Turf Show Times
Stakes were high for the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football. A win would give them first place in the NFC conference. They got off to a fast start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—leading early 21-0— and never looked back. The final score of 34-7 extends LA’s win streak to six games and moved them to 9-2 on the year.
This was a total team effort. It feels nitpicky to single out any negative performances from this game; however, through the frame that LA just lost three starters for at least four games, it’s worth zooming in and questioning whether the Rams will feel these losses moving forward.
Who helped lead the Rams to victory, and which players should we be concerned about moving forward?
NFL award races are won and lost in primetime games, and Matthew Stafford made the most of his opportunity in Week 12. He tossed two early touchdown passes to effectively finish the game in the first half. It was a masterclass, even though much wasn’t required from him over the final two quarters. In some ways it feels we were robbed of a classic game because the Buccaneers weren’t remotely competitive.
Stafford completed 25 of 35 passes (71%) for 273 yards and three touchdowns. He never put the ball in harm’s way, though he did take a sack and drew an intentional grounding play on fourth down.
The Rams have gone from having serious questions at outside corner to deploying a formidable, playmaking duo in Durant and Forbes. Durant got the defensive feast started by stealing the ball away from Cade Otton and returning 50 yards for a touchdown. Forbes also secured an interception on a hail mary attempt just before the half, though even more impressive was his four (!) pass breakups on the evening. Forbes has made the most of his long arms over the last few weeks and has a knack for fighting back into the play and forcing incompletions.
If Durant and Forbes can maintain this level of play, it’s a huge improvement from where the Rams started the year and makes the defense very difficult to face into the back stretch of the season.
It’s not overly surprising, but Warren McClendon was stingy on the right side of the line in replacement of Rob Havenstein. McClendon has performed better than Havenstein when given the chance, and it’s possible that if/when Havenstein returns from injured reserve that this is McClendon’s job for the foreseeable future.
Do the Bucs have a daunting pass rush, especially in light of Haason Reddick missing this game? Not really. Still, McClendon is far from a weak link.
It felt like nearly everyone on defense made a big play at some point. Kobie Turner and Jared Verse—while they have not enjoyed high sack totals this year—lived in the Tampa Bay backfield...
