Rams

Rams News: 3 Keys for Monday Night’s Matchup Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After taking down the Seattle Seahawks last week to move into first place, the Rams will have to keep the momentum going if they want to remain there. The Arizona Cardinals just took them down on Thursday Night Football leaving one less team for the Rams to share first place with. In order to do so, they’ll have to get past Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We’ve broken down three keys for the Rams on Monday night.

LA performs its best New Orleans impression 

Coming into this season, all eyes were on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as many saw them as an offensive juggernaut. However, they’ve shown that they are mortal, especially two weeks ago when they faced the Saints. The infamous Tom Brady was held to 209 passing yards, no touchdowns, and was picked off three times. The Buccaneers couldn’t get any offense going until the 4th quarter where they finally kicked a field goal. 

Enter the Rams defense. LA’s pass defense is considerably better than New Orleans and is fresh off of defeating the hottest quarterback in the league. Last week they allowed Russell Wilson to throw for 248 yards, with no touchdowns while picking him off twice. Anything close to that kind of production could shift the tide of the game. 

What version of Jared Goff will we see?

This isn’t the game for Jared Goff to have a repeat Miami performance. Tampa Bay will surely make the Rams pay if that were to happen. The Buccaneers defense has a tendency to make quarterbacks pay as they are second in sacks (32) and 4th in QB hits (73). 

Rams fans know all too well what can happen when opposing teams put pressure on Goff. The line may have their hands full this week and with the loss of Andrew Whitworth, it’ll be a tough task. Goff is going to have to be extra careful with the ball as the Bucs are first in the league with 12 interceptions. 

Which run defense will outshine the other?

The Rams have had success limiting opposing team’s on the ground with the 5th best run defense in the league. They’ve allowed an average of 96.8 rushing yards a game which comes out to 4.1 yards per carry. Meanwhile, the Bucs have been the best this year only allowing 76.6 rushing yards per game. 

What’s interesting is both teams feature multiple running backs that could explode on any given day. It’s hard to predict how the game will go for either side, but if the Rams’ backfield can break through and open up the field for Goff, the stars may align for another win. 

Game Details: 

Los Angeles Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Monday, November 23rd, @ 5:15 PM on ESPN

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Adam Salcido

“That is the way this game is -- you win, you lose, you celebrate and you suffer.” -- Vin Scully
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