Rams Starting Left Tackle Ruled Out
January 21st, 2022
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford just lost his four-time Pro Bowl veteran left tackle for Sunday’s game.
Joe is drooling. Hopefully Shaq Barrett is, too.
The rock of The Rams’ offensive line, 40-year-old Andrew Whitworth, will not play Sunday in Tampa at The Licht House.
Los Angeles also announced starting safety Taylor Rapp will not be freed from the NFL concussion protocol and will not play.
Joe expects the Whitworth injury will equate to Shaq lining up as a rusher on the right side while one-armed Jason Pierre-Paul will primarily be on the left edge. Joseph Noteboom (17 career starts) is expected to fill in at left tackle for Whitworth. It would be Noteboom’s first career postseason start.
Joe thinks Shaq against Noteboom — as well as the Bucs’ blitz machine — may be more of a concern for the Rams than Von Miller potentially rushing against a backup Bucs right tackle.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:01 pm
Shaq eat.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:06 pm
This certainly levels the playing field for the Bucs. We are hurting for bodies but at least the Rams have a few out as well.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:06 pm
Yes! we need any advantage we can get..Taylor rapp and that LT is a huge loss for the rams and we can maybe capitalize
January 21st, 2022 at 6:20 pm
Lions beat em 19-17 for 3 quarters in week 7.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:21 pm
Bucs win.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:23 pm
Sorry to say that Whitworth being out doesn’t matter, Mcvay will scheme around his absence.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:26 pm
Wow this is big news. Time to pressure Stafford hard
January 21st, 2022 at 6:30 pm
Now we just need Aaron Donald suspended for repeatedly choking dudes. How did he not even get a fine for last week’s game???
The NFL isn’t at the NCAA level of ridiculousness when it comes to fines, but the fact that I’m evening thinking of the comparison is concerning.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:36 pm
I’ve seen well coached backup O-Linemen (Saints, for one team) keep the Bucs pass rushers off of their QB. I hope this is different.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:40 pm
Wow. That is kinda big news. They may running back / tight end help with blocking.
And rapp is one of their few healthy safeties
January 21st, 2022 at 6:41 pm
Anthony Nelson has been the most efficient sacker over the last quarter of tahoe season. He needs more snaps, he’s got better cognizance of what’s going on around him than headless chicken JTS.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:42 pm
The season ?tahoe? Sorry!
January 21st, 2022 at 6:50 pm
Whoever filled in at LT against the Cards must have done ok. Stafford only sacked once, and he got injured on the first series, I think.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:51 pm
Howard believes in Playoff-Shaqqy, the Gravegiggers and the Bucs D
January 21st, 2022 at 6:53 pm
They faced the Vikings without whitworth and Stafford hardly got touched. Rams won that game 30-23 but again it’s the Vikings and their coaching staff blows. They had a lot of sacks this year though.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:54 pm
Stafford was awful in that vikings game so maybe they got some pressures. The defense needs to step on sunday. Have to.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:13 pm
Shaq > Von
Vea/Suh > Donald
JPP > ???
Their LBs are weaker than ours…..secondary is weaker than ours. I think our defense surprises some folks in this game.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:32 pm
James Jones what a bum, talking on NFL network like Bucs r trash! 30-17 Rams, what ever said it would not be close…. he always picks against us. That’s could because he was 0-3 last 3 playoff games year ago. Green Bay bum!!!
January 21st, 2022 at 7:37 pm
Good
January 21st, 2022 at 7:39 pm
The Lions beat Rams 19-17 for 3 quarters in week 7.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:41 pm
Hurt left tackle maybe worse than hurt right tackle?
January 21st, 2022 at 7:45 pm
Rams are.missing starting lb , safeties, and left tackle and all we have been told about was how banged up the bucs are … what about the rams being jacked up so glad we didn’t have to travel this week or it would be wirfs out already
January 21st, 2022 at 7:52 pm
need Ray Jay super loud on Sunday!
January 21st, 2022 at 7:53 pm
OMG, this is the BEST news I have heard lately.
Whitworth is an awesome Tackle who has shut the door on our rushers nearly every time we have played them!
Stafford is absolutely terrible when pressured, so if we can get to him, we can win!
January 21st, 2022 at 7:56 pm
Don’t blitz. That is where Stafford is most dangerous.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:59 pm
Good news, although I admit I don’t know who their backup tackle is, and if he’s any good. Hopefully not good, and our pass rushers feast.
