National Football League

Stafford's Rams or Brady's Buccaneers: Who's the pressure on in Week 3 tilt?

Published Sep. 24, 2021 8:36 a.m. ET

The stage is set for an NFC showdown in the City of Angels on Sunday.

Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at SoFi Stadium for America's Game of the Week (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX), and only one team will remain undefeated at game's end.

Heading into Sunday, Stafford and Brady are 1-1 against each other when fully healthy. Brady and the New England Patriots defeated Stafford and the Detroit Lions back in 2014, while Stafford reversed the Lions' fortunes in 2018 in beating Brady and the Pats.

But now, the two QBs are in different climates, navigating different expectations.

This season, the Buccaneers' defense has surrendered an average of 27 points per game through two weeks, but Tampa Bay leads the NFL in scoring at 39.5 PPG.

On the other side, the Rams are 8-2 in their past 10 home games and 12-2 in their past 14 September games, and this will be the first time the Rams face a Brady-led Bucs team with Stafford in their arsenal.

Who's facing the most pressure to perform on Sunday? The defending Super Bowl champs or the new-look Rams?

If you ask Chris Broussard, it's the home team.

On Thursday’s "First Things First," Broussard explained why Brady and Co. shouldn't be sweating a Week 3 matchup with the latest NFC contender, and how most of the pressure is on Stafford to prove he can stomp with the big dogs.

"This is a big test for Matt Stafford," Broussard said. "He looked great in Week 1, he looked very good in Week 2, but he is 8-67 in his career against winning teams. That is horrific.

"You know what [Brady] hates? He hates the fact he lost that undefeated season back in 2007. That they went 17-0 and lost the Super Bowl. … So I think Brady is going to have that locker room motivated. … I think Brady’s gonna have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers jacked, and they’ll play their best game of the year."

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Brady’s teams have gone 232-69 in the regular season and 34-11 in the postseason with him as the starter, while Stafford’s have gone 76-90-1 in the regular season and 0-3 in the playoffs. What's more, Stafford is 10-59 in his career against teams that went on to make the playoffs in that specific season.

Overall, Stafford has passed for slightly more yards per game than Brady — 273.7 compared to 263.6 — but the seven-time Super Bowl champion has the edge in career passer rating — 97.4 to Stafford's 90.3.

Nick Wright thinks the Rams will give the Buccaneers a run for their money in Brady's first game played in Los Angeles, due to the fact that Tampa Bay has more than just Stafford to worry about.

"They should be worried about the Rams part more than the Stafford part, because you have the two best defensive players in the entire sport and they play on the same team, and they work brilliantly together in Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey," Wright said.

"[And] I think it’s sneaky important that Antonio Brown is gonna miss the game … because it makes the … Bucs’ offense, at least slightly, easier to game-plan against."

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Brown was placed on the Buccaneers' COVID-19 list on Wednesday, but since he is vaccinated, Brown will have a chance to play in Sunday's game if he gets two negative COVID-19 tests ahead of kickoff.

While the Buccaneers could be without the Brady-Brown pairing, the Stafford and Copper Kupp connection is heating up. The Rams' wideout — and apparent favorite target of Stafford — is tied for the NFL lead in receptions (16) and tied for second in TDs (three).

Beyond that, Stafford is playing some of the best football of his career, completing a career-high 69.6% of his passes through two weeks and throwing for 321 yards and three touchdowns in his Rams debut.

On Thursday’s "Undisputed," Shannon Sharpe pointed out that while Stafford and the Rams will have their work cut out for them on Sunday, they shouldn't be intimidated by Brady, especially since he isn't the top-performing quarterback in the league right now, in Sharpe's opinion.

Sharpe gives that title to the Las Vegas Raiders' Derek Carr, comparing him to Brady through two weeks.

"Tom Brady has turned the ball over three times; Derek Carr has turned it over once," Sharpe said. "He has more yards, a higher completion percentage, yards per attempt and they have the same number of big plays. … And one guy beat the Ravens and the Steelers, and one guy beat Dallas and Atlanta."

Chances are, the winning team on Sunday will be the one whose quarterback has the better afternoon. And we've seen Brady have a few of the best afternoons in the history of the sport.

Maybe it's Stafford's turn.

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