Rams Head Back Home With MNF Win, Edge Out Buccaneers in Tampa Bay, 27-24

The LA Rams beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, 27-24, posting an extremely important win for various reasons.

Sean McVay’s crew not only stayed in contention for the top of the NFC West, but also boosted its morale with a victory over one of the biggest conference rivals and Super Bowl contenders.

“It was a big challenge for us coming into this week, and I think the guys stepped up, made plays, dominated, we just showed up,” Aaron Donald said about his team’s performance.

His teammates from the defense once again showed why they present a nightmare for the entire league, forcing Tom Brady to make two turnovers, one in the critical moment of the match.

With 1:56 to goe, the six-time Super Bowl winner aimed for Cameron Brate, but his pass was intercepted by Jordan Fuller, who picked Brady earlier last night too. The result on the scoreboard was 27-24 for the guests, and this is how Bucs’ wasted their last chance to avoid another prime-time failure.

Right now, Brady and the bunch are 1-3 when playing in prime-time, and they aren’t looking like title contenders at all.

“Yeah. I think that’s a good word,” Brady said. “Disappointed … and I have to do a better job.”

Tampa Bay’s QB had 26 completions in 48 passing attempts for 216 yards and two touchdown passes and picked each. He was struggling to provide consistency and was often frustrated with inaccuracy, all that because Rams’ defense did one hell of a job.

Both sides couldn’t establish the ground game, with the Buccaneers posting 42 rushing yards in this one, and on the other side, LA just 37. However, Jared Goff made the difference, posting 376 passing yards for three touchdowns and two passes.

The decisive points were delivered with 2:36 left, when Matt Gay hit a 40-yard field goal. He put the guests ahead and eventually provide the edge, which kept McVay’s perfect score when leading at halftime. Since becoming the Rams’ head coach, he won all 32 matches once in which the team from LA had a lead at the break.

“You guys gotta stop saying that. You’re going to jinx us. Please stop saying that,” he was kidding around with the reporters during the press.

@TomCantHackett homie, @Utah_Football kicker and Lou Groza award winner Matt Gay nailed the game winning field goal to beat his former team. @kslsports // #GoUtes https://t.co/C0BWGcA1he pic.twitter.com/NxJ4iCslx5

— Hemā Heimuli Jr. (@x_hems) November 24, 2020

Goff had two receivers on fire, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, who had 10+ receptions each, making them only the fifth pair of teammates in history with such achievement. Kupp had 145 yards in 11 catches, while Woods added 130 in one more, with a TD. Two other scores for the Rams were Cam Akers’ and Van Jefferson’s.

On the other side, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans had a TD each, with 53, that is, 49 yards caught, respectively. Antonio Brown had a team-high 57 yards received. Leonard Fournette rushed 7 times for 17 yards and a TD; Ronald Jones III had 24 yards on 10 carries.

The Bucs have two very tough matches coming up their way, with the first one being against the Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the one following that against the Vikings. Both events are at home, and Bruce Arian’s side needs to be perfect here in order to keep its playoff place.

The Rams are traveling back home to meet divisional rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, in one of the most important matches of the year for them. Seven days later, Sean McVay’s side visits the Arizona Cardinals.