Divisional match-up discussion: Rams @ Bucs

[Dread]

Just like last season the Bucs have a chance to exact revenge in the playoffs. This time vs the only other team who has had Brady's # since he joined the Bucs.

Should be another close game. The Rams have dedicated themselves to the run later in the season but in both wins over the Bucs the past 2 seasons they've thrown it a ton. Curious how they come out Sunday. The Bucs will need all their CBs and Safeties healthy for this one.

Hopefully Wirfs is a quick healer because that Rams defensive front is legit. They play a ton of zone behind it. Whoever plays RB for the Bucs will need to catch the ball well again b/c Brady will be checking down alot.

[MJW]

I don't feel great about this matchup, but assuming Wirfs can go, we should be A LOT healthier than the last time we played, when we were trying to cover Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods with Pierre Desire and Dee Delaney.

[King Bootz]

I still want to say Stafford will play like he's in Detroit. But damn, if they play the way they did tonight, I'm worried. He was efficient. Didn't have to be a savior.

Their defense played fast. Murray didn't even have time to attack the back end where they are missing 2 safeties.

We've got to play a clean game on Sunday. Damn this is gonna be a tough one.

[Defense5599]

This is the matchup I was most worried about. The Rams have a ton of star power on both sides of the ball.

[MJW]

I honestly don't think we'll face a tougher game in the NFCCG (@ Packers, Vs 49ers) or against any of the remaining AFC teams in the Super Bowl (Titans, Bengals, Chiefs, Bills.)

For a home game, this is as tough as it gets.

But you know what? If you said you felt good about going into New Orleans after they crushed us twice, you were probably lying at the time. We'll have 60 minutes to make our case.

[TonyLip]

We’re at home and it’s up to the Bucs D to make Stafford look ‘Detroit Bad’. Short field TDs should be on the menu.

[BucsNBrew831]

This is Just like the last two times we won our SB’s we had to beat our nemesis that had our # philly in ‘03 And Saints last year, They say everything comes in threes so let’s hope it’s the same this year.

[Nano]

Don't feel confident about this game at all. We can't beat this team even when we're healthy.

That said, I do think it'll be closer than the earlier matchup this year. Technically only lost by 10, but it felt like a blowout.

[Deja Entendu]

I honestly don't think we'll face a tougher game in the NFCCG (@ Packers, Vs 49ers) or against any of the remaining AFC teams in the Super Bowl (Titans, Bengals, Chiefs, Bills.)

Maybe I’m crazy, but I completely disagree. I think the Rams are a tough matchup for sure, but I saw a team that completely outmatched their opponent tonight and capitalized on some fluke plays. This Bucs team w Brady would never make the mistakes the Cards and Murray did in the playoffs.

Their D is brutal and Donald is a force of nature... but the Rama’s haven’t exactly been firing on all cylinders the last few weeks either. Meanwhile, the Packers have been playing pretty flawless ball and if we have to face them it’ll be on the frozen tundra at full capacity.

The AFC teams all worry me way more than the Rams do. They’ve beat us twice in the last two season, but both games were in reach. Brady and this defense are on a different level come playoffs and they’ll be out for blood.

The remaining AFC teams are STACKED... but they’re not our problem for another few weeks.

[King Bootz]

The Rams were up 34-17 before we scored that garbage time TD where Gio hurt his knee the 1st time. Hopefully there are things we can learn from. Namely not to abandon the run game early. Not to blitz Stafford a ton. TACKLE! Don't wear pewter jerseys.

[Deja Entendu]

All of that is to say: Fuck the Rams... fucking bring it...

[Cheb]

It will be better that we play at home, and if we can enter the game with relative health (especially in regards to our offensive line), I'd feel okay.

This will not be an easy game, but that's the playoffs for ya.

On offense, we have to keep on schedule and not get into third and longs. Defensively, we have to stonewall the run and force the game into Stafford's hands, where he is still prone to make horrible mistakes. This Rams team is built to defend leads, particularly on defense. If we turn that particular table and get an early lead, I like our chances even more.

