Primetime football has not been nice to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In a close game to fellow NFC playoff contender the Los Angeles Rams, the Buccaneers couldn’t put the last-minute drive together to win the game late at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay falls to 7-4 on the season and move to the number six seed in the NFC.
First Quarter
The Buccaneers receive the opening kickoff but Donovan Smith goes down on the first play. Josh Wells comes to replace him.
After a punt, the Rams drive methodically down the field and scored on a four-yard pass to Robert Woods. Another slow start on both sides of the ball.
The Buccaneers get in their groove on their next drive, converting multiple third downs. A quick first quarter comes to a close with Tampa Bay in the red zone.
Score: 7-0 Rams
Second Quarter
On a third and short, Mike Evans will’s his way into the endzone from nine yards out to even the score 7-7.
Todd Bowles and the defense stiffens, forcing a Rams three and out. It looks like both units have woken up.
On a third and long, the Rams bail out the offense by interfering with Scotty Miller. The Rams are forced to then take a timeout with only 10 players on the field.
Tampa Bay continues to hum as Brady connects with Evans on the one-yard line, allowing Leonard Fournette to punch it in for six.
The Buccaneers’ defense struggles to tackle the Rams’ shifty wide receivers. Goff orchestrates a drive into the red zone. After Shaquil Barrett gifts the Rams a first down due to a neutral zone infraction, Goff fires a bullet to Van Jefferson for six. With 4:31 remaining, Los Angeles ties the game 14-14.
What looked like a good drive for the Buccaneers would stall at midfield as Brady can’t connect deep. Goff and company take over with a two-minute drill looming.
Robert Woods gets a huge gain to put the Rams in field goal range. Matt Gay connects to give the Rams the lead going into the locker room.
Score: 17-14 Rams
Third Quarter
The Rams receive the second-half kickoff but Jason Pierre-Paul had different plans, intercepting a screen on the third play of the drive.
Another drop by a running back (please bring back LeSean McCoy) forces a field goal by Ryan Succop, evening the score to 17 all.
Todd Bowles sticks to zone defense and Goff continues to carve up the secondary. Fortunately for the Buccaneers, Matt Gay’s field goal is wide right, keeping the score tied.
Two plays later, Tom Brady throws a horrible interception deep, giving the Rams great field position right after a missed kick.
The Rams convert after the turnover with a pass to Cam Akers and Los Angeles leads with 24-17 and 5:39 remaining in the quarter.
After the defense gets another stop, the Buccaneers offense continues to implode with a near sack-fumble in the end zone. A fortunate ruling of an incomplete pass was called, and the Buccaneers punt after a quick three and out (lucky to be down only seven at this point).
Score: 24-17 Rams
Fourth Quarter
The Buccaneers’ defense gets another three and out and Tom Brady is seven points away from a tie game. Tampa Bay’s offense would continue to struggle to punt yet again, this time to the Rams 12-yard line.
The Rams are forced into a third and 16 and punt to the 40. Tom Brady and the offense take the ball to midfield with less than 10 minutes remaining.
On fourth and one, the pass falls incomplete and the Rams take over on their own 42.
Jordan Whitehead gets a key interception which leads to a Chris Godwin touchdown. Tampa Bay ties the score 24-24 with 3:53 remaining.
Los Angeles drives right down the field in no time to the Buccaneers 22-yard line. McVay runs the ball twice to bring up a key fourth and eight. Matt Gay lines up for the field goal, which is good, giving the Rams a three-point lead with 2:36 remaining.
Brady completes two passes but Godwin comes up shaken with Shipley down on the turf.
On yet another deep ball, Tom Brady throws an atrocious interception to lose the game and the Rams go home with a 27-24 victory.
Score: 27-24 Rams
Of course, taking losses from other NFC teams ultimately can hurt your season, but the Buccaneers are still sitting at the sixth spot in the NFC on a short week with Kansas City coming to town. Tampa Bay’s defense will need to forget how they played tonight especially with a matchup against Patrick Mahomes next Sunday afternoon.
