The Los Angeles Rams found themselves completely blitzed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on both sides of the ball at the Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. The result was not a pretty one as the Rams fell, 54-40, to drop the 3-1 on the season.
First Quarter:
The Buccaneers got the ball first to begin the game and did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard, driving right down the field. Peyton Barber punched in a touchdown to give his team an early 7-0 lead.
Penalties were a theme for the Rams in the first quarter as they had two offensive drives plagued by key penalties.
Second Quarter:
Although the second quarter seemed like the time for the Rams to come alive, it was the exact opposite. After the solid passes to end the first quarter, Jared Goff could not find any luck after that. He eventually got hit by a Buccaneers defender while throwing, resulting in an interception by safety Jordan Whitehead.
The Buccaneers made it to the Rams 2-yard line before finally meeting resistance. Although it seemed like the defense was finally going to get a significant stop, a severe lapse in coverage by Nickel Robey-Coleman resulted in another touchdown.
The bleeding would not stop yet as the Rams offense got their hands on the football for the third time. Goff threw another interception though, this time throwing it almost directly to Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David. The Buccaneers started their next possession at the Rams 9-yard line. One throw later, the Rams found themselves trailing 21-0.
After that, Goff and the Rams finally came alive. Los Angeles scored two touchdowns in just 12 plays and exactly four minutes, while the defense forced a three-and-out. Goff looked to backup tight end Gerald Everett often, gaining 41 yards and one of the two touchdowns across both drives. Gurley made an impressive 13-yard run for the Rams first touchdown of the day. The Rams seemed to be making a comeback, cutting the score 21-14.
Although they did not leave the Buccaneers with much time on their last possession, they did manage to take the ball downfield one more time. Jameis Winston had been favoring wide receiver Chris Godwin, who helped them on their final drive of the half. After getting to the Rams 5-yard line, Ronald Jones II ran the ball in, bringing the score to 28-14.
After a quick drive down nearly half of the field, Greg Zuerlein hit a 58-yard field goal to make the final score at the half, 28-17 in favor of the Buccaneers.
Third Quarter:
The third quarter was relatively quiet compared to the first two quarters. Both teams gained few yards on many more plays than the first half. Winston continued to look to Godwin who continually found himself open against the mediocre Rams defense.
The Rams got the ball back to start the third quarter and slowly moved down the field. After failing to convert in the air on a few plays and despite a key penalty by Tampa Bay, the Rams were forced to kick another gield goal.
The Buccaneers had a similar drive on the next play, ending in a field goal. However, as the Rams worked towards the end zone one more time, Goff threw yet another interception on a fourth-down play where he had no time to throw.
Fourth Quarter:
The fourth quarter was an offensive explosion for both teams, but it was too-little, too-late for the Rams as they could not get the necessary stops on defense to make a comeback.
Gurley punched in his second touchdown and Goff found Cooper Kupp for his second of the day, but the real back-breaking play was a 67-yard bomb from Winston to Mike Evans to essentially put the game out of reach.
The Rams made one last comeback attempt as Marcus Peters picked off Winston and returned it to a touchdown to make it a one-score game at 45-40. Tampa Bay tacked on a field goal to make it an 8-point game though, and Goff could not drive his team down for the win.
After passing midfield, Goff was sacked by Shaquil Barrett and forced him to fumble. Former Rams Ndamukong Suh recovered it and returned it for a touchdown to seal the deal.