[bucarican]

It will be a close game only if the oline and Lenny are back. I am worried that we will not keep Brady clean at all if Wirfs is out. The Rams are going to look at every Saints game tape. They will try and lock Mike with Ramsey and shadow Gronk and let the front 4 eat with 2 deep. The one plus is that the Rams are thin at Safety.

I think defensively if we can tackle, we can make it hard for them.

Either way this game give me the bubble guts.

[Nobody]

I'm feeling about as confident in this matchup as I have against the Saints the last long while.

* I don't see much chance of Wirfs playing and if he does...he'll be dramatically reduced in effectiveness (not just because of the bad wheel but because he doesn't have experience in playing with a bad wheel...which is a big deal). Wells is almost surely going to play and he's going to play hurt. We're going to be personnel grouping and formation limited (if we're smart). If we don't run a lot of Unbalanced Right to protect Wells, the Rams are going to feast in pass rush.

* We're so reduced in terms of weapons and they've got the personnel and scheme that will be intent on and capable of taking Mike away. This means we'll have to depend upon several players who have not played well enough and aren't reliable and Gronk must feast and we will have to get some miracle production out of OJ.

* They attack our defensive weaknesses; (a) set dressing to get White to vacate his responsibility and take advantage of it and (b) they force you to tackle with integrity (marrying collective pursuit angles with hats to the ball with actually getting guys to the ground).

I just can't see a way to talk myself into a lot of offensive production this game.

However, if our defense can tackle well throughout the whole game, generate play wins on early downs, defend well on 3rd and long, and get 2-3 key Turnovers in plus field position? I can see us cashing in to the tune of 17-20ish points and holding them inside of that.

Alternatively, if they're routinely getting 4-7 on perimeter Screens off misdirection/set dressing with a stray 7+ gash in that and in their Outside Zone run game? We're proper fucked. That will utterly spiral into a gaggle of points, down two scores by the end of the first half, and they'll just put us in a choke hold for the rest of the game where a hobbled Wells is going to have to pass protect on an island...and that_won't_end_well.

Dean and Davis and Edwards (hopefully he's playing over SMB) need to be fantastic on their read & react play-side on Screens > destroy blocks > make tackles or disrupt enough that the troops turn 4-7 into 1-3. That and our efficiency in defending the Outside Zone running game will really tell the tale early on. If drive one against our D features a bunch of play wins for LAR on those? Bad omen.

[Phantom]

I’m looking forward to Ramsay~Evans matchup

[Terry Tate]

I don't feel great about this matchup, but assuming Wirfs can go, we should be A LOT healthier than the last time we played, when we were trying to cover Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods with Pierre Desire and Dee Delaney.

While completely true, it's the Rams defense that has always concerned me. They have a corner that can play Evans on even terms and we don't have Godwin and Brown to blow away the rest of the secondary. They also have a pass rush that can get there, with Aaron Donald providing all time great inside pressure.

This was the one team I was most concerned about. While Green Bay and Frisco are no pushovers, if we can get past the Rams then we should be able to deal with either of them.

[MJW]

I don't feel great about this matchup, but assuming Wirfs can go, we should be A LOT healthier than the last time we played, when we were trying to cover Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods with Pierre Desire and Dee Delaney.

While completely true, it's the Rams defense that has always concerned me. They have a corner that can play Evans on even terms and we don't have Godwin and Brown to blow away the rest of the secondary. They also have a pass rush that can get there, with Aaron Donald providing all time great inside pressure.

This was the one team I was most concerned about. While Green Bay and Frisco are no pushovers, if we can get past the Rams then we should be able to deal with either of them.

This needs to be the best game Leftwich ever called. We have to win the chess match.

[OneBuc]

I don't feel great about this matchup, but assuming Wirfs can go, we should be A LOT healthier than the last time we played, when we were trying to cover Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods with Pierre Desire and Dee Delaney.

I'm always skeptical - but with Brady anything seems to be possible. Bucs' D needs to go into overdrive right now and make up for the team's offensive shortcomings.

