The Los Angeles Rams made a statement in Week 3, earning a convincing 34-24 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to move to 3-0 on the young season.
Many believed this was a preview of the NFC Championship Game and if that’s true then the Rams have to be considered to make the Super Bowl after their performance.
While the stats look similar because the Buccaneers put up some yards and points in garbage time, the Rams dominated every facet of the game to earn the victory. Head coach Sean McVay was pleased with his team’s play in all three facets although he also understands that this was only one win and they still have a long way to go to achieve their goals.
“Great team win,” McVay said in his postgame press conference. “Excellent football team right there. Just some weird stuff, guys. I’m going to tell you. You know, but really pleased with all three phases. You know, that’s a football team that’s, guys, you know, playing as well as anybody. It’s a big step in the right direction for us but it’s just one game. And I was really pleased with it. But it really just means, hey, we’re 3 and 0. We got a great matchup next week that we’ll move forward to. We’ll enjoy this for the rest of the night and then come back, clean up the film and be ready to go but a lot of great individual contributions. I thought it was a great team win. You know, all three phases contributed. They played at the level that we expect. Guys stayed connected, they stayed together.
“Obviously, Matthew Stafford’s leadership was outstanding today. I thought, you know, he made some really incredible plays, especially on third down. I thought he was outstanding on third down as the game started to unfold where we had that sequence where we had four drives in a row with touchdowns. DeSean (Jackson) made his big plays. Defensively, Aaron (Donald) was all over the place, Jalen (Ramsey). I thought Kenny Young was outstanding today. Responding from a little bit of a setback last week. He handled it perfectly. Took accountability, ownership. I thought Johnny Hekker to have three punts, all of them end up inside the 20. Matt Gay continues to deliver in a big way. I was really pleased with our special teams. I thought they made a step in the right direction. And that was a positive. Pleased with the win. A lot of respect for Coach Arians and that group. And, you know, they’re going to win a lot of games, as we all know.”
When asked if this game was a measuring stick for his team, McVay expressed that they can’t get too far ahead of themselves.
“It means that we’re 3-0 and we played a team that’s the reigning Super Bowl champs. And that was last year, but they have played really well in their first two games. So if you said, ‘Hey, who were the teams who were 3-0 last year or previous years?’ I bet you really couldn’t remember. There’s so many football games to go ahead. We have to have steady improvement. Very pleased with the way the guys handled it. I’m excited about the win, but I also know that it’s, ‘Hey, we got to enjoy it and then move forward.’ Whether we ended up winning or losing that game, you have to be able to move forward in this league so that’s what out guys will do. I have total trust and confidence in the leadership from our team, with our players and then our coaching staff.”
Even though the Buccaneers were the Rams’ toughest test yet, things aren’t going to get easier moving forward as they now have back-to-back division games against the 3-0 Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.
If the Rams can continue to play at the level they have to start the season though then they will be tough to beat. A lot of the great goes to the players for how they have performed, but McVay and the coaching staff also get some as well for the job they have done preparing week in and week out.
