Tom Brady sees no weaknesses in the Rams: ‘Everything about this week is challenging’
As difficult as this matchup with the Buccaneers is for the Los Angeles Rams, it’s equally tough for Tampa Bay. The Rams are undefeated and have one of the best offenses in the NFL so far, paired with a defense that ranked first overall last season.
The Bucs are the slight favorites in this one, but the Rams opened the week favored just barely over Tampa Bay, so this is expected to be a tight game regardless of who wins. Tom Brady didn’t have the easiest time against this Rams defense last season, completing just 26 of 48 passes for 216 yards with two touchdowns and two picks – both of which were by Jordan Fuller.
In his press conference this week, Brady admitted that this is going to be a real challenge for Tampa Bay, both offensively and defensively.
“This week is really challenging because they’ve got good players in the secondary, they have a good front and we lost to them last year,” Brady said, via the team’s official site. “They’re one of the top-rated defenses in the league. They have one of the greatest defensive players of all-time. Everything about this week is challenging — really good defense, really good offense, we’ve got a long way to travel. It’s a big game for both of us.”
Part of what makes the Rams defense so strong is the combination of Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd rushing the passer, and Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams clamping down receivers in the secondary. Fuller patrolling the deep middle can make life difficult for opposing quarterbacks, too, as Brady learned in their matchup last season.
Here’s what Brady said of the Rams’ disguised coverages and pass rush, praising both phases of Los Angeles’ defense.
“It’s just a very challenging team because they do a good job disguising coverages, but they’ve got a great pass rush,” Brady said. “You can’t really pick up on anything presnap because they’re holding disguises and, at the same time, they have a pass rush that gets home really quick. The corners do a great job of locking onto receivers and I think they do a good job of all having their eyes on the quarterback and reacting to where the quarterback is looking.
“So there are not a lot of chances to go to second reads and so forth because if you look one way, chances are the ball has got to come out just because of how fast that pass rush gets home.”
There’s a reason both the Bucs and Rams are 2-0 and seem like Super Bowl contenders. They’re two of the best teams in football right now, which will make Sunday a fun game to watch.
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