[Grahamburn]

We don’t seem confident. They played on a Monday night. Cross country flight. Might have lost Whitworth as well.

Tom Brady at home. Get us into the right plays/protections. Defense has been much better of late. Get a couple timely turnovers.

No reason they can’t win this game.

[mdb1958]

When the Rams go with more than 4 DB's who do they usually take out and who do they put in?

[MJW]

We don’t seem confident. They played on a Monday night. Cross country flight. Might have lost Whitworth as well.

Tom Brady at home. Get us into the right plays/protections. Defense has been much better of late. Get a couple timely turnovers.

No reason they can’t win this game.

We can absolutely win this game. We can win literally any game against any team in the NFL in any building, as long as #12 is under center. That's just the gospel truth.

The margin for error in this one is just gonna be thin. We can't lose the turnover battle. We can't give away fresh downs on third down with self-inflicted mistakes. We can't commit dumb penalties that put us in bad down-and-distance, or worse, extend drives for the Rams. Stuff like that.

They have a better roster than we do right now. They have an excellent coach. They're playing pretty well. And they can beat you a number of different ways, which is the part that really worries me. But we can absolutely win this game all the same. But we need to be the Bucs from last year's playoff run (exempting the 3rd quarter of the Packers game, of course.) We need to be our best.

[Pirate Life]

Defensively we should be in better shape this time around. Starting CBS in the first game were Dean, Cockrell and Davis. Dean went out after 12 snaps, Delany in the rest of the game. We did not have JPP (yes, he's a bit of a liability) which meant JTS started his first game in a hostile environment.

Seeing how the Rams did in the 49er game when half the stands were cheering against them, need the crowd to be loud like this past weekend.

Stat-wise, Brady and Evans had good numbers the last game. Glaring problem was the run game. Brady was our leading rusher.

Hopefully Perriman and Johnson hit the juggs machine this week and we get Grayson on the field. Wirfs and Fournette are the two we need back the most this week.

[Swashbuckler]

Tough matchup. I'm not going to be crying myself out the door if we can't win this one. Would like to be wrong on my first impression here.

[mdb1958]

We don’t seem confident. They played on a Monday night. Cross country flight. Might have lost Whitworth as well.

Tom Brady at home. Get us into the right plays/protections. Defense has been much better of late. Get a couple timely turnovers.

No reason they can’t win this game.

We can absolutely win this game. We can win literally any game against any team in the NFL in any building, as long as #12 is under center. That's just the gospel truth.

The margin for error in this one is just gonna be thin. We can't lose the turnover battle. We can't give away fresh downs on third down with self-inflicted mistakes. We can't commit dumb penalties that put us in bad down-and-distance, or worse, extend drives for the Rams. Stuff like that.

They have a better roster than we do right now. They have an excellent coach. They're playing pretty well. And they can beat you a number of different ways, which is the part that really worries me. But we can absolutely win this game all the same. But we need to be the Bucs from last year's playoff run (exempting the 3rd quarter of the Packers game, of course.) We need to be our best.

First game our defense got punked, you cannot give up drives of 93,75,75,75, in a row, all TD's, then top it off with a 67 yard drive for a field goal.

We played behind and took the loss for it. I asked earlier and they started the game with one inside backer - but this time their safeties are out.

[Dread]

The Rams were up 34-17 before we scored that garbage time TD where Gio hurt his knee the 1st time. Hopefully there are things we can learn from. Namely not to abandon the run game early. Not to blitz Stafford a ton. TACKLE! Don't wear pewter jerseys.

Alot went right for the Rams that day also. Especially on offense where it was arguably their best week of the regular season. It was the only game they were able to get Djax involved, Dean dropped an easy pick that was deflected right to him, etc.

This will be a different game. Not saying the Bucs will win it, but it will be more physical as lower scoring imo.

If the Bucs defense comes to play like we usually do at home and is able to shut down Akers/Michel I like our chances to hold them under 25pts.

With Brady at home and strong defensive performance I like our chances if it's close in the 4th quarter. We just can't fall behind multiple TDs like we did early in the season against them.

