What Was The Rams Defense Doing On The Final Drive Against Tampa?

We have a great appreciation here at Football Film Room for Tom Brady’s last-minute heroics in general (Check out the 7 plays from each of Brady’s Super Bowl wins that define him as a quarterback). But the Buccaneers’ game-winning drive against the Rams in Week 9 wasn’t the result of him being clutch, or special, or pulling out some “Brady Magic.” It was the result of terrible situational football by the Rams, who can now start their planning for the 2023 season as a result.

Let’s start with the situation. The Buccaneers needed a touchdown and had no timeouts, 44 seconds remaining, and 60 yards to cover. Not ideal for an offense that had gained just 269 yards on 73 plays to that point (3.68 yards per play).

The Rams needed to avoid giving up the big play, to be sure. But they didn’t need to be in such soft non-disruptive coverages for the entire drive as if the Buccaneers only had time for one final play. I’m not saying they needed to go Gregg-Williams aggressive and bring a 0-blitz on every snap, but there are ways to be aggressive without being stupid. At very least, why not keep playing with some semblance of the approach that helped you kick in the Buccaneers’ teeth all game?

Approach aside, the Rams’ executed with such such terrible situational awareness on Tampa’s first play that it completely changed the rest of the drive.

First, let’s look at the route combination. The Buccaneers would run 4-verts, which was not a complete shocker given the situation:

But watch Jalen Ramsey, who was playing inside here. He barely got any depth at the snap and just kept his eyes on Brady as tight end Cade Otton ran right by him on his vertical route:

Given the situation, it made no sense for him not to get more depth and carry Otton’s route. Perhaps there was a miscommunication here and he wasn’t on the same page with the rest of the defense. Either way, Otton was left wide open to run freely through the deep middle for a 28-yard gain:

At that point, the approach of the defense had to change. The Bucs were instantly within striking distance with the ball at the Rams’ 32-yardline and 28 seconds remaining. Now, the situation was less about giving up yards but allowing the clock to run. Instead, it was more about actually having to stop Tampa’s offense. They just couldn’t be allowed to get any closer to the end zone and have multiple legitimate shots at a touchdown. It was time to get back to playing some actual defense.

Not only did the Rams fail to do this, they would go on to give up easy yards AND allow the Buccaneers to stop the clock by getting out of bounds…repeatedly.

After Tampa was given 4 yards as well as the ability to get out of bounds on 2nd-and-10, the Buccaneers faced a 3rd-and-6 with 24 seconds remaining. The defense doesn’t have to treat this like it’s a normal 3rd down necessarily, especially since it’s 4-down territory and the bigger concern is preventing a touchdown. That said, you can’t do this: