LA Rams: Can Rams field a Top-5 scoring offense in 2021?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The third and final comparison is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. If you recall, the Buccaneers signed veteran free agent quarterback Tom Brady before the start of the 2020 NFL season.  In a very similar transition, the Buccaneers moved on from their top-picked 2015 NFL Draft quarterback Jameis Winston, and brought in the seasoned veteran quarterback Tom Brady. The result? A Buccaneers Super Bowl LV victory.

In 2019, Winston threw for over 5,000 yards, but his 33 touchdowns to 30 interceptions was a killer for the team that had an adequate but not overly intimidating rushing game, and a bevy of receivers who could threaten any defense. It was an offense that relied heavily upon the shootout, and that resulted in a disappointing 7-9 season. Then Tom Terrific arrived.

The Bucs offense remained pass-centric, but it also became for more efficient, and therefore, effectice. The 2020 Buccaneers offense cut interceptions by 60 percent, and the touchdowns increased by 28 percent. The result was an offense that added over two points per game to an already high-scoring offense.  More importantly, this team took leads and kept them. The offense feature two wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and tight end Rob Gronkowski.  Brady did not add yards to the Buccaneers offense, but rather added far fewer turnovers.

Comparison to the LA Rams offense: The Rams 2021 offense can draw remarkable similarities to the Bucs 2020 offense in three ways. First of all, the Rams plan to feature running back Cam Akers this year, much like the Bucs featured Ronald Jones for Brady. Secondly, the Rams’ offense also features to veteran wide receivers in Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp, with tight end Tyler Higbee. Thirdly, the Rams offensive play distribution will likely be in that 60/40 split that resembles the Buccaneers distribution in 2020. But fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, the Rams are inserting a seasoned veteran quarterback who had only played for one team, just as the Buccaneers inserted Brady into the Bucs offense.

Conlusion: The Rams offense may not be led by a multiple Super Bowl winning quarterback in 2021, but the Rams offense is uncannily similar to the offense of the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that rocketed to a Super Bowl victory despite having almost no time to acclimate Brady to his teammates and new offense. The LA Rams will have plenty of time to get Stafford on board.

So what have we learned? The LA Rams offense has far more in common with two of the top-four scoring offenses of 2020 than you may have realized. The comparative method of projecting known quanities into the unknown is both an acceptable method, and one that is universally employed in any number of estimative scenarios. Yes, you can argue all you want to the contrary. The future is anybody’s guess. But this guess indicates with strong evidence that the LA Rams offense should emerge from the 2021 season as a Top-Five ranked scoring offense.

For now, that’s enough for us.