Gameday Tampa Bay (Playoff Edition)
January 23rd, 2022
Divisonal Round
Rams (13-5) at Bucs (14-4)
Kickoff: 3 p.m.
TV: NBC, WFLA-TV Channel 8.
Streaming: Fans may stream the broadcast from Buccaneers.com or on a mobile device using one of the following: Buccaneers official app, Peacock app or Yahoo! Sports app. Geographic restrictions apply.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network WXTB-FM 97.9 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg region (Transmisiones de radio en español en WTMP-FM 96.1 y WMGG-AM 1470 en Tampa). Additional stations throughout Florida on the Buccaneers Radio Network can be found here. The game will also be broadcast on SiriusXM Channel 82 (Buccaneers Radio Network) and on SiriusXM NFL Radio Channel 88 (Westwood One national feed).
Weather: It will be cold (for Florida standards), per AccuWeather.com. Look for a high of 60 at kickoff and that will be the warmest of the day. Temperature will slowly but surely drop and by game’s end should be 54.
Odds: Per BetMGM, as of noon Saturday, Bucs -2.5; over/under 47.5.
Injuries: Rams — Out: S Taylor Rapp (concussion), LT Andrew Whitworth (knee). Doubtful: RB Buddy Howell. Bucs — Out: WR Breshad Perriman (hip/abdomen), RB Ronald Jones (ankle). Questionable: RB Cyril Grayson (hamstring), C Ryan Jensen (ankle), CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (hamstring), OLB Jason Pierre-Paul (personal), RT Tristan Wirfs (ankle).
Outlook: For Joe, this game is the Bucs’ biggest hurdle to returning to the Super Bowl. That’s right. Joe typed that. This is just a bad, bad mismatch. Doesn’t mean the Bucs cannot win, just that it will be the toughest task on the road to Los Angeles. The Rams already slapped around the Bucs and they are better than when they played the Bucs in Week 3. Cam Akers is back and not only is Odell Beckham on the team, but he is making a difference. What scares Joe is the injuries to the Bucs offensive line. That is massive, especially the way the Rams can rush the passer. If Raheem Morris and the Rams don’t scheme a way to get Aaron Donald on Josh Wells or whoever plays for Tristan Wirfs (Joe is assuming he won’t play), Joe would be shocked. If the Bucs can get Playoff Lenny on track, that would be huge. That way, you play keepaway from Matt Stafford, Cooper Kupp, OBJ and Akers. It would sure help if Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles dials back his blitzes because extra men in the secondary seems to rattle Stafford. Turnovers very well could decide this game. If the Bucs win today, Joe is feeling really, really good about the Bucs heading to Los Angeles in three weeks.
Trinkets: QB Matthew Stafford ranked second in NFL in touchdown passes (41) and third in passing yards (4,886) in 2021. Is 1 of 6 quarterbacks all-time with 2+ seasons (2) with 4,000+ pass yards & 40+ touchdown passes. Had nine games with 3+ touchown passes, most in NFL this season. Had 2 touchdowns in NFC-Wild Card game against Arizona. Passed for 343 yards and 4 touchdowns vs. 0 picks in Week 3 meeting. … RB Sony Michel had 973 scrimmage yards (845 rushing, 128 receiving) and 5 touchdowns (4 rushing, 1 receiving.) in 2021. Has 6 rush touchdowns in 5 career
playoff games. … RB Cam Akers has 367 scrimmage yards (122.3 per game) & 2 rush touchdowns in 3 career playoff games and aims for his fourth playoff game in a row with 95+ scrimmage yards. … WR Cooper Kupp led NFL with 145 receptions, 1,947 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns in 2021, second-most catches and second-most receiving yards in single-season in NFL history. Became third player [Hall of Famers Michael Irvin (1995) and Calvin Johnson (2012)] with 11 100-yard games in single-season all-time. Had receiving touchdown in NFC-Wild Card vs. Arizona. … WR Odell Beckham has 6 touchdown catches in eight games with the Rams including his first career-postseason touchdown catch last week agaist the Cardinals. … TE Tyler Higbee (East Lake High School grad) had a touchdown catch against the Bucs in Week 3 … DL Aaron Donald had 12.5 sacks this season and became the fourth player since 1982 with eight sacks in each of his first eight seasons. he has had six tackles for loss in seven postseason games. Donald had a sack and a forced fumble against the Bucs in Week 3. … LB Von Miller has 6 sacks and 15 tackles for loss in nine games with the Rams including last week’s game, He has 7.