The Los Angeles Rams return to primetime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium. This is a battle between two division leaders in the NFC, with the Rams at 8-2 and on a five-game winning streak, while the Buccaneers are 6-4 and have been tested, having lost three of their last four games.
The Rams are looking to keep the good going after defeating NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks in a tight 21-19 victory. The defense was outstanding in the game, picking off Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold a spectacular four times, with safety Kamran Kinchens hauling in two of them.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford avoided throwing an interception again last week and had two passing touchdowns. Running back Kyren Williams was electric, rushing for 91 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
Tampa Bay heads into this matchup after suffering a 44-32 shootout loss against the Buffalo Bills last week. The rushing game was phenomenal against Buffalo, totaling 202 yards on the ground. Running back Sean Tucker had 106 of them, while running back Rachaad White had 51 of them. Both of these guys have taken over for running back Bucky Irving, who has struggled with the injury bug since September.
Despite the recent struggle the Bucs have gone through, they remain first in the NFC South. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has led that effort, throwing for 2365 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. Mayfield’s top target is rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who is a favorite for NFC offensive rookie of the year. Egbuka has 717 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He has taken over in the absence of star wide receiver Mike Evans, who has a broken clavicle. Los Angeles will have a challenging task in stopping the solid Tampa Bay offense.
The Rams’ receiver talent will look to dominate a Buccaneers secondary that has given up the sixth most passing yards on the season, averaging over 240 passing yards allowed per game. Wide receiver Puka Nacua is fourth in the league with 850 receiving yards and has five interception touchdowns. On the other hand, wide receiver Davante Adams has been a threat in the end zone with ten touchdowns on the season; he is tied for fourth most in the league.
The Rams’ pass rush is going to look to infiltrate the line and restrict the Bucs from getting anything done on the ground, as well as limit Mayfield’s time in the pocket. Mayfield has been sacked 20 times this season, and with a dominant pairing of linebackers in Byron Young and Jared Verse, who have combined for 13 sacks this season, they will look to cause damage and dominate the trenches.
Tampa Bay will look to inflict the same pain on Stafford. The Buccaneers’ defense has 26 sacks this season, tied for 10th best in the league, but the Rams’ offensive line has only allowed Stafford to get sacked 14 times all year.
A recent change that has been a success for the Rams so far was some additions on special teams. The special teams unit could arguably be the reason why Los Angeles isn’t undefeated, and changes were needed. For the past two games, the Rams have operated under the guidance of former longtime Rams long snapper Jake McQuaide and kicker Harrison Mevis. Since that change, there hasn’t been a mistake on PATs with Mevis making all nine of his PAT attempts. The ability to limit miscues on special teams has been a difference-maker for Los Angeles.
Overall, this is going to be a great matchup between two division leaders. The Rams will be fighting for the top seed in the NFC, while the Buccaneers aim to keep their lead in the division. The game is set for kickoff on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 5:20 p.m.