The Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet in Week 9 in a matchup between two preseason NFC favourites who have spectacularly failed to live up to expectations.
Los Angeles and Tampa Bay produced a thrilling NFC Divisional Round playoff game last season, the Rams prevailing in overtime following a furious Bucs comeback en route to winning Super Bowl LVI.
Such excitement has been thin on the ground for both teams in 2022. They are a combined 6-9, with both of their offenses enduring significant struggles.
Last week, the Rams (3-4) were thrashed 31-14 by their NFC West rivals the San Francisco 49ers, who completed a fourth successive regular-season sweep of Los Angeles.
That defeat marked the fourth time this season the Rams have scored 14 or fewer points and lost by double-digits. From 2017 through 2021 (head coach Sean McVay’s tenure prior to this season), they had six such games. Five of those 10 games have been against San Francisco.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 187 yards on 33 attempts against San Francisco. It was the 11th time in his career that he has thrown the ball at least 30 times and finished with fewer than 200 passing yards. His teams are 2-9 in those games.
Stafford averaged 4.71 air yards per attempt in the loss to the 49ers, the Rams' offense relying largely on the screen pass and rendered impotent in the second half after San Francisco succeeded in taking that away.
Los Angeles' lack of counterpunches when the Rams cannot get the ball to Cooper Kupp should offer the Tampa Bay defense, which is allowing the fourth-fewest yards per pass play (5.7) in the NFL, confidence it can contain Stafford and Co. as the 49ers did.
The Rams' distinct lack of a running game -- Los Angeles' run success rate of 24.3 per cent is by far the worst in the league -- will only further Tampa Bay's confidence in that regard, and the Buccaneers appeared closer to solving their problems on offense in Week 8.
Though the Buccaneers (3-5) lost for the third consecutive game, suffering a 27-22 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens, Tom Brady threw for 325 yards and zero interceptions. In his career, he is 54-7 when throwing 300 yards and no interceptions but is 1-2 in such games this season.
Still, Tampa Bay's three-game losing streak is their longest such run since the Buccaneers lost four in a row between Week 5 and Week 9 in 2019. In addition, they have scored 28 points just once this season, in a 41-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bucs were 12-0 when reaching that mark last season.
Both offenses appear likely to face plenty of third-and-long situations, and it may be the offense that does a better job of overcoming them that comes out on top.
The Buccaneers are five of 50 (10 per cent) on third down with six or more yards to go. That percentage ranks last in the NFL. The Rams' 17.5 per cent mark (7-for-40) is 28th in the NFL. Last season, the Rams were third at 35.0 per cent while the Bucs were 12th at 25.6 per cent.
It's a tale of two offenses experiencing a substantial downturn, but neither team is dead in the water, with the Buccaneers one game out of the NFC South lead and the Rams a game back in the loss column in the NFC West, which is led by the 5-3 Seattle Seahawks.
But time is running out for these teams to right their respective ships, and the loser of this game will be at significant risk of sinking out of contention even in an open NFC.
NFL: Chiefs stay perfect with OT win over Bucs
Kareem Hunt finished the game's lone overtime drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that kept the Kansas City Chiefs unbeaten with Monday's 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Hunt powered into the end zone to conclude the 10-play, 70-yard series that gave Kansas City (8-0) its 14th consecutive victory, including play-off games, dating back to last season. The veteran running back finished the night with a season-high 106 rushing yards on 27 carries.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, including two to DeAndre Hopkins in the wide receiver's first home game as a Chief, to help the defending Super Bowl champions stay perfect despite the Buccaneers forcing overtime on Baker Mayfield's 1-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Tampa Bay (4-5) opted to kick the extra point instead of attempting a potential game-winning two-point conversion, however, and never got the ball back again after losing the coin toss to begin overtime.
The Bucs trailed 10-7 at half-time following Mahomes' 1-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins late in the second quarter, but scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to move ahead.
After Mayfield found Cade Otton for an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the period for a 14-10 lead, Tampa Bay's defence forced a three-and-out to help set up Chase McLaughlin's 47-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the third.
The Chiefs stormed back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, however. Mahomes capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown delivery to Samaje Perine to tie the game at 17-17, then later hit Hopkins for a go-ahead 5-yard strike with 4:17 remaining in regulation.
Kansas City's next possession stalled, though, to give Mayfield enough time to orchestrate a 10-play, 71-yard sequence that ended in Miller's tying touchdown grab.
Mayfield finished 23 of 31 with 200 yards and two touchdowns. Otton led the Bucs with 77 receiving yards on eight catches, while Rachaad White had a rushing touchdown for Tampa in the first half.
The Chiefs received 14 catches for 100 yards from Travis Kelce and 86 yards on eight receptions from Hopkins, playing his second game since being acquired by Kansas CIty from the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 24.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
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