As the Los Angeles Rams prepare to take on quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional round, Shannon Sharpe goes all-in on the chances of the defending Super Bowl champions.
On the Fox Sports One show Undisputed, the co-host and Hall of Fame tight end had this to say about Tampa Bay’s odds versus Los Angeles:
"I don't have them (Bucs) beating the Rams. If Tampa face the Rams it ends for them. Whether it's I don't know if they play Saturday, Sunday. I don't know what day they play. But whatever day they play if they play the Rams their season's coming to an end."
The Rams, the fourth seed in the NFC, defeated their NFC West rival, the Arizona Cardinals, by a score of 34-11 in the Wild Card round of the NFC playoffs. Los Angeles held Arizona to 183 yards of total offense, the second fewest in franchise history.
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Ironically, the Rams held the Buccaneers to 177 yards of offense in the NFC Championship game in the 1979 season.
Offensively, they put up 375 yards against the Cardinals, as quarterback Matthew Stafford went 13 of 17 for 202 yards with two passing touchdowns and one on the ground.
Brady and the Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles at home by a score of 31-15. TB12 went 29 of 37 for 271 passing yards with two touchdowns.
Tampa Bay and its defense forced two interceptions from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and a fumble by receiver Jalen Reagor.
Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans had himself a game with nine receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. The 349 yards total offense is the fourth-most in team playoff history.
For Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, the two are very familiar with one another.
Rams and Buccaneers head-to-head all-time record
These two franchises have faced one another 27 times, with the Rams winning 19 of those games. Along with the playoff matchup back in the 1979 season, they faced off for the NFC Championship once again in the 1999 season.
The Rams, who were in St. Louis at the time, defeated the Buccaneers by a score of 11-6.
During the regular season, they played each other at SoFi Stadium in Week Three as Los Angeles got the better of Tampa Bay with a score of 34-27. However, receiver Chris Godwin, who is out of the playoffs with a torn ACL injury, was a participant in the first matchup.
Brady has a 3-3 record against the Rams, including wins in Super Bowls XXXVI (36) and LIII (53) as a member of the New England Patriots.
This weekend, will Tampa Bay continue their journey to back-to-back Super Bowls or will Los Angeles advance to the NFC Championship for the first time since the 2018 season? We shall find out this weekend at Raymond James Stadium.
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