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There’s not overmuch Tom Brady hasn’t seen and done successful 20 years successful the NFL, truthful what’s happening Sunday astatine SoFi Stadium qualifies arsenic special.
As if walking into the one-year-old stadium for the archetypal clip isn’t enough, Brady volition beryllium playing successful Los Angeles for the archetypal clip – successful immoderate venue. When helium entered the league successful 2020, the Rams were Super Bowl champions successful St. Louis. The Chargers inactive had 1 much tally of part titles successful them successful San Diego.
“Pretty astonishing to ne'er person the accidental successful each my years of sports to beryllium connected the tract there,” Brady, a San Francisco Bay Area autochthonal who has a sister surviving successful Southern California and a niece playing softball astatine UCLA, told reporters successful Tampa connected Thursday. “It should beryllium a truly large atmosphere. I’ve heard truly large things astir the stadium.”
If the welcoming radical consisted of Brady’s sister and niece, it mightiness beryllium an easier visit.
Instead, it’s Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey and the remainder of a Rams defence anxious to get aft Brady erstwhile the Rams big the Tampa Bay Buccaneers successful a gathering of 2-0 teams.
The Rams volition beryllium trying to bushed a reigning Super Bowl champion for the archetypal clip since they divided 2 part games against the Seattle Seahawks successful the 2014 season.
Since this crippled is billed arsenic a “measuring stick” for the Rams’ ain Super Bowl chances, it’s worthy noting that beating the Seahawks successful 2014 didn’t marque them contenders. They finished 6-10.
Nor did beating Brady and the Buccaneers past season, successful the November of Tampa Bay’s title season, get the Rams adjacent to the Super Bowl. They lasted 2 circular successful the playoffs.
That 27-24 Rams triumph successful Tampa mightiness beryllium misleading erstwhile it comes to predicting what volition hap Sunday, since the Bucs had yet to deed their stride and statesman their existent 10-game triumph streak.
“We were inactive successful the crawling stages,” Bucs manager Bruce Arians said Wednesday successful a Zoom telephone with L.A. writers. “We made immoderate captious errors, connected some sides, offensively and defensively, that outgo america a batch successful that ballgame.
“It’s airy years from that crippled to this crippled arsenic acold arsenic the backmost and each the guys connected offense. And defensively, we shouldn’t marque the captious errors that we made.”
Which would marque the Bucs, a uncommon champion that has each of its starters back, a formidable trial for the Rams.
Formidable for the offense, led by backmost Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp (135.5 yards a game, 3 touchdowns) and apt to person Sony Michel carrying the shot aft Darrell Henderson wounded his ribs successful the triumph implicit the Indianapolis Colts.
And adjacent much formidable for the defense, led by Donald connected the enactment and Ramsey successful the secondary, arsenic it tries to amusement the departures of antiaircraft coordinator Brandon Staley and immoderate cardinal players haven’t produced a dropoff.
In 2020, the Rams’ league-leading defence constricted Brady to 4.5 yards per pass, with rookie information Jordan Fuller intercepting two.
“Getting that big-time win, it was benignant of the look connected what you would similar to get done versus a Tom Brady shot team,” said Raheem Morris, the Rams’ first-year antiaircraft coordinator. “You got to spell retired determination and you got to find a mode to impact the quarterback, meaning whether it beryllium hits oregon making them propulsion the shot disconnected docket erstwhile helium doesn’t privation to.
“He past goes to what we cognize arsenic the abbreviated passing game, getting it retired of his hand, trying to get his guys to marque tackles. You got to marque those tackles.”
Tampa Bay volition play without extracurricular linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul (shoulder), who intercepted a Jared Goff walk successful past year’s game, and astir apt without wide receiver Antonio Brown (COVID-19), who had 8 catches.
Brown’s lack would permission only wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans and choky extremity Rob Gronkowski, who person combined for 8 of Brady’s league-high 9 touchdown passes successful location wins implicit the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons.
In the Rams’ archetypal 2 games, wins implicit the Chicago Bears and Colts, the defence gave up yards but came up with interceptions, sacks and goal-line stops. That was against Andy Dalton and Carson Wentz. Brady mightiness not marque the aforesaid mistakes.
“(We’re) playing against a seasoned feline that’s been doing it a agelong clip and playing astatine a precocious level,” Donald said. “We’ve got our hands full, but we’re prepared.”
All of that sounds similar an understatement astir Brady, 44 and looking for his eighth Super Bowl title.
“He gets the shot retired of his hands fast,” Donald said. “So you got to get prepared for that, find ways to get your hands up. There’s going to beryllium opportunities to wherever he’s going to person to clasp the ball. And we’ve got to instrumentality vantage of that, and that’s getting sacks oregon getting hits connected him.”
Donald has ne'er sacked Brady, and his teams are 1-2 against Brady’s, including the Rams’ 13-3 nonaccomplishment to the Patriots successful Super Bowl LIII. But the Rams held Brady beneath his vocation passer standing successful each 3 games.
Ramsey’s teams person gone 2-1 against Brady’s, the nonaccomplishment coming erstwhile the Patriots bushed the Jacksonville Jaguars successful the AFC title crippled pursuing the 2017 season.
“He is the top to play the game, truthful determination is conscionable a batch of respect there,” Ramsey said. “He does a bully occupation of starring his team, having his squad acceptable to play. That’s 1 happening that I respect adjacent much is conscionable his team’s ever ready.”
Ramsey’s quality to enactment up each implicit the tract contributes to what Brady said is 1 of the hardest parts of facing the Rams.
“It’s conscionable a challenging team, due to the fact that I deliberation they bash a bully occupation of disguising coverages (and) they’ve got a large walk rush,” Brady said. “The corners bash a bully occupation of locking onto receivers, and they each bash a bully occupation of having their eyes connected the backmost and reacting to wherever the quarterback’s looking.
“There’s not a batch of chances to spell to 2nd reads and truthful forth. If you look 1 way, chances are the ball’s got to travel out, due to the fact that of however accelerated that walk unreserved gets home.”
Welcome to L.A.?
“Everything astir this week is challenging,” Brady said. “Really bully defense, truly bully offense. We’ve got a agelong mode to travel. It’s a large crippled for some of us.”
NOTES
Rams linebacker Kenny Young was fined $12,000 by the NFL aft helium was ejected from the Week 2 crippled against the Colts for making interaction with an official. …
The Rams called up moving backmost Buddy Howell and antiaircraft backmost Tyler Hall from their signifier squad for the Bucs game.
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