The Serviceable Starter

The Los Angeles Rams' road to Super Bowl LVI goes through Raymond James Stadium, where the defending champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers await on Sunday afternoon. The Bucs, led by the ageless wonder Tom Brady and Head Coach Bruce Arians prepare for their second straight divisional round game since pairing up in 2020. This is the first matchup between the two squads since the Rams dominant 34-24 victory over the Bucs this season. On the other side is Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, coaching in his third divisional round game in four years with quarterback Matthew Stafford, who'll be making his first ever start in the second round of the playoffs in his career. Stafford is coming off of a nice, yet quiet performance in the 34-11 wildcard round win over the Arizona Cardinals. The vet completed 13 passes for 202 yards on just 17 total attempts against AZ, his fewest pass attempts ever in a victory in his NFL career. In his late season efforts, the QB has established a connection with wideo...

The Los Angeles Rams are coasting onto the divisional round for the second consecutive season, after a thorough thrashing of QB Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. In notching his first ever playoff win after going 0-3 with the Detroit Lions, QB Matthew Stafford had an incredibly tight performance on Monday. Stafford completed 13 passes on a mere 17 attempts for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns and finished the game with a career best 154.5 passer rating. Stafford would also nab a rushing touchdown on a goal line sneak play. One of the QB's passing scores would go to receiver Odell Beckham Jr., whose role has grown exponentially since being picked up by the Rams in November. OBJ's six touchdown total as a Ram is just one away from eclipsing his total as a Cleveland Brown, which was 7 in his two years as a Brown. Cooper Kupp would, of course, make his presence felt in this game as he grabbed the other Stafford touchdown toss. The defense played an absolute flawless game. Linemen A...

Sunday's 27-24 overtime loss against the San Francisco 49ers marked the 6th straight defeat at the hands of Head Coach Kyle Shanahan and division rival Niners. It ultimately would knock the Rams down to the 4 seed in the NFC playoff picture when the Rams could've achieved the 2 seed and ultimately a home field advantage through the entire playoffs, unless they had to face the 1 seed in the Green Bay Packers. It was a frustrating outcome to close out the 2021 regular season for Head Coach Sean McVay and the Rams. Up 17-0 against the downtrodden Niners late in the second half, it seemed almost guaranteed that L.A. would get over the insurmountable hump against San Francisco, break a 5 game losing streak and send their NFC West foe back to the Bay with expired playoff hopes. Instead, a single play call made by McVay in the second quarter would shift momentum for the rest of the game. With 51 seconds left, on a 3rd and 1 on their own 42 yardline, McVay elected to go empty set and a...