Matthew Stafford, Rams dominate Buccaneers 34-7 on 'Sunday Night Football'

The Los Angeles Rams now own the best record in the NFC at 9-2 after a dominant win on "Sunday Night Football." Leading 21-0 in the first quarter, the Rams were never threatened by Tampa, which lost starting quarterback Baker Mayfield at halftime to a shoulder injury.

Matthew Stafford threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, connecting with Davante Adams for two of the scores and Colby Parkinson for the other.

Tampa falls to 6-5 and has lost four of its last five games.

Deciding to punt while trailing 34-7 tells you everything you need to know about Tampa's belief in pulling off a miracle comeback. The Buccaneers give the ball back and wave the white flag at SoFi Stadium.

The Buccaneers have seven minutes left in the fourth quarter to avoid their worst offensive performance of the season, by the numbers.

Their previous season low for points was the nine they scored in a Week 7 loss at Detroit. Midway through the fourth quarter tonight, Tampa has lost its starting quarterback while mustering only seven points.

Its season low for yards, for reference, is 212, from Week 8. Thus far tonight Tampa has gained 184.

The Rams just punted for the second time. Hard to imagine we see Matthew Stafford again tonight, as Los Angeles still leads 34-7.

Tampa Bay is now 1-for-4 on fourth down after Teddy Bridgewater was sacked on fourth-and-3 by Jared Verse for a loss of 12 yards. It ends a promising possession that traveled 40 yards before reaching the Rams' 13-yard line.

Bridgewater has now been sacked two times and is 7-for-13 for 59 yards in relief of the injured Baker Mayfield.

Amid the uncertainty of the severity of Baker Mayfield's injury, the silver lining for Tampa Bay is a schedule that could still give it opportunities to win. In their next three weeks the Buccaneers host Arizona (3-8), New Orleans (2-9) and Atlanta (4-7). They then finish with road games at Carolina (6-5) and Miami (4-7) before hosting Carolina in the season finale.

Harrison Mevis hit a 52-yard field goal after an eight-play drive to extend the Rams’ lead to 34-7. Mevis is 2-for-2 on his first two career field-goal attempts.

Tampa Bay punted after only three plays on the second Teddy Bridgewater-led drive of the game. Long night for the Bucs, and there is still a quarter to play.

The Rams punted for the first time tonight, going only 25 yards in five plays before sending the ball back to the Bucs. Matthew Stafford threw incomplete to Puka Nacua on third and 8, a rare missed connection for the two tonight.

Teddy Bridgewater performed admirably after coming off the bench in relief of Baker Mayfield while bringing Tampa to the Rams' 18-yard line, but on fourth-and-9, he was sacked by Kobie Turner. Turner's second sack of the night came after he grabbed hold of Bridgewater's cleat and tripped him just enough to end an 11-play drive. It's still a 31-7 Rams lead, and they get the ball back now.

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield did not take the field for his team's first drive of the second half, replaced by Teddy Bridgewater.

Mayfield appeared to injure his left shoulder twice in the first half.

Mayfield had his left shoulder checked in the second quarter after taking a hard hit on a scramble, and he grimaced later in the drive after throwing a touchdown pass to Tez Johnson. He walked to a medical tent not moving his left arm.

After his left shoulder was checked between drives, Mayfield wound up to throw as far as he could on the final play before halftime, but after throwing an interception, he immediately reached for the same shoulder and was helped off the field.

The Buccaneers open the second half by stopping the Rams from scoring for the first time all game. The previous four drives by Los Angeles had ended in three touchdowns and a field goal.

The final two plays of the first half illustrate just how one-sided this game has been. Jared Verse sacked Baker Mayfield to put Tampa in fourth-and-25 with five seconds left, and then Mayfield lofted an interception on a Hail Mary attempt and may have injured his shoulder on the play while winding up for a long throw.

It's Rams 31, Buccaneers 7 at the half. It's the most points Tampa has allowed at the half since 2022.

The Rams finally had something go wrong!

Matthew Stafford threw incomplete on third down, which brought Harrison Mevis — aka the Thicker Kicker — out for a 40-yard field goal. Mevis’ kick was good, and now Los Angeles leads 31-7.

Coming off allowing a season-high 44 points last week against Buffalo, Tampa Bay's defense has already allowed 28 points with three minutes left before halftime. Keep in mind that the most yards the Bucs have allowed this season was the 463 that Seattle put on them in Week 5. The Rams, who have 217 yards, could challenge that tonight.

The Buccaneers needed to go for fourth down with less than two minutes left in the first half trailing by 21 points, but Baker Mayfield's pass failed to connect, and now the Rams have great field position to add to their lead. Why throw there? Tampa has 21 yards passing — 1.4 yards per pass.

Matthew Stafford just threw his third touchdown pass of the first half, and his second to Davante Adams.

This time Stafford unleashed a perfect 24-yard pass down the right sideline to Adams, who is up to 52 yards receiving.

The Rams lead 28-7.

After his touchdown pass, Baker Mayfield grimaced and quickly entered the medical tent to have his left arm assessed. A concussion specialist also entered the tent, NBC's Melissa Stark reported. Mayfield entered the tent without moving his left arm, Stark reported.

