What an impressive way to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss. The Buccaneers beat the Los Angeles Rams 55-40.
Jameis Winston shines, again!
After an eye-popping performance against the Giants in week 3, Winston continued right where he left off. He finished the night with 28 completions on 41 passing attempts for 385 yards and 4 touchdowns. The former Florida State Seminole made no major mistakes other than one interception late in the game, which was taken back to the house for a pick six. He managed the game very well and took a major step towards receiving a huge contract extension.
Ronald Jones receives majority of carries, Godwin has career day
Not only did quarterback Jameis Winston play terrific, the offense as a whole had an outstanding day. Chris Godwin had the best game of his NFL career, hauling in 12 of his 14 targets for 172 yards and two touchdowns. With Los Angeles’ secondary focusing heavily on Mike Evans, the Rams simply had no answer for Tampa Bay’s number two receiver.
Furthermore, Ronald Jones continued to excel. Having played very well so far this season, he now received more carries (19) than Peyton Barber (9). Jones finished the contest with 70 rushing yards and had two huge runs called back due to penalties by the offensive line.
Defense creates four takeaways against a great offense
While the secondary looked iffy at times, again, Tampa Bay’s defense was able make multiple huge plays against Jared Goff and the Rams’ scary offense. The defense picked off Goff three times. Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David and Jordan Whitehead each had an interception. Shaq Barrett even ended the game with a strip sack. The fumble was recovered and taken to the end zone for the final touchdown of the day by Ndamukong Suh.
Beyond that, the run defense was outstanding, once again. Todd Gurley did end up having two rushing scores, but he only ran the ball 5 times for a mere 16 yards. The Rams almost entirely abandoned the running game against a stout Tampa Bay run defense.
Matt Gay bounces back
On another positive note, rookie kicker Matt Gay had a bounce-back performance. After missing the game-winning field goal in week 3, he made all 7 of his extra point tries. In addition to that, he made both his field goal tries, one of them was for an impressive 58 yards.
Conclusion: Bucs impress
Without a doubt, this Buccaneers team was fun to watch on Sunday on the road. Next up is a very important divisional matchup against the Saints in New Orleans. The Saints are coming off a 12-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
Photo Credit: baynews9.com
