Take from the game

Firstly, I just wanna say that whether it be folks from ROD, Rams fans in Tampa whom we encountered or others who came into Tampa for the game and made a time of it, the Rams fans I’ve encountered have been good folks.

The tailgating was fun. I brought my daughter who’s in college and we had some fantastic father/daughter time. She got along well with everyone. The food was to die for. Almost literally. I mean, one of the guys there owns a restaurant in Oregon called Pigfeathers which makes the single greatest BBQ sauce I’ve ever tasted. I tried to be polite and only have a few ribs and share, but between my daughter and I, I think we ate a whole rack just between the two of us. When Fodors called them “the best BBQ in the Pacific Northwest”, they weren’t kidding. I’m kinda in withdrawal a little bit… So, good food, good fans and good game.

Our Seats:

Speaking of which, on to the game.

It became clear from the outset that the Bucs weren’t going to let our DL dictate to them. We saw Quinn get held…obviously held on every play. It was disgustingly apparent. Like Patriot obvious. I dunno why he didn’t get calls, but he didn’t. The Bucs called tons of screens, traps and other plays designed to minimize the impact of our DL and it worked on that first drive.

The Rams drove back and I was surprised at the Rams execution. You could tell that the Rams didn’t have a massive playbook, but in some ways, that may be helping this group because they executed better. Austin Davis looked very in control, his passes looked for the most part on the money and our receivers looked sure handed.

It’s clear that once Davis had time, the middle of the field opened up to him and he delivered some nice balls to Quick and Pettis that ultimately were timely and needed for the win. The OL started to come together, especially in the 2nd half.

Weather played a role in this game. Footing wasn’t great and the fumble was a result of an illegal leg whip by a TB defender, not Zac Stacy not securing the ball, so I don’t hold that against him. The weather helped the Rams, actually because it plays more to their strengths.

Going forward:
I saw signs of good things. Even with the smaller playbook, Schotty’s clearly doing better and seems to DO better when he feels like he has limitations. I mean, he called a better game this time. Clearly. It helps when the execution is there, but man, the Bucs D was on its heals even when they thought they knew what was coming and that’s a good sign. This game showed me that on the road, the Rams can execute in a close game. They showed poise in weather, with a game interruption and playing from behind late in the game. I also like that teams for two weeks in a row are scared to death to even try a 7 step drop. I didn’t see ONE deep pass against our D. Not one.

I think this next game at home against Dallas will tell us a lot about whether the players and the coaching staff have put this team back on course or if the Rams simply beat an equally confused Bucs team. Based on what I saw, I’m hopeful that this Rams team is back on track, even if I’m not sure the D is as stout as I’d like them to be.