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss in eight career playoff games. CB Jalen Ramsey was the only player with 15+ passes defended (16) and five+ tackles for loss (9) in 2021. Had 8 tackles in Week 3 meeting. … CB David Long had his first career pick-six last week. … QB Tom Brady is the postseason all-time leader in games (46), wins (35), passing yards (12,720), passing touchdowns (85), Super Bowl titles (7) and Super Bowl MVPs. Led the NFL in passing yards (career-high 5,316) and passing touchdowns (43), third-most passing yards in a single season all-time, and had 485 completions, most in a single-season all-time. Became the third quarterback since 1991 to lead NFL in attempts, completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns in the same season. Joined Drew Brees as the only quarterbacks with multiple 5,000-yard seasons and Aaron Rodgers as the only quarterbacks with three 40+ touchdown passing seasons. … RB Leonard Fournette has 734 scrimmage yards (104.9 per game) & 8 touchdowns (7 rush, 1 receiving) in 7 career playoff games. Can become the seventh running back all-time with a touchdown in 7 straight postseason games. … RB Giovani Bernard and RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn each had a rushing touchdown in the NFC Wild Card game against the Eagles. … WR Mike Evans had 117 receiving yards and a touchdown catch last week. Evans became the first player in NFL history with 1,000+ receiving yards in each of his first 8 seasons (1,035 receiving yards in 2021). Evans ranked second in the NFL with 14 touchdown catches this season. … TE Rob Gronkowski has 15 touchdown catches in 21 career playoff games, second-most in postseason history. … ILB Lavonte David has 4 passes defended in his past 5 playoff games. David is 1 of 2 (Bobby Wagner) with 85+ tackles in each of past 10 seasons. … ILB Devin White has a tackle for loss and a pass defended in 3 of his 4 career playoff games. … OLB Shaq Barrett had his first-career playoff pick last week. … S Mike Edwards had a pick last week. He has a pass defended in 4 of his 5 career postseason games. … S Antoine Winfield had his first-career playoff sack last week.
Fun fact: Tom Brady has won his past nine straight division-round playoff games.
.@rondebarber is breaking down the win 🎦#GoBucs pic.twitter.com/0dCfR0NjQ6
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 20, 2022
The Ira Kaufman Podcast. Dial It Up!
Buccaneers legend Derrick Brooks and Sage of Tampa Bay Sports Ira Kaufman fire up another edition of TAMPA TWO. Another fun production from The Identity Tampa Bay and Joe.
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:04 am
First! LFG
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:09 am
who’s the hottie?
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:09 am
Did they bring up John Brown or not?
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:10 am
Yes.
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:12 am
Thanks Joe, just saw it on team website. Sorry we get so needy, man!
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:12 am
Any insight about why Griff?
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:17 am
Bucs have never been the Rams in the playoffs, 0-2.
Need to change that.
There’s no way that a road team will win 3 in a row in the divisional round… hopefully.
There’s no way the NFL doesn’t want that juicy Brady vs Jimmy G matchup, right?… The NFL owes us one after rigging that 2000 NFC Championship game vs the Greatest Scams on Turf.
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:19 am
Joe, do we know why JPP is listed as questionable (personal)? I know he’s injured and everything but what is the personal tag repeated to.
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:20 am
Related to*
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:27 am
Colin
I saw that too. He missed most of this weeks practice although he probably wasn’t gonna practice much anyway. They need him and Shaq and even the rookie to get after Stafford!
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:30 am
@ Rod…….what the hell are you even talking about in 2000???
Do you even know who that player was?
What year it even happened?
