Rams end Bucs’ bid to repeat as champs

TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Stafford stood on the sideline helplessly watching Tom Brady be Tom Brady, leading another exhilarating comeback.

This time, though, the seven-time Super Bowl champion left too much time on the clock, giving Stafford a chance to create some playoff magic of his own.

Turns out, 42 seconds was just enough for the Los Angeles Rams quarterback to pull off a Brady-like finish that sent the franchise to the NFC championship game for the second time in four seasons with a 30-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Stafford, a former No. 1 draft pick in his first season with the Rams after playing his first 12 NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions. “I mean, we sure let them back in the game with a bunch of mistakes on offense. Our defense played outstanding. We’ve got to clean some stuff up, do a little better job in the turnover department.

“This is a tough team, man, this is what we’re all about. Just happy to get a win and keep on moving.”

Stafford threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, and the team’s biggest offseason acquisition used a pair of long completions to NFL receiving leader Cooper Kupp to position the Rams for Matt Gay’s 30-yard field goal as time expired.

“Man, I’m still trying to process everything. That was a crazy game,” linebacker Von Miller said after the win over the reigning Super Bowl champions. “I knew it was going to come down to the end. All the times that I’ve played Tom Brady, it always comes down to the end. No lead that we had was safe. I’m so proud of these guys.”

The third-seeded

Rams will host next Sunday’s NFC title game against the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers, aiming for a second trip to the Super Bowl in four seasons. The conference crown showdown will pair NFC West rivals, and although the Rams are the division champions, the 49ers have beaten them six straight times — including in overtime in the regular-season finale to clinch a playoff spot.

Win next week, and the Rams will become the second straight team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium. The Bucs were the first ever.

Brady rallied the second-seeded Bucs from a 27-3 second-half deficit with help from three of the Rams’ four turnovers, with Tampa Bay tying the game on Leonard Fournette’s 9-yard run on fourth-and-inches with 42 seconds remaining. The NFL’s all-time passer leader didn’t get an opportunity to finish the job, however, and it’s uncertain if that was the final game for Brady, who’s undecided on retirement.

“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” said the 44-year-old quarterback, who led the NFL with a career-best 5,136 passing yards while also throwing for a league-high 43 touchdowns during the regular season.

Stafford, obtained in an offseason trade that sent Jared Goff to Detroit, led the Rams downfield after the ensuing kickoff, using completions of 20 and 44 yards to Kupp to set up Gay’s third field goal of the day.

Earlier, Stafford found Kupp wide open behind the Bucs secondary on a 70-yard pass that put Los Angeles up 17-3 early in the second quarter.

“Man, he’s the heart and soul of this offense,” Stafford said. “What he’s able to do down in, down out, whether it’s in the pass game, run game — he’s an unbelievable competitor.”

Stafford, who had never won a postseason game before beating the Arizona Cardinals in the previous week’s wild-card round, completed 28 of 38 passes without an interception. He also scored on a 1-yard run.

Brady was 30-of-54 for 329 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked three times and lost a fumble.

Fournette also scored on a 1-yard run for Tampa Bay, which pulled within 27-20 on Brady’s 55-yard touchdown throw to Mike Evans, who made the catch with Jalen Ramsey in pursuit with 3:20 left.

The Bucs, who lost to the Rams for third time in two seasons, were trying to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Brady-led New England Patriots during the 2004 season.

“A lot of guys made a bunch of different plays to get us back into it,” Brady said. “We got behind. They made us pretty one-dimensional. We showed a lot of fight. But at the end of the day, when you lose a game, you lose a game.”