TAMPA, FLORIDA — With a down and distance of 4th and 1 and under a minute to go in regulation, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay offense found themselves in an auspicious but nerve-racking dilemma: trailing by seven and inside the ten, they sat eight yards away from the endzone. To the majority of onlookers including NBC’s broadcast crew — Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth — the upcoming play call seemed clear. A typical Brady QB sneak at best. There would be no need for a touchdown on this play — they could worry about later — for the main goal was to keep the game alive, and Brady could do that better from less than a yard out than anyone in football.
And so that’s what the Rams prepared for by crunching up the middle of the line — a QB sneak up the gut. But Brady, who was starting to come alive after an overall bumpy day, had different plans. Handing it to Leonard Fournette, the 44-year-old quarterback watched on as the Rams defense collapsed in the Buccaneers effort to break even. Fournette cut right, and what stood ahead of the previously placed injured reserve running back was daylight. One Ryan Succop kick later, the game was tied at 27.
To say the Buccaneers were lucky to reach this point would be an understatement. Turnover after turnover after turnover — a Cam Akers fumble inside the Tampa five when the Rams were knocking on the door, a strip of Cooper Kupp to provide the team with its first second half points, a botched snap by the opposition’s offense recovered by the defense at midfield and a final strip of Akers by DT Ndamukong Suh to set up that game-tying drive — gave Brady and company the keys to victory in a game they weren’t supposed to win.
And that’s perhaps why the last second loss to the Rams on Sunday evening hurt so much. Riding the momentum of Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles fended off a 24-point comeback by Brady and company by the skin of their teeth — courtesy of two final-drive connections from their highly touted QB to Cooper Kupp. Stafford (age 33) found a wide open Kupp (age 28) towards the left sideline after CB Sean Murphy Bunting tripped over his feet and landed on the ground. Kupp flew out of bounds, and with a little under 30 seconds to go, the Rams were twenty or so yards away from field goal range.
They got all that and then some.
Trying to avenge the previous play by bringing the blitz, the Bucs were simultaneously caught off guard after Kupp beat Antoine Winfield Jr. downfield for a gain of 44, and the Rams walked out victorious following a Matt Gay 30-yard field goal.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Stafford said after the game. “I mean, we sure let ’em back in the game with a bunch of mistakes on offense. Our defense played outstanding. We’ve got to clean some stuff up, do a little better job in the turnover department.”
Los Angeles (14-5, 12-5 regular season) will reach the NFC Championship Game for only the second time since the franchise’s first fateful Super Bowl loss to Brady, with the San Francisco 49ers — a team that has won their last six straight when duking out against the Rams — standing in their way of a possible home Super Bowl in Sofi Stadium. Next Sunday’s game will be in Los Angeles as well.
“This is a tough team,” Stafford continued. “This is what we’re all about. We’re just happy to get a win and move on.”
In only his second career playoff win, Stafford wasted no time adjusting to a hostile Tampa crowd, fetching 28 completions to his receivers on 38 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns. The chemistry with Kupp proved to be a spectacle of pinpoint accuracy, with the NFL’s favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year raking in nine receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown. Kupp — a rare triple crown winner — is the NFL’s leader in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16).
“Man, he’s the heart and soul of this offense,” Stafford said of his top target. “What he’s able to do down in, down out, whether it’s in the pass game, run game — he’s an unbelievable competitor.”
Among the Tampa Bay miscues were two costly first half unsportsmanlike penalties — the first on DT Ndamukong Suh and the other on Tom Brady — which squandered numerous opportunities to keep the game a contest within the first half. Suh’s penalty set the Rams up with generous field position inside Tampa Bay territory. A few plays later, RB Cam Akers brought his team inside the ten, and Stafford followed with a reverse roll out to his left on a play action to a wide-open TE Kendall Blanton, who walked in for the first touchdown of the game.
One seventy-yard pass on third and twenty to Cooper Kupp later, it was 17-3, and a following field goal brought the Buccaneers halftime deficit to 17.
Final Score: Rams 30, Buccaneers 27
Overview
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70423977/AP22023848972283.0.jpg?resize=1110%2C740&ssl=1)
Improving to 14-5 on the season, Los Angeles moves one step closer to reaching its fourth Super Bowl in franchise history. The Rams are set to host an NFC West extravaganza next week vs. the San Francisco 49ers in the Conference Championship Game, where they will have to chance to clinch a third postseason matchup at Sofi Stadium (Super Bowl LVI).
San Francisco (12-7, 10-7 regular season) boasts an NFL-best 10-1 showing in their last eleven games of play. With a crucial elimination game on the road against L.A. in the final weekend of regular season play, Niners QB Jimmy Garoppolo engineered a comeback from down 17-0 to assert his team as the NFC’s sixth seed entering the playoffs. Their winning stretch continued into the postseason through stunning road wins at Dallas (23-17) and Green Bay (13-10).
For Tampa Bay, the key focus shifts to possible offseason changes and departures. QB Tom Brady, who is among those in the heat of future speculation, has yet to make a decision on the possibility of retirement following Sunday’s game.
“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” Brady said after the game. “I’ll just take it day by day. And we’ll see.”
Brady (age 44) finishes the 2021-22 season with arguably his strongest statistical showing ever, boasting a regular season performance of 485 completions (1st) on 719 attempts (1st) for 5,316 yards (1st) and 43 touchdowns (1st).
Tampa Bay Key Stat Leaders
Passing: QB Tom Brady, 30-54, 329 yards, one touchdown and one interception
Rushing: RB Leonard Fournette, 13 carries, 51 yards and two touchdowns
Receiving: WR Mike Evans, eight receptions, 119 yards and one touchdown
Tackling: LB Lavonte David, eleven total tackles, seven solo tackles and one tackle for a loss
Los Angeles Key Stat Leaders
Passing: QB Matthew Stafford, 28-38, 366 yards and two touchdowns
Rushing: RB Cam Akers, 24 carries and 48 yards
Receiving: WR Cooper Kupp, nine receptions, 183 yards and one touchdown
Tackling: CB David Long Jr., seven total tackles, seven solo tackles and one tackle for a loss
(Featured image by Mark LoMoglio/AP)