Surgeon Brady ready to dissect Rams
TOM Brady says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ regular season drubbing by the Los Angeles Rams will count for little when the two sides collide in the NFL playoffs early on Monday morning (NT time).
Brady’s Bucs were roughed up when the two teams met in California in September, with the Rams barrelling past the reigning Super Bowl champions 34-24.
The NFC heavyweights meet again at the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium where a place in the NFC Championship game will be on the line.
Bucs quarterback Brady, who looked close to his clinical best in dispatching the Phila
delphia Eagles last weekend, says the September loss to the Rams had no bearing on this showdown.
“They’re each their own type of game,” Brady said. “They’re going to require their own individual type of game and are going to require their own individual performances.
“The point is it doesn’t really matter what happened when we played in (September).” That early season loss did provide Brady with invaluable intelligence on this weekend’s opponents though.
“Anytime you play your opponent it gives you an understanding of what they do well, things you wish you would have done,” said the 44-yearold seven-time Super Bowl champion, renowned for poring over hours of footage of opponents. That could spell trouble for the Rams.
Or as Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians put it: “Once Tom Brady figures you out – you’re in trouble. He’s a surgeon.” Tampa could be bolstered by the return of running back Leonard Fournette.