already beat this season, instead of taking on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in snowy Green Bay.

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8 crazy stats from Rams’ Week 11 win over Buccaneers

Rams-Bucs yielded some crazy stats in Monday night’s game.

For the second week in a row, the Los Angeles Rams beat one of the top teams in the NFC. It was a statement win, beating the Buccaneers 27-24 in prime time on Monday Night Football.

The game yielded some crazy stats and facts, including a bit of history made by Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. Jared Goff also moved up the all-time touchdown list in Rams history, while the team’s trio of rookies had a night they won’t forget.

Here are eight impressive stats and notes from the win.

Rams Week 11 snap counts: Reynolds outsnaps Kupp again, Henderson leads RBs

Josh Reynolds continues to play more than Cooper Kupp, the second straight week this has happened.

The Rams have a lot of options on offense, with excellent depth at just about every key position. They can go four deep at wide receiver, three deep at running back and have three capable starters at tight end.

It makes for interesting analysis of their snap counts each week, with different players earning more playing time with every passing game. That was true against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, a game the Rams won 27-24.

On offense, Darrell Henderson reclaimed his role as the top running back, while Josh Reynolds outsnapped Cooper Kupp for the second straight week. Defensively, Justin Hollins continues to play significant snaps, and Nick Scott has filled in as the third safety with Taylor Rapp out.

Let’s dive into the numbers.

Matt Gay sank his former team in his first game with Rams: ‘You can’t write it’

Matt Gay said there were a lot of emotions in his return to Tampa Bay.

Sometimes, there are stories in sports that you’d only expect to see in the movies. We saw one of those on Monday night in Tampa Bay when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Buccaneers with a late field goal by Matt Gay.

Yes, the same Matt Gay who the Buccaneers drafted in the fifth round and cut less than a year later.

Gay’s 40-yarder proved to be the game-winner, sinking his former team in the stadium he called home last year. And his game-winning field goal came just two days after Gay officially joined the Rams for his first practice with the team.

He went from being a free agent to beating the team that cut him in a matter of a week and even he couldn’t have predicted this.

“You can’t write it,” he said after the Rams’ 27-24 win. “It’s one of those stories that you’re sitting on a practice squad and the first game you’re activated, you’re going to the place you were last year – the place that you felt you should’ve been and get to play on prime-time Monday Night Football. There was a lot of emotion for me coming back in, was able to see some people obviously that I still love down here and being back in Raymond James. So it was a little bit more for me to come back and play in this stadium and hit that kick.”

Gay called it “kind of a crazy story coming back to Tampa,” saying there were a lot of emotions running through him. He missed a 44-yarder earlier in the game, but he moved forward and drilled a more important kick with 2:36 left in the game.

Missing a field goal in your first game with a new team is never easy, let alone when your former coaches and teammates are also on the other sideline. But Gay didn’t hang his head over the miss and bounced back in the biggest way possible.

“I thought I hit that one good, just drifted right on me,” Gay said of his 44-yard miss. “But as a kicker, you’ve got to have a short memory. The next play is all that matters, let it go, learn from it and move on. Just kind of went to the sideline, focused on what I did, got some ball-contact work in the net and making sure that I was ready for that next play. Great snap, great hold and was able to put it through on that last one.”

Whether Gay remains the team’s primary kicker remains to be seen. The Rams also have Austin MacGinnis on the practice squad, and he could conceivably continue competing for the job. Sean McVay would probably like to see more consistency out of the position still, but at least Gay came through in the clutch when the Rams needed him most.

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Watch highlights from Rams’ 27-24 win vs. Buccaneers

Catch up on all the biggest plays from Monday night’s win.

The Rams and Buccaneers capped off Week 11 with a prime-time matchup on Monday night football, and even though there was some sloppiness on both sides in the second half, the heavyweight bout lived up to the hype.

The Rams held on to beat the Buccaneers 27-24, earning their second straight win and seventh of the season. With it, they jumped to the No. 2 seed in the NFC and took the lead in the division, holding the tiebreaker over the Seahawks.

If you missed Monday night’s game between L.A. and Tampa Bay, you can catch up on all the action with the highlight package below. There were 664 total yards between the two teams, as well as four turnovers and six total touchdowns.

6 takeaways from Rams’ thrilling win over Buccaneers

The Rams proved they can beat anyone in the NFL this season.

Don’t look now, but the Los Angeles Rams are back on top in the NFC West and currently hold the No. 2 seed in the conference. After beating the Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, the Rams moved to 7-3 on the year, having won back-to-back games against Seattle and Tampa Bay.

Their win over the Bucs on the road was especially impressive, beating Tom Brady for the first time since 2001. They held Tampa Bay to just 251 total yards, once again stepping up in a big way during the second half.

Here are six key takeaways from the Rams’ Week 11 victory before they head back home to host the 49ers in Week 12.

Sean McVay would rather not be reminded of his perfect record with a halftime lead

Sean McVay doesn’t want anyone to jinx the Rams, and understandably so.

Not everyone believes in jinxes, but Sean McVay certainly does. The Rams head coach helped lead his team to a 27-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, moving their record to 7-3.

While that record is impressive, it’s not nearly as eye-popping as McVay’s mark track record when leading at halftime. With the Rams holding on to beat the Buccaneers after leading 17-14 at the half, McVay is now a perfect 32-0 as a head coach when holding a lead after the first half.

It’s a testament to his and his coaching staff’s ability to make halftime adjustments, often correcting things that went wrong in the first half.

After the win, McVay said he’d rather not be reminded of his unblemished record.

There was plenty of talk about his 31-0 record after the Rams took a halftime lead over the Buccaneers and they weren’t jinxed, holding on to win by three points. It will surely be mentioned both on the broadcast and on Twitter every time the Rams hold a halftime lead moving forward, so McVay won’t have his way with this one.

For now, he won’t stress about any possible jinx and will instead enjoy the feeling of winning a second straight game against a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

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