8 stats and facts to know for Rams vs Bucs in divisional round…

8 stats and facts to know for Rams vs. Buccaneers in divisional round

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

The Los Angeles Rams took care of business against an unimpressive Arizona Cardinals team in the wild-card round, but their next opponent will be much tougher – at least on paper. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers await the Rams in the divisional round on Sunday, the third game of the weekend.

The winner will advance to the conference title game to face the Packers or 49ers, and based on the way the Bucs and Rams played this season, it should be a game that comes down to the wire.

Here are eight stats and facts to know about this matchup.

1

Rams are 2-0 against Bucs with Brady

Since Brady joined the Buccaneers, he’s gone 24-7 in the regular season against teams not named the Rams. When facing Los Angeles, he’s 0-2. Obviously, the sample size is small against the Rams, but they’ve had plenty of success when facing him and the Buccaneers in the last two seasons.

In those two games against Los Angeles, Brady has three touchdown passes and two interceptions, throwing for 648 yards and getting sacked four times. The Rams have found ways to throw him off, which has helped them beat Tampa Bay 34-24 and 27-24 in the last two meetings.

2

Stafford has 105.1 career passer rating vs. Bucs

Stafford has faced the Buccaneers six times in his career, going 4-2 in those games with a completion rate of 71.2% and 14 touchdowns compared to only seven interceptions. His passer rating of 105.1 is his highest against any opponent he’s faced at least five times, so he’s found success against Tampa Bay’s defenses.

One of those two losses came in 2020 when he threw just three passes before injuring his ankle in the Lions’ 47-7 loss to Tampa Bay. This season, he completed 27 of 38 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns in the Rams’ 34-24 win over the Bucs. He’ll need to play similarly well on Sunday in order for Los Angeles to beat Brady and the Bucs.

3

Kupp averages 120.7 yards, 1 TD per game against Tampa Bay

In three career games against the Buccaneers, Kupp has put up some impressive numbers. He’s had at least nine catches for 96 yards in all three games, totaling 362 yards in those contests. He’s caught 29 of his 40 targets against the Bucs, scoring three times – including two touchdowns in Week 3 this season.

Kupp has been productive in just about every game he’s played this season, and given his recent history against the Buccaneers in the last three seasons, there’s no reason to believe that trend won’t continue.

4

Rams have reached Super Bowl each time they faced Bucs in playoffs

The Rams and Buccaneers have met twice before in the playoffs, with both games being won by the Rams. They were low-scoring games – 11-6 in 1999 and 9-0 in 1979 – and both were on the Rams’ path to the Super Bowl that season.

They were each wins in the NFC Championship game, and although this matchup is one round prior to the conference title game, past history could lead some to believe the Rams are destined to reach the Super Bowl if they beat the Bucs on Sunday afternoon.

5

Rams are 8-9 as underdogs since 2017 but 3-1 this season

The Rams have only been underdogs 17 times under Sean McVay in the last five years, which is a remarkable stat in its own right after the pain fans endured for years before McVay was hired. In those 17 games, they’re only 8-9, but only one of those losses came this season.

When listed as the underdogs at sportsbooks this season, the Rams were 3-1. They beat the Seahawks, Buccaneers and Cardinals in Week 14, but they lost to the Packers in Week 12 when they were 7-point underdogs.

This week, the Rams are currently 3-point underdogs against the Bucs.

6

Buccaneers blitz more than any team in the NFL

The Buccaneers play an aggressive style of defense under Todd Bowles, blitzing about 41% of the time. They sent an extra rusher 313 times this season, 45 more than any other team in the NFL.

That shouldn’t be much of an issue for the Rams, who have Stafford at quarterback. Stafford was the best player in the NFL against the blitz this season, ranking first in pass EPA (expected points added) when facing the blitz. He’ll need to keep that up on Sunday because Bowles is going to do what he can to scheme up pressure.

7

Tampa Bay ranks second on third down and in red zone

For the team that fielded arguably the best offense in the league, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Buccaneers were great in the red zone and on third down this season. They converted 47.1% of the time on third down and scored touchdowns on 66.2% of their red zone trips, ranking second and third in each category, respectively.

Defensively, the Rams were only 21st on third down (41.3%) and eighth in red zone touchdown percentage (51.8%), so they have their work cut out for them against a quality Buccaneers offense.

8

Both teams were top 10 in offense and defense DVOA

On paper, the Rams and Buccaneers were both two of the best teams in the NFL, and not just because of their regular-season records. Here’s where each team ranked in offensive and defensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).

Rams: 8th on offense, 5th on defense
Buccaneers: 1st on offense, 9th on defense
This is going to be a heavyweight bout between two Super Bowl contenders, pitting some of the best players at their respective positions against each other on both sides of the ball. Jalen Ramsey against Mike Evans. Shaq Barrett against Rob Havenstein. It should be a fun battle in Tampa Bay.