Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-34 Los Angeles Rams: Tom Brady beaten by Matthew Stafford's Rams in LA
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw for 432 yards, off a staggering 55 pass attempts; Matthew Stafford stole the show, throwing four passing touchdowns on the night as he completed 27 of 38 passes for 343 yards
Monday 27 September 2021 02:02, UK
The defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers slipped to a first defeat in 11 games as the Los Angeles Rams offense dazzled in a 34-24 win on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Story of the Game
Tom Brady threw for 432 yards, off a staggering 55 pass attempts by the 44-year-old, but it was Matthew Stafford who stole the show, delivering four passing touchdowns on the night.
In a high-scoring contest, the game actually was a little slow to catch fire, as the two teams traded in punts for the first five offensive possessions through a scoreless first quarter.
The Rams finally fired on their third series, with Stafford leading a 14-play, 95-yard epic drive that was capped with a six-yard scoring toss to tight end Tyler Higbee.
The Bucs answered with a touchdown off a lengthy drive of their own - Chris Godwin finding the endzone from two yards out - but the Rams wrestled back the lead before the half as Stafford found his favourite target Cooper Kupp for the first of two scores in the contest. It means that Rams coach Sean McVay improves to 40-0 when holding a lead at half-time.
Los Angeles stretched ahead further almost immediately after the break as Stafford delivered a perfect deep ball to DeSean Jackson for a 75-yard touchdown.
Tampa Bay again responded with a touchdown of their own - Brady this time going in himself on a quarterback sneak - but their defense could simply find no answer for Stafford and the Rams, who reclaimed their two-score lead on the next series courtesy of Kupp's second.
Late in the game - after a couple of Matt Gay field goals for the Rams and one for Tampa's Ryan Succop - Brady found Gio Bernard for nothing more than a consolation TD.
Stats leaders
Buccaneers- Passing: Tom Brady, 41/55, 432 yards, 1 TD
- Rushing: Ronald Jones, five carries, 11 yards
- Receiving: Mike Evans, eight catches, 106 yards
Rams
- Passing: Matthew Stafford, 27/38, 343 yards, 4 TDs
- Rushing: Sony Michel, 20 carries, 67 yards
- Receiving: DeSean Jackson, three catches, 120 yards, 1 TD
- Cooper Kupp, nine catches, 96 yards, 2 TDs
Scoring Summary
MVPs
It has to be Stafford. It was precisely these kinds of games, and this type of performance, that prompted the Rams to give up so much draft capital in the offseason to get their guy. And you can see why they did - though he started off a little rusty, Stafford was sensational from LA's first scoring drive onwards. League MVP frontrunner?
Stafford's connection with Kupp has been a standout through the first couple of weeks of the season, and it was on full display once again here as they linked up for two touchdowns off of nine catches and 96 yards. Though it was Stafford's 75-yard scoring strike to Jackson that was the biggest 'Wow' play of the game!
On defense, Aaron Donald secured his first career sack against Brady and added three tackles and a forced fumble. Brady, himself, meanwhile surpassed 80,000 career passing yards in the contest and now has the chance to pass Drew Brees' record tally of 80,358 next week.
What's Next?
It's the big one: Brady's return to New England! The Buccaneers (2-1) go on the road to Foxborough in Week Four to take on the Patriots (1-2). As for the Rams (3-0), they've a crucial NFC West divisional clash against the similarly undefeated Arizona Cardinals (3-0) at SoFi Stadium.
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