Rams lose to Bucs, Tom Brady in last minute

TAMPA, Fla. — Rams star defensive lineman Aaron Donald did his part by making Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady uncomfortable. He sacked him and even recorded a batted pass on the future Hall of Famer. As a whole, the defense did its part by keeping Brady out of the end zone for nearly four quarters.

But trading field goals with Brady has been a dangerous game for more than two decades, evident by his seven Super Bowl titles and 100,000 career passing yards.

When the Rams’ offense asked the defense to bail it out one too many times in the final minutes of a one-score game Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, Brady found tight end Cade Otton for a game-winning touchdown pass with nine seconds left in regulation.

The Rams lost 16-13 and are staring at a 3-5 record with a broken offense, and perhaps for the first time this season, Rams coach Sean McVay admitted that changes need to be made with his clunky offense heading into Week 10.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s the panic button, but changes have to be made, adjustments have to be made,” McVay said after the crushing loss. “We can’t continue to go on like this. What that looks like I don’t necessarily have the exact answers right now.”

Rams star receiver Cooper Kupp, who’s done his part this season, said it’s not effort nor mental issues with the offensive woes. Perhaps the wrong offensive players on the field, the All-Pro wideout might have suggested.

“It’s not a shortage of effort, but at some point how much effort can you give? You gotta change something,” Kupp said. “If the effort is there and we can’t find a way to win, if we can’t find ways to beat the guy across from you, then changes need to be made.”

The Rams’ defense continued to do favors for the offense by stopping Brady and the Buccaneers (4-5) on fourth down from their 6-yard line with a 13-9 advantage and 1:52 left in regulation. For all the favors, all the defense asked for in return was a first down to end the game.

“Ten yards, that’s the difference,” Rams center Brian Allen said.

The Rams’ offense went three-and-out and gave Brady, possibly the greatest quarterback of all time, 44 seconds to orchestrate another game-winning drive in his illustrious career. Brady and his offense only needed 35 seconds to march 60 yards during a six-play scoring drive that started with a 28-yard reception for Otton and ended with a 1-yard touchdown from Otton, the rookie tight end out of Washington.

“We got them off the field,” Rams outside linebacker Leonard Floyd said. “We had to get right back on and when you give Tom Brady that many chances, he gone make a play. That’s what happened.”

The Buccaneers had only 263 total yards and three field goals from Ryan Succop before the game-winning last-minute drive. Brady finished 36 of 58 for 280 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

“They (the defense) shouldn’t be on the field,” Allen said. “We should finish that. We put them in that position. We gotta find a way to get a first down down there. It’s on us.”

The Rams’ lone touchdown came in the second quarter after a 69-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Kupp, who finished with eight catches for 127 yards. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford finished 13 of 27 for 165 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. The Rams had a season-low 206 total yards with only 68 rushing yards.

Rams wide receiver Brandon Powell said the problem might be lack of toughness for an offense that relies heavily on Kupp to make plays.

“Last year is last year, we ain’t winning (expletive) this year,” Powell said after being asked if players lacked urgency because they won the Super Bowl last season. “We gotta play football. … A minute left, gotta get a first down. C’mon, now. That’s easy. We’re supposed to get that.

“Get tough, get some dogs, so we can score more points. That’s it.”

The Rams got risky by calling a run play on third-and-goal from the 19 so they could settle for a 35-yard field goal and a 13-6 advantage with nine seconds left in the third quarter. The dangerous decision kept it a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter against Brady. It was during that quarter that Brady became the first player in NFL history to reach 100,000 career passing yards (regular season and postseason).

“This was a tough pill to swallow,” McVay said. “I thought our defense did enough to be able to win that football game. Clearly, offensively not even close enough. I’m a big part of that. Had our opportunities, had our chances to be able to make plays.”

The Rams played running back Cam Akers in his first week back with the team after they spent the past few weeks trying to trade Akers because of his differences with Rams coach Sean McVay. Akers’ return didn’t help the Rams’ ground game much in the first half, and the offense recorded only 15 rushing yards heading into the locker room.

But Darrell Henderson provided positive ground yards after back-to-back runs of 11 and 23 yards to put the Rams at the Buccaneers’ 11-yard line. The Rams, however, called three consecutive pass plays and settled for a 26-yard field goal from kicker Matt Gay to extend their lead 10-6 with 9:14 to go in the third quarter.

After a sluggish opening quarter, Stafford stood in the pocket amid pressure and found an open Kupp up the seam for a 69-yard catch-and-run touchdown to give the Rams a 7-3 advantage with 12:57 in the second quarter.

Brady and the Buccaneers had a productive opening drive, but they were stopped at the Rams’ 2-yard line and settled for a 20-yard field goal and 3-0 lead with 7:16 left in the first quarter. The Rams’ defense used the momentum to force the Buccaneers into three consecutive punts with only 29 combined yards.

The Rams entered halftime with a 7-6 lead thanks to Kupp’s lengthy touchdown score, which gave the offense 60 of its 104 total yards in the first half.

Once again, it was plenty of Kupp with not much else from the offense. Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey said he’s making sure no one is pointing fingers, but he challenged his teammates to play with urgency for the final nine games.

“We don’t got games to spare, like this ain’t the NBA,” Ramsey said. “We don’t get 82 mother (bleeping) games. We have a few games that we have to win. We gotta have some urgency, and there’s gotta be some competitive juice and some tension around this mother (bleeper).”

The Rams had suggestions for what might be wrong – lack of urgency and toughness with maybe the wrong scheme and players. Now the Rams need to find a way to fix all of that if they want to defend their Super Bowl crown in the postseason.