Matt Gay kicked a last-gasp field goal as the Los Angeles Rams sent Tom Brady and the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of the playoffs on Sunday.
Gay drilled a 30-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rams a thrilling 30-27 win after Brady and the Bucs recovered from a 27-3 deficit to tie the game at 27-27 just moments earlier.
The win means the Rams will advance to the NFC Championship game at home against the San Francisco 49ers next week with a place in the Super Bowl at stake.
The loss, meanwhile, ended the 44-year-old Brady’s hopes of adding an eighth Super Bowl title to his record haul.
“We’re a resilient team,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“We sure let them back into the game with a bunch of mistakes on offense. But we’re tough a team, this is what we’re all about. Just happy to get a win and keep moving,” added Stafford, who finished with 366 passing yards.
Brady, who was sacked three times and hit on six other occasions, threw for 329 yards with one touchdown.
“We were down a bunch and a lot of guys made a bunch of different plays to get us back into it, Brady said afterward. “They just made one more than us.”
“It’s always pretty tough losing at the end of the year. Obviously we showed a lot of fight. But at the end of the day, you lose a game, you lose a game.”
The Rams very nearly faced the end of their own season after an second half full of errors allowed Brady and the Bucs to mount a comeback.
The Rams dominated the Buccaneers through the first half and early part of the third quarter to take a 27-3 lead.
Stafford threw touchdowns to Kendall Blanton and Cooper Kupp before rushing for a score of his own to give the Rams a 24-point lead midway through the third quarter.
But just when it looked as if the Rams were about to put the game away, their errors enabled Tampa Bay to come roaring back.
A Kupp fumble led to a Leonard Fournette touchdown to make it 27-13.
Gay then missed a field goal that would have extended the Rams’ lead, and Brady then picked out Mike Evans with a 55-yard touchdown reception to make it 27-20.
The sense of a Rams implosion deepened when running back Cam Akers fumbled on the Los Angeles 23-yard line.
That gave Tampa Bay the ball back in prime territory, and seven plays later Fournette rumbled over from nine yards to set up Succop’s game-tying extra-point.
The momentum appeared to be all with Tampa Bay, but the Rams responded superbly, with Stafford making a 20-yard pass to Kupp before finding his favorite receiver again for a 44-yard completion.
That left Gay a chip to win the game from the Tampa Bay 12-yard line.
Stafford praised Kupp for the two late catches.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with the guy and know what he’s all about,” Stafford said. “He’s the heart and soul of this offense. He’s an unbelievable competitor.”
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