NFL
By: Christopher Jordan
Wow! What a way to kickoff wildcard weekend in the NFL. There are eight teams left in the hunt for a Super Bowl title. Several teams won and lost over the weekend and now everything is all set for the matchups this upcoming weekend. This is the time of the year when legends are made, and legacies live forever. Throughout all the matchups happening this weekend one matchup that’s very intriguing is the Rams vs Buccaneers.
Both teams have a lot at stake coming into this game. The Rams are coming off a statement win against the Arizona Cardinals and put the entire NFL on notice that they’re a team that can make it to the Super Bowl. With players like Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd, Matthew Stafford, and players like Odell Beckham who has a chip on his shoulder. On the other hand, you have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the defending Super Bowl championships and they came into the season with the intentions of running it back. The Buccaneers started their title defense last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa had their way with the Eagles and now the Bucs will be tested facing this LA Rams team.
The LA Rams won the first meeting 34-24 between both ball clubs early in the season. During that game, the LA Rams caused some problems for Tom Brady because they have one of the best pass rush defenses in all the National Football League led by Aaron Donald. The Buccaneers may be out without Tristan Wirfs who is a key offensive tackle for the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers offensive line has been one of the best all season so if Wirfs can’t go or if he’s not himself any way that causes some problems for Tom Brady.
Throughout Brady’s career, when the opposing team he’s playing defense can generate pressure on him and sack him multiple times and force him to throw ill-advised passes has had success against Brady. The Los Angeles Rams can generate pressure with Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, and Von Miller. Their play will be pivotal in this ball game because if they can’t generate pressure on Brady their chances of winning will be slim.[pickup_prop id=”19164″]
Even when the Bucs are shorthanded, they still have that championship experience, and they know what it takes to win a championship. Another factor is their defense which was the driving force for the Bucs winning the championship last year. Coming into this game people have been talking about the injuries with the Bucs offense but people aren’t talking about the Bucs defense getting healthy at the right time and they played great last week against the Eagles. The real question is will Matthew Stafford step up and be the deciding factor in this matchup against Tampa. Stafford has never been in this situation in his career so how will we know how he’ll respond playing a team that knows what it takes to win. Tampa will be motivated to stop the run and force Stafford to throw the ball because when was one of the league leaders in interceptions in the regular season.
If you ask me all the pressure is on the Rams because the Bucs battling injuries at the worst time of the season and TB 12 offense line is not healthy. Will the Rams take advantage and take that next step and advance to the NFC championship game. On the other hand, will Tom Brady pull another win and impose his will once again and remind the world why he is the greatest to ever do it and have the last laugh.
