Rams at Buccaneers Prediction odds key matchups how to watch stream Monday Night Football in Week 11
The Week 11 edition of "Monday Night Football" is a battle between two of the top teams in the NFC
Shawn Kemp Jersey . The 7-3 , looking to keep pace with the first-place , play host to the 6-3 . The Rams come in riding high off a fantastic victory against the division rival , while the Bucs bounced back last week with a blowout victory over the after getting demolished by the Saints the week before.If the Bucs secure a win, they'll remain the fifth seed in the NFC, but the Rams would fall from the sixth to the seventh seed. If the Rams win, they would jump over the Seahawks for the third seed in the NFC. OK, let's break it down.How to watchDate:Monday, Nov. 23 |Time:8:15 p.m. ETLocation:Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)TV:ESPN|Stream:fuboTV ( )Follow:When the Rams have the ballBy now, most are familiar with the style of offense the Rams run under Sean McVay. Everything they do is based off their outside zone running game, and they make an effort to ensure that nearly every play looks exactly the same right up until the moment it turns into something different. The Rams are heavy users of play action, motion, jet sweeps, and tight, bunch formations that pack defenders close to the line of scrimmage so that their a signments can get confused or someone can get picked while the receivers run their various cro sing routes. Their style of offense makes for a fascinating matchup with Todd Bowles' defense. The Bucs can bring pre sure from all different angles, and they have gotten a ridiculous amount of pre sure on play action dropbacks: per Pro Football Focus and Tru Media, opposing pa sers have been pre sured 51.1 percent of the time they have faked a run before looking to throw against Tampa Bay. For perspective, consider that the league average pre sure rate on such throws is around 35 percent.The Bucs being able to get so much pre sure is notable because e sentially collapses if you get defenders in his face. Per PFF and Tru Media, he has completed just 30 of 78 pa ses (39.5 percent) for 291 yards (3.7 per attempt), two touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 36.9 pa ser rating when under pre sure. No, that is not a typo.The Rams will have to strike a delicate balance between what
Kevin Porter Jersey works best for their pa sing game (play action) and what might put Goff in position to fail (being heavily pre sured). Goff -- like most quarterbacks -- does not find as much succe s when throwing from a straight dropback as he does when faking a run before delivering the ball. His pa ser rating plummets from 112.8 on play action throws to just 84.2 on regular dropbacks, per PFF and Tru Media. Tampa's pa s rushers (Shaq Barrett and on the edge, up the middle) are simply better players than their counterparts on the Los Angeles offensive line. The lo s of should also knock the Rams' line down a peg, with
Dylan Windler Jersey Joseph Noteboom (a former guard who lost his starting spot) stepping in at the position.On the outside, the matchups should be more even. will see a lot of in the slot, and he likely has the biggest advantage of any Rams wideout. may see shadow coverage from , leaving against the le s dangerous . Reynolds, though, has taken on a larger role in the offense over the past few weeks, actually out-targeting Woods in the team's last three games. Dean has been susceptible to double moves throughout the season, and it would be a ma sive upset if we did not see the Rams try to target him with one at some point on Monday evening.L.A. will presumably try to get its ground game going early in order to get the Bucs flowing toward the ball and then hit them with bootleg action, but , , and figure to find tough sledding. Even without in the middle of the defense, the Bucs have been quite difficult to run against. Tampa ranks second in the NFL in rush defense DVOA, per Football Outsiders, and seventh in the percentage of opponent rushing attempts stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. When the Buccaneers have the ballTampa's defense
Matt Mooney Jersey has gotten a lot of attention this season for its excellence, but did you know that the Rams defense actually leads the NFL in yards allowed per play? is balling as usual, with nine sacks, seven tackles for lo s, 17 quarterback hits, and 37 total pre sures, per PFF. is being used far more creatively than he ever was either in Jacksonville or last season with the Rams. Playing in the slot and closer to the line of scrimmage has given him more of an opportunity to make plays, and he's taken advantage of the chances he's been afforded.The Buccaneers offense, meanwhile, has been extremely inconsistent this season and often seemed subject to the whims of the opposing defense. In seven games against the the Panthers, , , , , and , the offense has done well, averaging 35.8 points per game. In three games against the Saints and , though, the Bucs have totaled just 45 points. So, how will they fare against the Rams?It's not a particularly good matchup for Tampa -- especially with star guard likely to mi s his third consecutive game. Not having Marpet on the inside has forced the Bucs to shuffle the line a bit, and his absence should mean more opportunities for Donald and to wreck things on the interior. The Bucs' offensive line is much more solid at the tackle spots, where and are playing quite well, but edge rushing isn't the strength of this L.A. defense anyway. How well Tampa manages to protect will be something to watch. Another question is how the Rams will utilize Ramsey. The Bucs realistically have four different players who could justify nece sitating his coverage in , , , and even . The Rams seem unlikely to use him as a strict shadow due to the volume of different pa sing options, but we should learn early on which player defensive coordinator Brandon Staley wants to take away from Brady. He has flashed far better chemistry with Godwin, Brown, and Gronkowski than with Evans throughout the season, so the bet here is that he ends up spending more time on that trio than Evans. The Rams can perhaps use corner on Evans.
Dante Exum Jersey He's having a strong season and is coming off his best game of the year, picking off two times in Week 10.The only other intrigue when it comes to the Tampa offense concerns how Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich will divvy up the touches between their running backs. seemingly has the first shot at carries and at pa sing downs, but they've also been willing to make one or the other the true lead guy for the entire contest, depending on game-flow. L.A.'s run defense is not quite as excellent as its pa s defense, but it's still a good one, and it could be tough sledding for Jones and/or Fournette throughout the evening.Prediction: Rams 20, Bucs 17