And What the NFL did because of it?
…….Listen up clown, before you even try to say sheit on here like you know Buccaneers history……get your facts straight first!!!!
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:35 am
yeah the nfl doesn’t want another tiresome rams niners game…
they want tommy sleephead serving up the niners like a jeff garcia did…
#WeTalkBucsWhileTommySnoozes
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:47 am
TheBucsAnthem – hey stupid… NFC Championship – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at St. Louis Rams – January 23rd, 2000
You look like an idiot.
January 23rd, 2022 at 1:02 am
Back to Griffin – if something god forbid happens to Tom, and if it ever could this is the game……who is the lesser liability to put in there, Griff or Goobert?
I’d tap Griff every time and twice on Sundays. And since tomorrow is Sunday, there ya go.
Goobert gives the Bucs zero chance to win, he can’t help but want to show off his strong arm where Griff is the classic short passing game guy, who can occasionally get a lob to fall into a receiver’s hands.
Great move to bring Griff up.
January 23rd, 2022 at 1:04 am
If something happened to Brady, you might as well stop the game and send everyone home, because the game is over.
January 23rd, 2022 at 1:04 am
I imagine they have at least 5 play calls for John Brown. That could be enough with Brady.
January 23rd, 2022 at 1:07 am
What an understatement Rod!
January 23rd, 2022 at 1:11 am
Truly strange and a little scary how the football gods (who are real) have their son, TB12’s back at all times. Every year!…….we’re just along for the ride, but what an amazing ride it is.
LFG!
January 23rd, 2022 at 2:33 am
IT’S PAYBACK TIME FOR BERT EMMANUEL.
NEVER FORGET.
January 23rd, 2022 at 4:03 am
win one for the gipper…
no…
win one for bert emmanuel
January 23rd, 2022 at 4:24 am
Yeah bucsanthem looks bad
January 23rd, 2022 at 6:50 am
Why would you think a Bucs fan doesn’t know that info about Bert?
I’m so confused how that got under Anthems skin?
Listening to NFL channel this morning and just them putting LA before Tampa Bay as destinations for the 49ers is ticking me off lol.
If your a head coach with the 1st name Sean, I can’t stand you.
Watching him smile on the sidelines like he is the greatest offensive mind of all time is infuriating. I think Bowles successfully brings the Voodoo today.
Today. How awesome to be a Bucs fan.
January 23rd, 2022 at 7:08 am
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Let’s F#&% GO TAMPA!
January 23rd, 2022 at 10:09 am
Let’s steal a page from the the 49er playbook having Deebo running back punts and kick offs. Rojo or Lenny? A special teams difference in a close game.
January 23rd, 2022 at 10:14 am
Bring the noise today Bucs fans. Get to your seats early. We need that stadium rocking all day. Let’s go Bucs!
January 23rd, 2022 at 10:26 am
No reason why the Bucs can’t win today especially if the entire first-string Defense is starting. Now, one of the Rams O-line is injured and won’t start. Correct?
January 23rd, 2022 at 11:58 am
I am hearing in a lot of places that this will be Tom Brady’s last game, if we lose. It was all over Q105 and Mason Dixon asked the question “Is This Brady’s Last Game”. Of course, if we win he will continue to play, until he either win or loses a Super Bowl, and then that will be it.
My personal opinion is, this is Brady’s last year, or last game, if we lose.
I just can not see him coming back next year.
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Hey Rod – of course you’re right if Brady goes down. I was simply looking for a shred of logic to the Griffin move. Also, we all know how BA loves Goobert. It’s just a personal preference that I’d rather Griff than Goobert. And it’s why I’m a fan and not in Bucs personnel.
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:35 pm
If Brady loses and does not return next season, Chances are Arians follows. Lets hope Brady wins. Don’t think I can stomach Trask and the learning curve he will face.
January 23rd, 2022 at 2:21 pm
Expecting a win. I agree with Joe that this Rams matchup is the probably the toughest game for us en route to Superbowl. Don’t care how this game goes as long as we win.
GO BUCS!!