It's Rams 21, Buccaneers 7, and suddenly the Rams' defense has been gashed.

The Buccaneers have largely abandoned the passing game after finding success on the ground. Seven of their first nine plays were runs before Baker Mayfield found Tez Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

A little more than 19 minutes into this game, the Rams have passed for 130 yards. That contrasts with the Buccaneers, who have thrown for minus-four. That's not a misprint.

The Rams are back in the end zone after a 5-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Colby Parkinson.

Stafford got a little tricky to cap the 12-play, 72-yard drive, throwing a no-look pass to Parkinson.

Los Angeles is up 21-0 with 10:46 still left to play in the second quarter.

Stafford started 12-of-12 before throwing incomplete for the first time tonight.

After a screen pass to Colby Parkinson, Stafford is 13-of-14 for 135 yards and a touchdown.

The Bucs are averaging only 1.6 yards per play after their latest punt.

The Rams have held Tampa Bay to only one third-down conversion on their last three attempts, and Baker Mayfield has completed only three of eight passes for five yards so far. Including sack yardage, the Bucs have minus-4 yards passing.

Baker Mayfield is sacked for the first time, and the loss of 9 leads to the second punt of the night for Tampa Bay. The Bucs have three first downs and have converted three of their first five third-down opportunities yet are already down 14-0 near the end of the first quarter.

Cade Otton's bobbled catch is stolen by Rams defensive back Cobie Durant and returned for a touchdown in one of the most improbable pick-sixes you'll ever see.

Rams 14, Buccaneers 0.

Los Angeles made it look easy on its opening drive.

The Rams drove 80 yards in 10 plays, even overcoming a sack to get on the board first. Two plays after converting a third-and-18, Matthew Stafford found Davante Adams on a goal-line fade for a score.

Los Angeles leads 7-0.

Nacua’s first three catches have gone for 51 yards, including a 20-yard grab on a third-and-18.

The Bucs converted their first two third downs before misfiring on a third-and-9. Los Angeles entered Week 12 fifth in the NFL in opponent third-down conversion percentage.

The Buccaneers went 29 yards over nine plays before punting to the Rams. Baker Mayfield starts 1-of-3 passing.

And the Buccaneers will take over from their own 28. "Sunday Night Football" is underway!

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford sits down with Jason Garrett to talk about his recent string of standout performances.

Jason Garrett sits down with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford to talk about his relationship with head coach Sean McVay, his recent hot streak of play, the greats he's played with in the past and more.

Here's an incredible statistic from the ace researchers at NBC Sports: After last Sunday's win against Seattle, Matthew Stafford’s career record is now 116-115-1 — the first time in his 232-game career that his career record has been above .500.

Since Stafford was traded from Detroit to Los Angeles, it's clear a team can win with him at quarterback. The Rams have a Lombardi Trophy to show for it. But his career's only now getting above .500 is another reminder of just how rough the first 12 years were in Detroit.

In late October, a Buccaneers-Rams matchup would have been considered a potential preview of the NFC championship game as both teams started the season fast.

Yet while the Rams (8-2) remain off to their best start since 2018, Tampa Bay's 5-1 start has been tarnished while it has lost three of its last four games. That slide has reduced its lead in the NFC South to a half-game entering Week 14. Four out of Tampa's last five games are in the division.

Mike Florio and Myles Simmons reflect on what a dominant career Aaron Donald had.

PFF previews the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-vs.-Los Angeles Rams matchup and spotlights the key players to watch for both teams.

Rams wideout Davante Adams last week became the 17th player in NFL history with 1,000 career catches and only the fifth player to have 10 or more touchdown catches in seven or more seasons.

Randy Moss and Jerry Rice (nine seasons) and Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens (eight) are the only other receivers to reach the latter mark, and all four are in the Hall of Fame.

Jac Collinsworth, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison preview the matchup between two of the NFC's best in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams.

Rams running back Kyren Williams has nine total touchdowns this season to give him 40 in his last 38 games, dating to the start of the 2023 season. In that span, the only player with more scores is Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs, who has 41 touchdowns in 43 games.

Drew Dinsick and Jay Croucher back a desperate Tampa Bay Buccaneers team facing the Rams, who are dealing with some key injuries.

Tampa Bay started the season as a Super Bowl contender by running off a 5-1 record full of comebacks and resilience. But as the season has gone on, its defense doesn't look like the type of unit built for a long postseason run. Its defense ranks in the league's bottom third in yards (22nd), passing yards (27th) and points allowed (tied for 21st) per game. No other defense has allowed more touchdowns of 20 yards or longer.

Tampa is also coming off the worst defensive performance since coach Todd Bowles began calling the team's defense in 2019. Last week, Buffalo lost three possessions to turnovers but scored 44 points on Tampa Bay anyway.

For just the third time this season, the Buccaneers will have wide receiver Chris Godwin on the field tonight.

Although Godwin is officially listed as questionable against the Rams, the Bucs expect him to play on "Sunday Night Football," according to multiple reports.

Godwin has missed 19 of the Buccaneers’ last 21 games. Last year, he missed the final 11 games with an ankle injury, and after he was finally cleared to play in Week 4 of this year, he played in just two games before he suffered a leg injury that has kept him out until now.

Read the full article here.

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