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The Los Angeles Rams and MVP frontrunner Matthew Stafford just keep winning, as they took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34-7 on “Sunday Night Football.”
The Rams have won six straight games and continue to lead the NFC West with a 9-2 record. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers fell to 6-5, tying them with the Carolina Panthers for the NFC South lead.
This game was as lopsided as it gets for a primetime matchup between playoff hopefuls, and much of that had to do with how confident and poised Stafford has been in his 17th NFL season.
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Stafford added three more touchdown passes to his league-leading total, giving him 30 on the year with only two interceptions. And the man who has enjoyed a resurgence in his own right, Davante Adams, continued to be his go-to target in the red zone.
Adams secured two touchdowns for the Rams, including the game’s opening score that capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a beautifully thrown fade from Stafford.
BAKER MAYFIELD HAS ALWAYS VIEWED MATTHEW STAFFORD AS A “TOP 3 OR 5” QB
Then, after Baker Mayfield threw a pick-six on the following drive for the Buccaneers, Stafford came right back out to start the second quarter with a five-yard strike to tight end Colby Parkinson, blowing the game open at 21-0.
Needing a touchdown, Mayfield found Tez Johnson for a 14-yard score on the ensuing drive to cut into the Rams’ lead. But Stafford needed only four plays to go 65 yards and connect with Adams again, this time on a perfect 24-yard touch pass.
Adams finished the game with 62 yards on five catches, while Puka Nacua led Los Angeles with 97 yards on seven receptions.
During the Buccaneers’ touchdown drive, Mayfield scrambled for seven yards on third-and-6, lowering his shoulder into two Rams defenders to move the chains. It proved costly for the aggressive signal-caller, as he suffered a left shoulder injury that eventually forced him out of the game.
The injury appeared to bother Mayfield when he tried to heave a Hail Mary at the end of the first half. He went down on one knee with his left arm motionless before eventually heading to the locker room.
When Tampa Bay came out for the second half, backup Teddy Bridgewater took over for the injured Mayfield, who was ruled out and stood on the sideline in street clothes. It’s unclear what exactly Mayfield is dealing with, but given his history of playing through injuries, this is clearly something he couldn’t power through — and it could be cause for concern moving forward.
Bridgewater was unable to mount a comeback as the Buccaneers struggled against a dominant Rams defense. Bridgewater went 8-for-15 for 62 yards and took two sacks, while Mayfield was 9-of-19 for 41 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, one coming on that Hail Mary attempt.
As a team, the Buccaneers managed just 193 yards of offense to the Rams’ 333, but that’s been the story of late for this surging Los Angeles squad.
At 9-2, the Rams hold the best record in the NFC, proving they are a legitimate force heading into the final stretch of the 2025 regular season.
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