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Jason Behnken/Associated Press
The Los Angeles Rams picked up their seventh clutch of the season on Monday evening, outlasting Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The clutch used to be colossal for about a causes: The Rams took over first space in the NFC West thanks to the pinnacle-to-head tiebreaker with the Seattle Seahawks, and as well they earned a tiebreaker over the Buccaneers in the wild-card flee.
Whether or not they clutch the division or not, the Rams are now in a appropriate space to come help to the postseason after missing out in 2019. Los Angeles also proved itself to be a sound contender in the NFC, as many of us mediate Brady and the Bucs to be.
Right here are three other takeaways from Los Angeles’ clutch on Monday.
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Jason Behnken/Associated Press
OK, so perhaps Rams head coach Sean McVay beneath no conditions basically lost his knack for poking holes in defenses. Then all once more, with light working help Todd Gurley struggling final season—and Jared Goff taking half in inconsistently as a result—McVay’s offense in 2019 did not look just like the work of an offensive genius.
The 2019 Rams ranked 11th in scoring but also with a 9-7 file. This year’s incarnation ranks appropriate 17th in scoring but is already two wins afflicted of ultimate season’s clutch total.
A colossal cause has been McVay’s capability to adapt to what the opposition is trying to attain. On Monday, that meant discovering methods to switch the ball against the tooth of a dominant bustle defense, a actual pass bustle and a budding secondary.
This used to be the the same Buccaneers defense that has befuddled the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr this season. Whereas Goff did not continually draw things look straightforward, he and McVay paired for some pleasing drives, and the quarterback completed with 376 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
In a help-and-forth game between two offensive gurus, McVay obtained the easier of Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians.
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Jason Behnken/Associated Press
Against the league’s first-ranked bustle defense, McVay’s offense needed to say to the air early and on the total. That task used to be made more uncomplicated by the presence of broad receivers Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. Every caught bigger than 10 passes and every topped the 100-yard designate.
The two in truth combined for 23 receptions, 275 yards and a touchdown. This, against a defense ranked 16th against the pass and 11th in factors allowed.
There are some enormous broad receiver duos in the NFL in 2020—the rival Seahawks accept as true with one in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The Rams accept as true with their very be pleased in Kupp and Woods. Though neither pass-catcher is recurrently in the dialog of the league’s simplest, somebody who is conscious of reasonably of one thing about taking half in receiver can adore their greatness.
“Cooper Kupp is basically the most underrated receiver in the league,” Inexperienced Bay Packers wideout Davante Adams tweeted throughout the game.
Though or not it is miles a duo that recurrently gets lost sight of in the fashioned NFL panorama, right here is a tandem succesful of taking on video games, because it did on Monday evening against a championship-caliber defense.
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Payment LoMoglio/Associated Press
Bewildering Tom Brady isn’t always straightforward, despite the truth that the Modern Orleans Saints made it seem so about a weeks ago.
The Rams largely repeated that performance on Monday, maintaining the quarterback to appropriate 216 yards, forcing him into a whole lot of off throws and a pair of interceptions. Whereas the 43-year-outmoded used to be only sacked once, Aaron Donald and Co. kept him beneath stress throughout the evening.
Brady’s passer ranking? 62.5, his 2d-lowest of the season.
True as impressively, the Rams defensive front made Tampa’s speeding attack nearly nonexistent. Ronald Jones II led the team with appropriate 24 yards, and no Buccaneers runner had a elevate longer than six yards.
As a team, Tampa had appropriate 251 yards of total offense.
In help-to-help weeks, the Rams accept as true with now shown they are going to own playoff-caliber offense and Giant Bowl-winning quarterbacks—they held the Seahawks to appropriate 16 factors in Week 10.
With Goff, Woods, Kupp and the comfort of the offense discovering methods to thrive, this presents a formulation for postseason success. When the defense is taking half in like it did on Monday evening, L.A. is succesful of knocking off someone in the league.
