The specter of the daunting night game once again plagued the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday.
In the 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, there were too many issues for Tampa Bay to overcome.
Both teams came into the game trying to stop the run and they did. It hurt Tampa Bay more because the Los Angeles front-7 was dominant against the Buccaneers’ offensive line.
It’s true that the injury to guard Ali Marpet had forced shuffling, but it felt like the Rams were dominant in that matchup regardless. Center A.Q. Shipley also left the game and never returned.
The Bucs had only 42 yards rushing as Ronald Jones couldn’t get untracked after a career high 192 yards rushing against Carolina last week. Jones finished with only 10 carries for 24 yards.
With that, Los Angeles could unleash a stealthy pass rush on quarterback Tom Brady and it worked. Although the Rams had only one sack, Brady was rushed, hurried and hit consistently. He threw two interceptions into the arms of Rams’ safety Jordan Fuller as he was under duress in both cases.
“The first one – he got hit,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. “It looked like he had Chris (Godwin) going right down the middle, stepped up and just didn’t get enough on it with the pressure. The last one was just a misread of the coverage.”
Fuller’s first pick came in the third quarter and gave the Rams their only possession starting in Tampa Bay territory all evening. With the game tied at 17-17, quarterback Jared Goff tossed a four yard-touchdown pass to Cam Akers as Los Angeles took a 24-17 lead.
After Rams’ kicker Matt Gay – a former Buccaneer – gave Los Angeles a 27-24 lead with 2:36 remaining, Brady’s second pick was more like a fly ball on a misread on the coverage as he took a shot toward Cam Brate downfield.
“Cam was running up a seam and at the last second I saw the safety coming over and just popped it over Cam’s head,” said Brady. “Just a bad read, a bad throw, decision – everything. Can’t happen.”
The Buccaneers defense also stopped a solid Rams running attack, but it could not solve a stellar short passing game by Goff, who finished 39-of-56 for 376 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Goff continually minimized the Buccaneers’ quickness and defensive team speed. It allowed for big nights from Cooper Kupp (11-145) and Robert Woods (12-130).
“Just guys hitting short, quick passes,” noted Arians. “I thought we did a good job adjusting at halftime. We knew, basically, that’s what they were going to do and played a bunch of zone defense.”
The short passing game impacted the quickness of the Buccaneers’ ball-hawking defensive backs which did not allow them to get settled into the game and into any rhythm.
“When it comes to the quick game, it kind of isolates the rush,” explained Buccaneers defensive tackle William Gholston. “From a pass rush standpoint, we just have to be able to get our hands up and bat some balls down and make the tackle when the receiver catches it.”
And then, there’s the mental approach that the Bucs must develop when playing on the big stage at night.
This was the third loss of the season at night and this repeated result could be a real issue if the team gets into the playoffs and has a night game on the road in a potential venue like Philadelphia where the Bucs would be a huge favorite, but might become a victim of the environs.
Now, the Buccaneers have painted themselves into a corner with losses against the Saints and Rams who are the top two seeds in the NFC after 11 weeks. A loss to the 9-1 Chiefs on Sunday and a 7-5 team would continue to shrink its margin for error.
“This was a big one and the next one’s even bigger, so I think each and every one is going to be huge the whole rest of the way,” said Arians.
