Since Tom Brady arrived in Tampa Bay, the Bucs have gone 0-2 against the Rams in the regular season. They meet for the first time in the postseason on Sunday.
On Thursday, Brady was asked about his team’s ability to “avenge” regular-season losses in the playoffs. He downplayed that subject.
“I think all of these games are little bit independent from one another,” Brady told reporters. “Yeah, we played them earlier in the year, but it’s a very different team we had, and I think a little bit of a different team they had, too, so they are each their own individual type of game. They’re going to require their own individual performance and stuff. I think the point is it doesn’t really matter what happened in [September] when we played them last. It’s really about this game and what we learned from the last game. Any time you know you’re opponent I think that gives you a little bit of understanding of kind of what they do well, things you wish you would’ve done. But it’s a very talented football team [and] one of the great teams in the NFL -- really good offense, tremendous defense, really well-coached, great specialists. It’s going to be a very, very difficult game for us.”
Both teams are indeed different from their Week Three meeting. The Rams arguably are better, with running back Cam Akers recovered from a torn Achilles tendon, linebacker Von Miller added via trade, and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. signed as a free agent.
Still, the vibe becomes very different in a single-elimination setting. Case in point, Brady has an 0-4 record against the Saints in two seasons with Tampa. Last January, however, Brady and the Bucs won in New Orleans during the divisional round.