Rams make case as NFC favorites with demolition of Buccaneers

INGLEWOOD — Even before kickoff between the Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the SoFi Stadium record crowd of 75,545 understood what was at stake this Sunday. With each step of the Cowboys’ comeback against the Eagles shown on the Oculus video ring, the crowd cheered.

No love for Dallas. Rather, the understanding that if Philadelphia lost, the Rams would be playing to take control of the No. 1 seed in the NFC on Sunday night.

The Eagles’ loss put that fate in the Rams’ hands. And with a 34-7 demolition of the NFC South-leading Bucs (6-5), the Rams (9-2) made their case to be the favorites to win their conference come January.

“It feels good, but that’s what we expected,” outside backer Jared Verse said.

After a performance like that, there’s no examination of what went wrong with the offense. No moral victory for the opponent, as there was last week when the Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks by just two.

Just an unequivocal statement by the Rams on a national stage on Sunday Night Football.

Just Matthew Stafford completing his first 12 passes en route to a 25-for-35, 273-yard, three-TD performance, extending his streak without an interception to eight games and 27 touchdowns, the latter tying an NFL record.

Just Puka Nacua toe-tapping his way along the sidelines to 97 yards, and Davante Adams beating man coverage to add two more receiving touchdowns to his NFL-leading 12.

“I’m having the most fun playing that I’ve ever had,” Adams said. “It’s just one of those things where we just have a lot of fun together. … [Head coach Sean McVay is] always talking about being totally and completely present, and that’s really what we are. Nobody’s thinking about the third quarter, nobody’s thinking about the end of the game, it’s more just about enjoying where our feet are.”

Just the offensive line, down starting right tackle Rob Havenstein, keeping Stafford mostly upright and tight end Colby Parkinson adding four catches for 41 yards and a touchdown for a third straight game in Tyler Higbee’s absence.

Just cornerback Cobie Durant batting away a deep ball, making a tackle for loss on a screen pass, and, for good measure, ripping the ball away from Cade Otton for his third interception of the season, all in the first quarter.

And safety Kam Kinchens running the length of the field to deliver the final block that allowed Durant to return the pick 50 yards for a touchdown, Stafford holding his hand above his head like a dorsal fin in Durant’s “landshark” celebration.

“I always tell my mom, like, ‘Matthew did the landshark thing,’ ” Durant joked.

And it’s not a Rams win without the pass rush getting home, with Kobie Turner and Verse each tallying two. Verse’s first came on a three-man rush, bullying All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs backwards.

“I feel like we’ve definitely made a strong statement that we’re one of the best in the league if not the best,” Verse said. “I feel like we’re definitely dominating.”

Even the Rams’ one weakness this season – the field-goal unit – looked like it might be resolved on Sunday as kicker Harrison Mevis made his first two field goal attempts of his career, including a 52-yarder.

Before the first quarter was up, the Rams had the SoFi Stadium crowd rocking, feeling the momentum that this team is carrying into the final six games of the season.

“We feel it on the sideline,” Stafford said.

Any way you slice it, the Rams dominated Tampa Bay to win their sixth straight game. Whether it was a 333-193 advantage in total yardage, or holding an offense that averaged 222.2 passing yards per game through the first 10 games to 70 on Sunday, the Rams left no doubt.

Make no qualification about this performance. Sure, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield did not return in the second half with a left shoulder injury. But the Rams already had a 31-7 lead before he left the game.

This was just one team imposing its will over another, and declaring for all to see in an island game that they are not to be trifled with in a competitive NFC.

“They’ve done a great job through 11 games of putting themselves in this position,” McVay said. “Stay humble, stay in the moment, let’s continue to lean into our preparation, have the appropriate urgency but also the enjoyment. This team has fun and good football is fun and when you’re doing it with good people you don’t want to let down, that’s really fun.”