How the Rams can Make it Five Straight Against the Bucs

The Los Angeles Rams christened their return to L.A. by defeating the perennial NFC power Seattle Seahawks in a 9-3 slugfest last Sunday. Their continued offensive struggles perpetuated their need to lean on their defense as the Rams have yet to score a touchdown while the other unit held the ‘Hawks to a mere 306 total yards.

Case Keenum found an early connection with Kenny Britt, but defenses continue to show zero fear of the passing game by stacking the box to slow down Todd Gurley, and it was successful yet again (19 carries for 51 yards, 2.7 yards per carry) by the Seahawks.

This week they travel to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise the Rams have beaten four-consecutive seasons. Most recently, they won on a Thursday night, Color Rush battle in 2015.

Keenum was stellar in that performance, going 14 of 17 for 232 yards and two touchdowns, with the help of a 60-yard toss to Britt for six. The Rams held on to win, 31-23.

Tavon Austin only saw seven offensive touches in said matchup, but he made the most of them with the help of the play calling near the goal line. When you have an athlete like Austin, a big and physical receiver on the perimeter in Britt, and athletic left tackle like Greg Robinson, tunnel screens like such are ideal calls near the end zone. Offensive coordinator Rob Boras has stated that he plans to get the ball in Austin’s hands far more often as Keenum isn’t built to consistently challenge the defense at the second and third level. Boras has also shown many different looks and a commitment to get Austin the ball out of them.

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Defensively, the Rams had a rather mixed performance as they allowed 501 total yards and 30 first downs, but also registered 12 quarterback hits and two turnovers. Despite being just a rookie,

Jameis Winston

compiled 363 yards and two touchdowns through the against only one interception. Head coach

Dirk Koetter

runs a vertical passing game with deep in-breaking routes that

allowed Winston to lean on his top target, Mike Evans

.

To win their second straight game, the Rams (obviously) have to find more success through the air, a lot of which means getting the ball into Austin’s hands-in turn, this will spread the defense out and force to leave eight man boxes. Defensively, they need to continue to get to the quarterback and eliminate big plays, particularly against a passer like Winston.