To quote a line from Dumb and Dumber: “So you’re saying there’s a chance?” LOL.
GO BUCS!! Sheep is on the menu for dinner on Sunday. FEAST!!
January 21st, 2022 at 8:02 pm
PS: Sorry, the backup is Notebloom, 17 career starts. He will be taking copious notes of how the Bucs ends bloomed right by him for 27 sacks this game.
All I’m saying is there could be a chance for 27 sacks. ROFL!!
GO BUCS!!
January 21st, 2022 at 8:03 pm
It’s a big loss, Ben won’t deny. Coach Sean will undoubtedly send help in the form of a chipping back, or a motioning TE. Y’all had better pray that you can get after the enigma that is Matt Stafford, cuz if y’all dontz, it’ll be a long day
January 21st, 2022 at 8:07 pm
PSS: Joes, is it OK if one uses an opposing player’s name for satire? (Yes, I realize his name is Noteboom, not Notebloom).
January 21st, 2022 at 8:08 pm
Ben green, did you change your name to “Bqen green?”
We are confused.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:18 pm
I’ll shed a tear for him.
Someday.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:19 pm
Kgh4life Says:
January 21st, 2022 at 6:23 pm
Sorry to say that Whitworth being out doesn’t matter, Mcvay will scheme around his absence.
Like he did against New England in the Super Bowl when he allowed 4 and 1/2 sacks to that team that only had 30 sacks for the season. Or the fact that he they only ran the ball in that Super Bowl for 62 yards.
Short memory there Kgh4life.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:25 pm
Would like to see one of our CBs jump a route this game. Rams will attack our edges over and over again Sunday. Gotta tackle well and we will be ok.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:27 pm
this could be win or bust for rams. they went all out this year. obj, stafford, miller. Tom can smell blood. he is the franchise destroyer
January 21st, 2022 at 8:33 pm
we will get revenge on stafford for all those big runs that barry sanders did against us over the years…
that’s right – never forget…
make stafford pay…lol…never forget…
and now he goes to the rams?
and now he must pay for the bert emmanuel play…
and vince ferragamo winning 9-0 in 1979…
and kurt warner not bagging groceries fast enough for my wife…
stafford must pay for all their mistakes in both cities……hahaha
January 21st, 2022 at 8:48 pm
McVay and his staff will scheme around their handicaps and Arians and his staff will scheme around our handicaps.
Bucs Win! Bucs Win! Bucs win!
January 21st, 2022 at 8:50 pm
Seems most are predicting a “close game” one way or the other.
Heck, even most of the local sports reporters are at best giving the Bucs a win by 1 or 2 points.
Betting is all over the place. Big money being put on both teams.
There isn’t much consensus. NFLPickWatch has the expert picks divided literally 50-50.
January 21st, 2022 at 9:51 pm
Bucs 31-13.
January 21st, 2022 at 9:59 pm
Is cyril grayson playing?
January 21st, 2022 at 10:01 pm
Shaq, JPP…. Get Some!!!!
January 21st, 2022 at 10:06 pm
Rapp had good tear , tying for the team lead with four interceptions and finishing second on the team in tackles with 94.
January 21st, 2022 at 10:19 pm
There are zero excuses to lose this game. Both teams are missing key players and we have the best player on either team in Brady. I can’t wait for Sunday!
January 21st, 2022 at 10:56 pm
Getting to Stafford will definitely help.
Can’t come out slow in this game. Have to convert 1st downs in this game. Short offensive possessions will kill us. Move the chains early, run the ball effectively. We honestly need to have at least 25 rushing attempts in this game.
The keys to beating the Rams are to get up early and move the chains the rest of the game. We have to be ahead at halftime to give ourselves a chance to win this game. If we get down more than 8 points it’s probably over.
January 21st, 2022 at 10:58 pm
Here is the deal.
I predicted that we would get shutout by the Saints. 100% FACT
I did so because I felt we needed to.
This game against the SHEEP is the reason why. We didn’t get shutout because we couldn’t score. Rather we needed to put some BAD tape on film.
So check this out…. You heard it here first and ONLY. That Saints game was for the Playoffs. From here on out EVERY team is gonna try to beat us the way the Saints did.
