Five takeaways from Rams’ win over Bucs over MNF

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Big prime-time win for top Rams

The Rams defense cracked down on the Tampa Bay offense, limiting Tom Brady to 216 yards on 48 attempted passes (4.5 AVG), and now the Bucs running game at 42 yards on 18 carries (2.3 AVG ). Offensively, Jared Goff completed 39 passes for 376 yards (7.4 AVG) and three touchdowns in 51 attempts (7.4 AVG).

After a nasty loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 8, the Rams rebounded – after a Week 9 break – with impressive wins over the Seattle Seahawks and Bucs. On Monday night it was clear that they were a very good all-round football team capable of running deep in a wide open NFC. And the win puts the Rams (7-3) tied for first place with the Seahawks, but Los Angeles currently holds the first half of the head-to-head tie-breaker thanks to that Week 10 win.

Jordan Fuller knocked out Tom Brady twice

Brady was brutal in attempting to pass over 15 yards from the field in this game, completing 1 of 9 passes for 18 yards and two interceptions.

The two interceptions were passes nowhere near Tampa Bay receivers, and to the right of Rams safety Jordan Fuller. The second interception essentially ended the game.

This dud of Brady’s performance comes after throwing three interceptions with a 40.4 passer rating against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night football in Week 9 (more on that later). Brady looked like a legitimate MVP contender for much of the season, but those two prime-time performances killed those chances.

Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods made a huge number of them

While Goff recorded some big passing numbers in this one (he threw two interceptions though), much of it was due to the Rams playmakers on the wide receiver. Kupp had 11 receptions for 145 yards and Woods had 12 receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Woods (and also watches Kupp with the block and bustle) had a huge play in the closing seconds of the first half, taking a 35-yard screen pass to put the Rams in position for a starting field. . It was a huge game in a three-point win.

The Bucs were horrible in prime time

Considering Brady’s history in big games, of accompanying many decorated veterans on that Tampa Bay roster, it’s a bit surprising – and disturbing – how poorly they performed in prime time.

The Bucs are 1-3 in prime time this season, with losses to the Rams, Saints (a 38-3 in Tampa Bay) and Chicago Bears (who are 1-4 since that game) . Tampa Bay’s only prime-time victory was a 25-23 win over the terrible New York Giants in Week 8, and the Giants were two conversion points away to tie the game with 28 seconds remaining. .

The good news is that they no longer have prime time games on the regular season schedule (at least before any flexible programming). The bad news is that they have to face the Kansas City Chiefs next (and in a game that will still have many national attention).

NFC post-season implications

Not only are the Rams number one in NFC West, but they are also up to the No. 2 seed in the NFC. They are only one game behind the New Orleans Saints 8-2 for the break from the conference playoffs. Had they lost Monday night, they would have been bottom of the NFC playoff standings (the Arizona Cardinals are the 7th seed at 6-4, and the Rams play them two more times). Plus, they have a potentially huge tiebreaker over the Bucs (7-4), to go with a tiebreaker already over the Chicago Bears (5-5, and the first team to come out of the playoffs). . The Rams are suddenly in great shape, and they still have one home game against the New York Jets on their schedule.

The Bucs, on the other hand, have seen their prospects take a hard hit in the past three weeks. Five Thirty Eight gives Tampa Bay just 14% chance of winning the division now. The standings suggest the Bucs are just 1.5 games behind New Orleans in the NFC South, but the Saints pulled off the tiebreaker with two wins against Tampa Bay this season. If Tampa Bay wins to reach 12-4, they still need the Saints to have a 3-3 or worse to win the division. And again, the Bucs must now play the Chiefs, who will be favored.

Now the Bucs (currently the No.6 seed) are still likely to make the playoffs (Five Thirty gives an 81% chance), and their schedule softens considerably after the Chiefs game (and after a week 13 goodbye): vs. Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, vs. Falcons. But to fight for a Super Bowl, they’ll have to play much better football than they have lately, and especially better than they have in prime time.



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