Skeleton Keys To Victory: Buccaneers vs Rams

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the middle of their mid-season cold streak. They have now lost two in a row and three of their last four games. Now things will get even tougher as they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams who have the best record in the NFC.

It’s the third week in a row where the Bucs will be trying to stop one of the leading candidates in the most valuable player race. It’s also the third week in a row where they will be playing a team that many think could win the Super Bowl. It’s been the most difficult stretch of the schedule and so far the Bucs just haven’t been up to the task. 

If they want to get back on track this week, then they will have to play their best football. The last few weeks have felt like a B- execution, particularly in some basic fundamental ways. You can’t beat good teams like that, especially when you’re short handed. 

There is no doubt that the Rams and Bucs are both good teams and are in fact very similar in many ways. The two teams have been basically identical in terms of running the football, stopping the run and in turnover differential. The gap between these two teams isn’t that big.

However, what separates them are the things the Bucs will have to account for. They are the focal point in this week’s skeleton keys to victory.

Bend, but don’t break.

In Detroit they have a nickname for Rams star quarterback Matthew Stafford. They call him Stat Pad-ford because they felt like he has always put up big numbers that were never anything meaningful. While I don’t share that opinion of Stafford, the Bucs need to make that reality this week.

Stafford leads the NFL in touchdown passes by a wide margin with 27 (the next closest quarterback only has 21). Given the opportunity, this offense has typically cashed in through the air. That can’t be the case this week if Tampa hopes to escape with a win.

Force the Rams to kick field goals as opposed to extra points and odds of victory go way up. This is something that’s always true, but even more so against an offense that is this efficient at scoring touchdowns.

Make life difficult on early downs

We have talked this year about the Bucs struggles on third down. One of the biggest solutions to third down struggles is to be better on first and second down to avoid a long down and distance or ideally avoid third down all together. The Rams are the epitome of that.

No team in the NFL has had fewer third down attempts than the Rams. They like to come out throwing on first down and move the chains quickly. Getting after the quarterback on early downs will be essential to put their offense in third down situations.

Nickel and dime this defense

As much attention as this Rams offense gets, their defense is pretty good too. They have the third most interceptions this year and are 8th in fewest 20+ yard passes allowed and the best in the league at not allowing 40+ yard passes. 

This is a defense that is both very sound and responsible as well as opportunistic. So if you’re Baker Mayfield, the passing game should be protecting the ball and taking what’s there. 

Picking up five or six yards per pass isn’t a bad thing. The Buccaneers should look to dink and dunk their way down the field with guys like Tez Johnson and Rachaad White and methodically score points with long drives.