HOWEVER, that game was the long CON. You cant beat us the way the Saints did…. UNLESS, we let you.
Therefore, the Sheep have already been put to paster.
NOW, if you want to be concerned about something. Worry about the PACKERS beating the 9ers
January 21st, 2022 at 11:29 pm
wasn’t he out last game? anyway whatever little bt helps!
January 22nd, 2022 at 1:08 am
Noteboom allowed one sack in 174 snaps this season. He was very good in pass blocking. If Wirfs is hobbled, we’re in a far worse situation than the Rams.
January 22nd, 2022 at 1:21 am
SORRY TO BURST EVERYONE’S BUBBLE (INCLUDING JOE’S)…
Noteboom has started 2 games this season and the Rams won both games (2-0).
Noteboom also started at LT last season when the Rams beat the Bucs.
According to PFF, he still grades out at one of the best blocking LT’s in the NFL.
January 22nd, 2022 at 2:27 am
side note about noteboom, he wears perfoom
January 22nd, 2022 at 3:57 am
NeverGIVEup,
So the Bucs lost to the Saints on purpose?
LOL. That’s makes no sense. That loss cost us the #1 Seed and a bye.
January 22nd, 2022 at 8:38 am
@BradyBuc
Why do you make false claims?
Tristan Wirfs and Andrew Wintworth are valued by PFF with scores of 85 this year.
Joe Noteboom is statistically graded by PFF with a score of 75 this year.
The highest statistically graded tackle by PFF is the 49ers Trent Williams with a score of 98.
Joe Noteboom is nowhere near the top of NFL tackles according to PFF’s analysis.
Joe Noteboom’s two starts were in Week 14 against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals were in the start of of 4 out of 5 game losing streak to end their season, being beaten soundly by by a score of 13-30 by one of the worst teams in the NFL in the Detroit Lions in Week 15.
In Week 14 Joe Noteboom matched up against Chandler Jones and gave up 1 sack and 1 forced fumble by Matthew Stafford because of his blocking skills against Chandler Jones in that game.
Joe Noteboom played the second half of the playoff game when the game was already decided as the Rams were blowing out the Cardinals and the Rams only threw the ball 7 times in the second half.
Joe Noteboom’s other start this year was against one of the most dysfunctional and worst teams in the NFL in the Houston Texans.
BradyBuc’s assessment of Joe Noteboom’s offensive line play is wildly exaggerated and grossly inaccurate.
January 22nd, 2022 at 8:55 am
@BradyBuc
Last year, Pro Football Focus statistically assessed Joe Noteboom’s with a score of 60 in the 6 games he started and played 100% of the Rams offensive snaps in those games.
I’m sure JPP, Shaq, Suh and Vea are terrified and panicked knowing that the great Joe Noteboom has come in to replace the injured Pro Bowl Left Tackle Andrew Wentworth for this game.
January 22nd, 2022 at 9:06 am
‘Joe thinks Shaq against Noteboom — as well as the Bucs’ blitz machine — may be more of a concern for the Rams than Von Miller potentially rushing against a backup Bucs right tackle.’
The caveat ‘MAY’ seems to be the key there Joe because Noteboom seemed to do a decent job in the 2 games he played the whole game in (both were Rams’ wins). And if he does have trouble tomorrow, Rams will probably slide some TE help in his direction (just like we probably would if our replacement RT ends up having problems).
Holding the Rams to 20 or less points seems to be a key to beating them this year. In their 5 losses, they scored a total of 98 pts … 19.6 PPG average. In their 12 wins, they scored an average of 30.2 PPG. Pretty substantial difference.
The 4 teams who beat them (49ers beat them twice) did so by (1) running on them a bunch; (2) winning the TOP Battle; (3) winning the Turnover Battle; (4) getting ahead early & forcing the Rams out of their preferred gameplan (all except the 49ers 2nd victory in OT).
Didn’t realize that the Rams turned the ball over this year as much as they did (23 total giveaways … 18 INTs & 5 fumbles lost). Turns out that 11 of those TOs (almost half) came in their 5 losses. They lost the Turnover Battle in 4 of those 5 losses (tied 2 TOs apiece in the other). And in all but 1 of those losses, the Rams lost the TOP Battle by some pretty substantial margins. All their losses came against teams with fairly strong running games (Cardinals, Titans, Packers, 49ers) … and their opponents ran it a bunch in those games.
