The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go on the road in Week 3 when they take on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in a game considered by many as a preview of the NFC Championship.
The Rams and the Buccaneers have identical 2-0 marks, but Los Angeles is a slight 1.5-point favorite over Tampa Bay, according to a report by Nicholas Cothrel of Sports Illustrated.
The Buccaneers hurdled their first two assignments, beating the Dallas Cowboys, 31-29, in Week 1, and the Atlanta Falcons, 48-25, in Week 2.
The Rams, for their part, crushed the Chicago Bears; Cothrel reported that sportsbooks expect the Buccaneers-Rams clash to be a high-scoring game, with Tampa Bay averaging 39.5 points and Los Angeles scoring an average of 30.5 points per outing.
And for the first time in his 22-year NFL career, Tom Brady will play a regular-season game in Los Angeles on Sunday, per a previous tweet by Adam Schefter of ESPN.
When the Buccaneers play at the Rams on Sunday, it will mark the first NFL game that Tom Brady has played in Los Angeles.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 20, 2021No less than Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James welcomed the 44-year-old Brady ahead of his visit to the Rams, tweeting Yessir!! The GOAT is coming to town!” per Michael Corvo of Clutch Points.
Yessir!! The 🐐 coming to town!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 20, 2021Brady has a 5-1 mark vs. Rams
With the Buccaneers a sentimental favorite to win their second straight Super Bowl title, Brady can also make another return in Los Angeles as SoFi Stadium is set to play host Super Bowl LVI.
The Buccaneers last visited Los Angeles two years ago, but they played at L.A. Coliseum.
They scored a franchise-record 55 points, but they needed a late-game defensive touchdown by Ndamukong Suh to seal the 55-40 win, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com.
Brady, for his part, defeated the Rams, 13-3, in Super Bowl LIII when he was still playing for the New England Patriots.
However, Brady would be facing a new quarterback as Jared Goff was traded to the Detroit Lions for veteran Matthew Stafford.
This season, Stafford has thrown for 599 yards and five touchdowns, and one interception while Brady has thrown for nine touchdowns in two games for the Buccaneers. Brady has a 5-1 record against the Rams in his career, including two victories in Super Bowl.
Bucs place two players on COVID-19 list
Per Smith, the Buccaneers have made several roster moves, including placing inside linebacker Kevin Minter on the reserve/COVID-19 list and wide receiver Travis Jonsen on the practice squad/COVID-19 list.
In addition, the Buccaneers released cornerback Herb Miller from the practice squad. Minter won’t count against the Buccaneers' 53-man roster on the COVID list, while Jonsen won’t count against the 16-man practice squad. Minter and Jonsen can return to the team if they are symptom-free and produce two negative COVID tests administered at least 24 hours apart.
