Last night’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers lived up to expectations. The Rams came out on top thanks to a Matt Gay field goal with 2:36 left, giving Tom Brady and the Bucs one last chance to tie or even win the game. Brady’s second interception of the game ultimately sealed Tampa Bay’s fate as Los Angeles was able to run down the final 1:49 of the game. This was the second loss in the past three games for Tampa Bay and questions of consistency seem to becoming more prevalent. One week they will be world beaters and the next they are very beatable.
The Buccaneers are just not consistent right now and unless they straighten things out it could result in a definite and premature end date on their season. What it will ultimately come down to for Tampa Bay is finding consistency. That may be a bit difficult considering their offensive scheme. The Buccaneers offense is one that can be disrupted and as we saw on Monday that is exactly what happened. If a defense can make Tom Brady uncomfortable and hit him enough it will have an impact on the effectiveness of their offense.
As far as Tom Brady is concerned it was not his best performance. Brady’s 54.2 completion percentage was his lowest of the season. In fact, Brady’s second-lowest came against New Orleans in Week 9 (57.9) and his third-lowest was in Week 5 in Chicago (61), both losses. As expected, the success or failure of Tampa Bay is dependent on the arm of Tom Brady. Whether or not that will carry the Buccaneers to their ultimate goal of a Super Bowl is the only question. Unless they become more consistent it is perfectly reasonable to wonder how far they will go once the playoffs begin.
