3 reasons why the LA Rams can win Divisional Round vs. Buccaneers

The LA Rams are underdogs, and they are on the road. But perhaps worst of all, this team is facing the unbeatable Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. He is only 35-11 in the postseason, a run that has resulted in seven Super Bowl victories to just three Super Bowl losses.  Two of those losses were to the New York Giants. Once was to the Philadelphia Eagles. No loss was the same, and that is why he is such a difficult quarterback to face.

But this is not the Super Bowl, and Brady does not often ‘repeat’ as a Super Bowl winner. His only occasion for repeating in consecutive years was the win over the Carolina Panthers by the score of 32-29 after the 2003 NFL Season, followed by the win over the Philadelphia Eagles by the score of 24-21 after the 2004 NFL Season. It was during this time that the NFL learned of the Patriots illegally filming opponents, including the Saint Louis Rams prior to their contest after the 2001 NFL Season. While there was never any corrective action to remedy the outcomes of those controversial games, the NFL did punish the Patriots organization.

The Patriots have never won back-to-back Super Bowls since.

The player who truly benefitted from that alleged advantage over seven seasons, of course, was then quarterback Tom Brady.  In four seasons (2001, 2003, and 2004), he emerged as the Super Bowl winner. But Brady, a free agent in 2020, jumped ship and signed on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That move prompted his former teammate, TE Rob Gronkowski, to exit retirement and return to play with his former quarterback and friend on the Buccaneers offense.

Despite entering the playoffs in the Wildcard Round as the fifth-seeded team, the Buccaneers won three straight road games to earn the right to compete in Super Bowl LV in their own stadium. They defeated the short-handed Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 31-9.  Those four wins, paired with their victory in the Wildcard Round over the Philadelphia Eagles last week, have the Buccaneers on a five-game playoff winning streak. How can the LA Rams possibly hope to compete against that?