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.
Stafford undoubted had his best performance as a Ram in the previous matchup against this Bucs defense, exploding for 343 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. 2021 OPOY Cooper Kupp also had an incredible stat-line as he caught nine passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the beatdown of the Super Bowl champs.
Their efforts will have to be unmatched as All Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald will be on the attack. With their attention focused on Donald, edge rushers Von Miller and Leonard Floyd will absolutely have to win their matchups to stymy this Bucs offensive attack. Eyes will also by glued to Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey and whoever he matches up with, which will most likely be star wideout Mike Evans, who is undoubtedly Brady's favorite target outside of the injury reserve designated wide receiver, Chris Godwin. Missing in the Rams secondary will be starting safety Taylor Rapp, who is out for his second consecutive week due to a concussion. That leaves safety duties up to Nick Scott and Terrell Burgess. The Rams will also look to vet Eric Weddle for help. Weddle came out of retirement last week to play his first game since 2019 and though he wasn't essential in the win, he still looked sharp. His help will be desperately needed as the L.A. D will go up against not only the greatest QB to ever play but also the very best tight end in Rob Gronkowski. Gronk is known to wreck games and the Rams linebackers and safeties can not let him have his way on Sunday or they will surely lose this game.
Big time players step up in big games and no player has been more big time than seven time Super Bowl winning QB Tom Brady. All eyes will be on this huge, defining NFC matchup and whoever pulls this off could very well be the winner of Super Bowl LVI on February 13th. That game which is set in the Rams very stomping grounds in Inglewood, California at SoFi Stadium. If the Rams can pull off the upset, they'll be one step closer to playing a home Super Bowl game. Just like their very opponent in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did just one year ago at Raymond James Stadium when the Bucs were the first team to ever achieve a home Super Bowl win, en route to a dominant 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
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 wideout Odell Beckham Jr. connecting on 6 touchdowns since the receiver was acquired before the trade deadline. OBJ would also complete a 40 yard pass of his own to running back Cam Akers in the game against the Cards, adding to the incredible story that Akers has had since returning from a torn achilles he suffered over the Summer.
The big matchup going into Sunday will be the Rams defense against the vaunted multi-headed beast that is the Buccaneers offense. The battle will start in the trenches, with the Rams incredibly stout front-7 going against one of, if not the very best offensive line in the NFL. Offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs was seen this week wearing a walking boot after suffering an injury in the Bucs 31-15 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on wildcard weekend. Wirfs and center Ryan Jensen returned to practice this week along with running back Leonard Fournette and are expected to be gametime decisions.
On the offensive side of the ball for the Rams, they will be missing a monstrous piece of the offensive line in LT Andrew Whitworth, who suffered a knee injury on the very first offensive play the Rams ran on Monday. That leaves Joseph Noteboom to takeover in a crucial spot for Whitworth on Sunday. This spot is nothing new to Noteboom, though, who has played in relief of Whitworth a decent amount in his 3 year career with L.A.
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