Gameday Preview: Tampa Bay Looking For First Win Since Week 5
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently sit at 3-5 and have lost five of their last six games. During their most recent string of losses, the Bucs should have at least come away with two wins, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers, but they dropped both before giving up the lead last week against the injury-riddled Baltimore Ravens.
The Los Angeles Rams have not faired much better this season as they are also below .500 with a 3-4 record - coming off a shellacking vs. the San Francisco 49ers losing 31-14. Much like the Buccaneers, the Rams have had issues getting their offense in a rhythm. Their run game has been almost non-existent and their passing game has been pretty much limited to just Cooper Kupp.
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Looking at the matchup before the season, many would have circled this game as a must-see. However, with both teams falling well short of their expectations, it has slid by the wayside as both teams look to get back to their winning ways.
Both teams boast ultra-talented players all over the field, but they have yet to put it all together. For the Rams, their strength continues to be their defense led by Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, and Bobby Wagner. On the offensive side of the ball, the Rams have stars like QB Matt Stafford, wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson, and a staple of running backs led by Darrell Henderson. So far, the Matt Stafford and the Rams offense has had trouble getting going mostly due to the fact they cannot block as well on the offensive line as they have in the past and the inability to get the run game going to keep a defense off-balanced.
In their own right, the Buccaneers have talent of their own all over the field, however, they also have struggled to unleash their talent this season. Their offense has been inconsistent with flashes of what could and used to be along with absolute drags of time when the offense can't even get a first down. The defense has been decimated with injuries this season, but have done the best they can given the situation. Leaving them on the field for long periods of time without giving them much of a break has become a theme as the defense is gassed come the fourth quarter.
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Luckily for the Buccaneers, they are gaining some of their injured players back this week in Akiem Hicks, Carlton Davis III, and Sean Murphy-Bunting. On the flip side, the team learned that star LB, Shaquil Barrett will be out for the rest of the season with an Achilles injury and will also be without Antoine Winfield Jr., Cameron Brate, and Luke Goedeke.
For the Rams, they will enter this game majority healthy as the only concern for them seemed to be if Cooper Kupp would be able to go. As it stands now, it appears that last year's triple-crown winner will indeed be suiting up for the game. A somewhat shocking development out of the Rams' camp is that running back Cam Akers may get touches after falling out of graces with head coach Sean McVay and the team.
These two teams always play each other extremely well and know all the nuances of the other. We could see both teams start to figure things out, or we could see both continue to struggle. Either way, the matchups will be heavy-weight bouts and whoever comes away with this one will have some momentum heading into the second half of the season to try and make a push to not only make the playoffs but to make a run if they do.
Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the season.