Bucs can capitalize on all those same things, IF we choose to. Bucs’ defense forced 29 takeaways, #5 in the league. Our defense ranked #5 overall, giving up 353 total pts (20.8 PPG average). We’ve shown that we can control the clock, PROVIDING we don’t fall behind early & have to play catch-up. And yes Bucs can run, when they choose to. Hopefully Lenny’s back very near 100% to help us in that, but if not then high completion percentage short passes can have exactly the same result. We got this. Bucs 24-20.
January 22nd, 2022 at 10:08 am
I read about how long can Brady play QB in the NFL, 40-year-old Andrew Whitworth is not a QB, he is just a
Pro Bowl LT at 40. Impressive. I wonder what his draft chart looked like out of college.
Go!! Bucs!!
January 22nd, 2022 at 11:43 am
People just don’t understand line play. The blindside, LT is the most important player on the line.
According to HOF GM Bill Polian the LT is the second most important position on an NFL team. He’s right.
Our LT in Donovan Smith is very good LT and has statistically been graded as an 83 according to PFF.
A right handed QB is always looking at the RT. That’s his responsibility. It’s the back over to LT’s responsibility from the MLB over. When a QB or Center identifies the MIKE, that’s identifying the backside protection. A right handed QB is responsible for front side blitz/pass rush from the MLB to the right.
A right handed QB is blind to the pass rush on his left side. If you leave guys in to block on the backside you are reducing 1/2 of the football field that a defense has to worry about.
Losing your Pro Bowl LT for a backup is a much bigger deal for a team than losing your Pro Bowl RT for a backup.
Joe Noteboom has average PFF grade for the past two years is approximately 70. That’s not a good grade for a starting LT against Shaq, JPP, Suh and Vea.
Football is chess. If I don’t have to worry about you attacking from 1/2 of the board, you’re in trouble. BIG TROUBLE.
January 22nd, 2022 at 3:43 pm
BelleGladeBucs,
Now give us the stats on how many sacks Noteboom has given up as a ratio to how many passing plays he’s blocked for.
SPOILER ALERT: You won’t like the stats.
Noteboom is a solid Pass Blocker and that’s where the focus will be. He’s 10X the player that LT than Wells is at RT.
January 22nd, 2022 at 4:26 pm
@BradyBuc
I know that I am dealing with a very ignorant football fan when the data analysis of a player from PFF grades him as a 60 for the season he started and played 100% of the snaps for 6 games, and you state that a 60 out of a 100 grade is good.
Spoiler alert, it’s not.
No NFL GM is going to pony up any kind of serious LT money for a guy that has demonstrated in 6 games that he started last year that he is a below average tackle.
I gave you these stats and you ignored it. People like you ignore data when it doesn’t fit their narrative.
Spoiler alert, a below average blocking LT backup means you have help him out. That takes away half of the field that Todd Bowles has to worry about. The Rams only have 5 available players to attack the field with. Leave in a back or the TE and now you’re down to only 4 guys you can attack the field with.
If the Rams are Trips Right then you roll the coverage to the left side of the field and have your WLB cover the TE.
Losing your Pro Bowl LT on a right handed QB’s team and replacing him with a below average graded backup LT is not good.
Go ask Patrick Mahomes how much he liked the scenario last year when he lost his starting LT in Eric Fisher and his backup Mike Remmers was graded as a 70 on PFF for 2020. Shaq and JPP terrorized Mahomes and made him run for almost 500 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Spoiler alert, Mathew Stafford can only wish to be half as mobile. athletic and as good of a QB that Patrick Mahomes is. Mahomes is an NFL MVP, Super Bowl Champion and Super Bowl MVP. Matthew Stafford is none of those things.
You’re a fake Bucs fan and very ignorant of football BradyBuc.
January 22nd, 2022 at 4:38 pm
@BradyBuc
Wells will not be the replacement at RT, per Bruce Arians as the great Joe Bucs Fan reported.
Stinnie will play RG, and 6’6” Alex Capps will play RT if Wirfs can’t go.
I don’t know why you state that Wells is going to start when the awesome Joe Bucs Fan reported that Suprr Bowl Champion Coach Bruce Arians said that it would be Cappa.
You’re a fake Bucs fan BradyBuc and someone who can’t read and do research.