What we learned from LA Rams win over Buccaneers

The Week 3 matchup between the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the LA Rams was something that the Fox Sports producers salivated over as soon as the NFL Power Rankings became available. The top-ranked Buccaneers, and their 40 points per game offense, were facing the Rams at SoFi Stadium, and their own bit of offensive innovation.

This one was expected to be a high scorer, and it didn’t disappoint. Well, it didn’t if you cheer for the LA Rams, that is. The Over was 55.5 points, and the final score was 58. Close, but still over.

This game was touted as an early-season test for both teams. Of course, that was partially true, and partially a marketing ploy to help drive up viewership for the game. Eventually, playoff berths will matter, and the complex and numerous series of NFL tiebreakers will eventually be a topic of some rather passionate and animated discussions for some future point in time.

But for now, this is a win. Just one win. The Rams now have won three games, with 14 more yet to be decided. For all intents and purposes, the team must believe that it will take 12 wins this season to earn a playoff berth. To win the NFC West Division? 13 wins or sweeping the division. That means that the LA Rams need 9 or 10 more wins to end up where they want to this year.

But let’s not diminish the reality here either. The LA Rams have defeated three very well-coached teams that all made the 2020 NFL Playoffs just months earlier. In doing so, they faced three very stout defenses, three successful head coaches, and overcame adversity in the process.

This is early for the LA Rams. This is a team that has remodeled the offense, retooled the defense, and is giving the special teams units a complete makeover. This was never about being a plug-n-play roster. 2021 is about slow deliberate growth of all phases of the team, and peaking at its crescendo just as the playoffs begin.  In the meantime, we are all learning about this team. Lessons, for lack of a better term.   So what did we learn about the team in Week 3?

Lesson I: When the Rams play well in all three phases, this is a very good football team

After the Indianapolis Colts game, Special Teams Coordinator Joe DeCamillis participated in the post-game press conference.  Sharing a bit of his sage wisdom, he stated as he approached the podium

"“Usually when something rough happens, that’s when I’m asked over here. So that’s good. It’s the same all over baby.”-Rams ST Coordinator Joe DeCamillis in Week 2 post-game press conference"

DeCamillis did not inherit a very good unit. The Rams’ special teams have declined for several seasons, and he is here to turn it all around very quickly. Why so immediately? Simply put, the LA Rams intend on being the winning team in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, and that cannot happen if the special teams are playing like hot garbage. In Week 2, the special teams flashed an appearance of hot garbage. So DeCamillis stepped up to the media to reassure everyone that the special teams unit will get better.

Or as he so eloquently put it: “We’ll get better as we go.”

In Week 3, the LA Rams special teams got better. Much better. The punts averaged just 39.3 yards per punt, but all were within the 20-yard line of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers returned those punts just four yards. A distinct improvement.

Placekicker Matt Gay was his normal dominating self.  Two of two whenever he lined up to kick field goals. Four of four on extra points. Ten points. That’s ten points in one game. A nice tidy sum. The margin of victory.

Even rookie punt returner Tutu Atwell showed up and got a nine-yard return on a punt. Not great. But not bad.

These tiniest of improvements in special teams’ play showed up in the final score of 34-24.  That’s the beauty of improving everywhere. It doesn’t show up on the highlight reel. But it does so show up on the scoreboard.

Lesson II:  The LA Rams can score from 75 yards away in under one minute

Possessing the ability to score from anywhere on the field is not something that immediately jumps into the mind of the fans whose team can do that. But it is constantly in the minds of fans whose defense is tasked with trying to stop that type of offense.

The NFL is on alert now. The LA Rams offense can score from 75 yards away in 56 seconds. The Rams have scored from 67 yards out, from 56 yards out, and now from 75 yards away. But the distance is only part of the equation. The more important part? The Rams can do it with just one play, in less than a minute, from almost anywhere on the football field. The 75 yarder was the first series of the second half on a third and 10 from the 25-yard line and was a bullet from Stafford’s hand to the wide-open outstretched arms of DeSean Jackson.

The 75-yard touchdown electrified the fans in SoFi Stadium. It was something that the fans and the Rams organization had awaited for three games. But the connection from Matthew Stafford to DeSean Jackson had a chance to connect for deep touchdowns three times against the Buccaneers. On the first opportunity, the ball was underthrown. On the second attempt, nose tackle Vita Vea crashed into Matthew Stafford just as he released the ball. That one was underthrown as well.

Defenses have not learned to take away the deep pass just yet. That’s why it’s still difficult for the Rams to run the ball. But it creates plenty of instant scoring opportunities for an offense that has several receivers who can break the lid off the defense.

Right now, defenses have not adjusted well enough. Nobody is covering the LA Rams wide receivers on deep routes. That’s a dangerous game to play for any team facing this Rams offense. The Rams have proven the ability to score from anywhere quickly. To date, no defense has proven the ability to stop it.

Lesson III:  Matthew Stafford is better than the brochure

There were plenty of projections about how veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford would perform in the LA Rams complex offense. There was a wellspring of hope and optimism over what might be, much like that of young minds filled with what might lay in wait beneath the Christmas tree wrapped in pretty paper and ribbon. So now that we’ve seen three games, are you disappointed? Pleased? Ecstatic?

Well, speaking solely for myself, I’m in the ecstatic category. No, not because I’ve donned my rose-colored homer fan glasses. It’s because Matthew Stafford is far more poised and surgical than expected.

There are two ways to pile up production in the NFL. There is the volume method. Much like the Dallas Cowboys ran running back Ezekiel Elliot over 320 times in a season, and then bragged about rushing for 1600 yards. Volume begets volume. In passing terms, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback has passed 141 times in three games. At that pace? He will pass the ball 800 times in one season. Ironically, the record for most passing attempts in one season is held by LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who threw the ball 727 times in 2012. In fact, Matthew Stafford appears in the top ten passing attempts twice.

So there was a reason behind expecting the guy to show up and just chuck the ball all over the field, hoping to get it to the receiver. Passing the ball in volume to get high passing yards.

Instead, Stafford has only attempted 94 passes, which has him ranked at 20th among NFL quarterbacks in passing attempts. But he is the fifth-ranked quarterback in terms of passing yards, and the second-ranked quarterback in terms of touchdown passes. Best of all, he leads the NFL in QBR and rating. He is not a sledgehammer. He is not an artillery barrage. He is not a carpet bombing B-52. He is a surgeon, picking his spots, throwing to an exact location, each time surveying the defense and his progressions, and choosing the right spot to go with the football almost instantly.

Hey, there is a lot to unpack with this LA Rams offense. But these are three of the most vital lessons that we learned in Week 3. So far, the Rams team keeps improving, little by little.