The Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went at it during their Divisional Round playoff game. The Rams started this one out hot. They were able to jump out to an early lead, stretching it up to 27-3 towards the end of the third quarter. Everybody was expecting the Rams to just run away with the game and pretty much seal it any second now. However, they started to completely collapse right before our very eyes.
The Rams fumbled the football four times throughout this game, trying their best to lose this matchup to the Buccaneers. However, with the game tied and there being only one minute remaining in the contest, Cooper Kupp picked up numerous big plays to get them into field goal range. They ended up sinking a chip shot field goal and icing the game with no time left on the clock.
Matthew Stafford had a solid day on the stat sheet, throwing for 366 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He did have a fumble, though the only reason people attribute it to him is because the center snapped the ball when he wasn’t looking. Their main issue in this game was the rushing attack. Cam Akers mustered just 48 yards on 24 attempts. He also was responsible for two of those fumbles, with each of them coming on drives that they were likely to score on. Granted, he gets a bit of a pass in my books. He just recently returned from a horrible injury far earlier than anybody anticipated. He still needs to desperately work on carrying the football though, otherwise we won’t see him much next week. Cooper Kupp absolutely dominated though. He had nine receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Flipping over to the Buccaneers now. They didn’t play poorly at all. They just weren’t able to get hot until it was too late in the contest. Tom Brady threw for 329 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Leonard Fournette was the only person who took a rush attempt, going for 51 yards on 13 tries. Then, it was really just Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski in the receiving game. They combined for 205 of Brady’s total yards through the air. Evans also had a long touchdown to increase their chances late in the game during their comeback effort. Defensively, they needed some work. They had too many communication issues down the stretch and it allowed for busted coverage in crucial stages of the game. This team has all the talent to win the Super Bowl, but minor issues started to build up and got the best of them here.
Looking to the future now, the Buccaneers have a lot of questions to answer. Tom Brady could potentially step away from the game, though it doesn’t seem likely at this time. Gronkowski could also leave the team if Brady were to surprisingly retire after a tough loss like that. Even Lavonte David should be looked at because he could be thinking about retirement as well. Even if none of them step away, the organization has to look at the future they have ahead of them during this offseason.