Buccaneers beat defending NFC champs in offensive shootout

After a devastating loss a week ago, the Buccaneers bounced back yesterday to take down the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams.

Nobody expected it, few predicted it, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came away with a victory over the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams in a complete offensive shootout. In a game that came down to the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers came out as victorious with a score of 55-40, thanks to the gift who keeps on giving, Shaquil Barrett and his strip sack that was returned for a score.

Barrett has now tallied his league-leading ninth sack on the season and looks well on his way to receiving a $20 million extension this offseason at this pace. He even added an interception on a fourth and short stand by the Buccaneers, leaving Los Angeles with a sack, forced fumble, and interception on the day.

Defensively, safety Jordan Whitehead continues has ascent in his second season, adding an interception to his day; Lavonte David also added a pick for the Buccaneers as their defense tallied four takeaways on the day in their defeat of the Rams. The Bucs do, however, need their outside coverage of Vernon Hargreaves and Carlton Davis to step up as they were both torched on the day.

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Offensively, it looks like the Buccaneers are getting the consistency they have been looking for out of quarterback Jameis Winston over the past four years as he has put together his third solid performance in a row yesterday. Winston finished the aerial attack on the Rams with 385 yards passing and four touchdowns, completing over 68 percent of his passes on the day.

Bad interceptions are part of Winston’s nature, but he has done a great job of limiting his turnovers to just two over the last three weeks. If Winston keeps this progress up, the Bucs are going to hand out some dollar bills to him after the year as well.

Ronald Jones is on the loose, and he is phasing out Peyton Barber, out-touching him 20 to just nine for Barber. The Buccaneers are finally getting the explosive back that they were expecting out of Jones when they took him with the 38th overall pick in the draft a year ago.

At the receiver position, the Buccaneers may have the best receiving duo in the league, as Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are both on pace for double-digit touchdowns and 1,000 yards receiving for the pewter and red this year. Godwin is another player who is proving that he deserves a nice pay raise at the end of the season as well.

Kicker Matt Gay even bounced back nicely after the fan base was ready to cut bait, hitting a massive 58 yard kick yesterday, and piping all of his extra points as well. It was nice to see punter Bradley Pinion on the sidelines for most of the game as well.

The Bucs took a definite step forward yesterday in Los Angeles. There are still some issues to be worked out in the secondary and at the offensive tackle spots, but the pewter and red are headed in the right direction.