The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be taking on the Los Angeles Rams in this upcoming Divisional Round affair. The Buccaneers get home field advantage in this one, something that could be critical down the stretch of this game. The Buccaneers stomped the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round. While the Rams rolled over the Arizona Cardinals themselves.
The Buccaneers have a lot of talent across this roster. Obviously, when you have Tom Brady on your roster you can win any playoff game that comes your way. He will be getting Leonard Fournette into the lineup for the first time in a few weeks, but still won’t be 100 percent healthy. There are some concerns on the offensive line heading into this, with a couple guys banged up. Now, there is a strong chance that they all play. It is just a matter of them being effective and not hindered because of it. Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown also won’t be there, two guys that were on the team when the Buccaneers met the Rams earlier this season. Mike Evans, Rob Gronkowski and Scottie Miller may be more than enough though. Defensively, Tampa Bay should be alright. There is some uncertain in pass defense but it may not be too much of a problem if they are clamping down on the run game like they usually always are.
As for the Rams, they have star players everywhere. Matthew Stafford is really taking this team to another level, playing smart football. While his turnovers were starting to hurt them towards the end of the year, the team shifted to a run heavy attack which has worked wonders. Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr are phenomenal out wide for him and this offensive line couldn’t be much better than it is. In the backfield, they have Cam Akers, Sony Michel and now Darrell Henderson for the Buccaneers to deal with. On the other side of the ball, Los Angeles found a way to get Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller all on the same team. When they are on like we saw last week, it is near impossible to score points against them.
In the first matchup with both teams near full health, the Rams had control of most of the game and beat the Buccaneers by double digits. While it will be a lot closer this time around, I just have a feeling that the Rams could beat them again. If Stafford plays smart football, then there isn’t anybody that can stop this team, they just beat themselves. Plus, with Tampa Bay having a banged up offensive line, Miller and Donald may have a field day when rushing the passer. Attacking Brady early on in the game has always been his kryptonite, just ask the Saints. Although, I should also point out that if the Buccaneers hold on and find a way to win this game, they are likely going to the Super Bowl. Let’s be real, I just don’t see them losing to the San Francisco 49ers, but that’s a story for another post.