[mdb1958]

Would like to see Grayson at 100% for this game.

[Dread]

Defenses that are strong/physical up front along the interior have also given the Rams offense problems when you look at the how they've faired against the Titans, 49ers, Ravens in the 2nd half of the season.

The Rams oline runs that nice zone blocking scheme but they aren't all that big or physical along their interior Oline. Vea, Suh and company need to dominate the LoS and be disruptive.

There are no easy games at this point. But the Bucs are still likely to be favored, the defense is as healthy as its been all year, we're pretty familiar with this Rams team, and we have Tom Brady playing at home in the playoffs.

[Defense5599]

Defenses that are strong/physical up front along the interior have also given the Rams offense problems when you look at the how they've faired against the Titans, 49ers, Ravens in the 2nd half of the season.

The Rams oline runs that nice zone blocking scheme but they aren't all that big or physical along their interior Oline. Vea, Suh and company need to dominate the LoS and be disruptive.

There are no easy games at this point. But the Bucs are still likely to be favored, the defense is as healthy as its been all year, we're pretty familiar with this Rams team, and we have Tom Brady playing at home in the playoffs.

I'd feel better about this game if the offense wasn't missing its top two receivers, top two running backs and All Pro right tackle. For those who are reading the news reports that Tristan Wirfs might play Sunday, don't believe them. If he's in a walking boot, he's definitely not going to be ready to go.

[Dread]

Defenses that are strong/physical up front along the interior have also given the Rams offense problems when you look at the how they've faired against the Titans, 49ers, Ravens in the 2nd half of the season.

The Rams oline runs that nice zone blocking scheme but they aren't all that big or physical along their interior Oline. Vea, Suh and company need to dominate the LoS and be disruptive.

There are no easy games at this point. But the Bucs are still likely to be favored, the defense is as healthy as its been all year, we're pretty familiar with this Rams team, and we have Tom Brady playing at home in the playoffs.

I'd feel better about this game if the offense wasn't missing its top two receivers, top two running backs and All Pro right tackle. For those who are reading the news reports that Tristan Wirfs might play Sunday, don't believe them. If he's in a walking boot, he's definitely not going to be ready to go.

The Bucs have all week to put together a gameplan to protect the RT regardless of Wirfs plays or not. Which is way different then having to adjust ingame to an injury like we had to vs Philly.

The Wirfs injury sucks and it limits some of the things we can do in the 5-7 step dropback game, but it's not the end of the world providing we can stay out of 3rd and long. Which against this defensive front we'd need to anyways even if Wirfs was 100%.

We still have a mismatch w/ Gronk if the Rams decide to play man (which works best vs the Bucs passing game), the Rams D isn't all that great at ILB or Safety so the middle of the field should be available for Brady. Our guys just need to catch the ball and run good routes.

If the Rams stay in their zone then Brady should be to carve them up like does pretty much every zone defense he's played the past 20yrs.

[13F11B]

[I'd feel better about this game if the offense wasn't missing its top two receivers, top two running backs and All Pro right tackle. For those who are reading the news reports that Tristan Wirfs might play Sunday, don't believe them. If he's in a walking boot, he's definitely not going to be ready to go.

It depends on why he is in a boot. If it is as a precaution then there is a chance he will be ready to go. If it is because he can't walk without it then he will not be ready to go. See what Thursday brings. Then we can discuss it. Right now it is not worth discussing. The team will need to be ready regardless.

[BJJ34]

One of my best friends is a Rams fan…

I cannot stand the thought of showing up to one of our basketball games and him reminding me of what happened in January when the Rams beat the Bucs…

Wirfs be healthy, please.

[Crocaneers]

Please win .. and bury the ghost of Ricky Proehl for ever

[mdb1958]

2 things I hope Tom does at the same time (exploit and execute).

[mdb1958]

The Rams have bet their whole season on Stafford cuz they don't have no one behind him.

[Kress]

When was the last time we scored on defense? We need one of those. In the first quarter, please.