LA Rams offense is key to defense’s Super Bowl performance
By Bret Stuter
NFC Divisional Round
Although the final score of 27-24 may have seemed as though the LA Rams were in a slugfest for 60 minutes, the LA Rams were the only team to truly decide the outcome of that game. When the offense plays well in the game? They moved the ball at will. When they turned the ball over? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense played well and scored.
That is not a new narrative, but rather the same theme that we’ve witnessed all season long. In five losses over the course of now 19 games, the inability to win was less about what the defense didn’t do and more about what the Rams offense did. In this one, the Rams’ offense miscued to the tune of four turnovers. And yet, the Rams won the game. How can this be possible against the defending Super Bowl Champions?
The offense must work with the defense
Ultimately, the best that the Rams defense can hope to do in any game is to shut down the opposing offense and hold them to zero points. But even in the perfect defensive world, no team wins. The score simply trickles in at 0-0, and the game plays on. Victories come from the offense. And it’s time we step back and assess the situation. In this game, despite the four turnovers, the Rams were controlling the clock. The Rams rushed 30 times for just 73 yards. But that commitment to run held the Bucs defense in check.
The Rams won this one with a buzzer-beating field goal by Matt Gay. The final score was Rams 27 Buccaneers 24. And yet the statistic that stands out is the Time of Possession or TOP. The Rams held the football for 34:08 to the Buccaneers 25:52. So TOP is a more accurate indicator of the game outcome than net turnovers?
Let’s press on…