The beauty of LA Rams ugly wins lies in the eye of the beholder

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The third and final ugly win so far this season was the game at Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers and quarterback Tom Brady. The Rams had doubts going into this game, as the team struggled on the road.  The Buccaneers were very dangerous, with a stout defense and a strong passing game thanks to the arrival of veteran quarterback Tom Brady.

As has been the theme of other ugly games, the Rams were not as secure with the football as hoped. In fact, quarterback Jared Goff threw two interceptions in this one.  He also fumbled once, which the Rams were able to recover.  The entire game was a back and forth seesaw. The Rams did enter halftime with a three point lead.

Second half heroics

As was the theme with the Giants game, the Rams rushing attack was non-existant. That allowed the Buccaneers defense to tee-off on quarterback Jared Goff for most of the game. Despite two interceptions, Goff responded with a Herculean effort. He managed to complete 39 of 51 passes for 376 yards, three touchdowns, and the two interceptions mentioned previously.  The Rams defense held Brady to 26 of 48 passes for 216 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The beauty of this ugly win was the heroics of rookie safety Jordan Fuller, whose two interceptions were a tremendous boost to the Rams. In fact, his second interception of Brady for the evening ended what was certainly a game-tying drive by the Buccaneers in the closing minutes.

Three ugly wins. Three games where the LA Rams were flawed, not playing their best football. If the Rams had lost those three games, the team would now be 6-7 and at the brink of elimination once more.  But the Rams won in ugly fashion. Ugly victories test a team’s focus, it’s resolve.