Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. St. Louis Rams: What's the Game Plan for Tampa Bay?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming off arguably their most disappointing loss of the season, but they won’t have much time to dwell on it, as the St. Louis Rams await them in front of a national audience on Thursday Night Football.

The Bucs now sit at 6-7 on the season, needing to win their final three games and get plenty of help from other teams to have a shot at sneaking into the playoffs.

They’ll be making a quick turnaround and heading out on the road to face a 5-8 Rams team coming off a 21-14 victory over the Detroit Lions. Head coach Jeff Fisher’s team relies on a stout defense more than offensive prowess, but there’s still firepower on that side of the ball in the form of young playmakers Todd Gurley and Tavon Austin.

Tampa Bay has proven throughout the season that it is capable of bouncing back from a rough outing and has the ability to win on the road despite being a fairly young team. But can it do both with so little time to prepare?

Let’s take a look at what the Bucs need to do on both sides of the ball to get back to .500 this week.

Offensive Game Plan

Success on offense for the Bucs this week starts with one extremely important objective: Do everything possible to avoid or neutralize the human wrecking ball known as Aaron Donald.

The 13^th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Donald has already established himself as one of the most disruptive defenders in the NFL. The Pittsburgh product has already bagged 20 sacks in 25 career starts, and even those numbers don’t begin to tell the story of how dominant he’s been since entering the league.

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This task could be made even more difficult depending on the health of left guard Logan Mankins, who is questionable for Thursday’s game with an ankle injury. If he’s unable to play, Donald would be going up against either rookie right guard Ali Marpet or Kevin Pamphile on the right side, a fifth-round pick in 2014.

Tampa Bay’s offensive attack is driven by a top-five ground game, led by the NFL’s second-leading rusher in Doug Martin. If the Bucs want to establish the run early and often this week, expect them to run outside a bit more than usual to avoid Donald or use misdirection to catch the explosive defender in overpursuit.

When the Bucs go to the air, they would be wise to try to get the ball out of Jameis Winston’s hands as quickly as possible, giving the St. Louis pass rush as little time as possible to get through Tampa Bay’s banged-up offensive line. The Rams won’t have their best edge-rusher in Robert Quinn, who is out for the season due to back surgery, but even without him in the lineup for five games so far this season, the Rams rank sixth in the NFL with 36 sacks.

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With Vincent Jackson already ruled out due to a knee injury, the Bucs will be extremely thin at receiver, especially when it comes to experience. This will make it all the more important for Tampa Bay to establish the ground game and rely on it all game long, which should open up the play-action game for Winston.

If the Bucs can avoid Donald, wear the Rams defense out with long, sustained drives and avoid costly turnovers, they should be able to bounce back with a much-needed win in front of a national audience.

Defensive Game Plan

Much like the Tampa Bay defense will have to account for Donald above all else, its defense will spend most of its time worrying about a pair of playmakers on the Rams offense: rookie running back Todd Gurley and do-it-all receiver Tavon Austin.

Despite missing two games due to injury, Gurley has tallied nearly 1,000 yards rushing in his first NFL season, adding eight touchdowns on the ground and 150 yards as a receiver out of the backfield. The 10^th overall pick in this year’s draft, the Georgia product has bounced back from a gruesome knee injury that ended his 2014 season, proving to be just as explosive in the NFL as he was when he ran through the SEC.

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Considering the Bucs struggled to shut down fourth-stringer Tim Hightower of the New Orleans Saints last week, this week’s task of containing a back like Gurley seems that much taller. But if they want to keep last week’s result from repeating itself, it starts with keeping Gurley from picking up yards in huge chunks and helping the Rams sustain long drives.

When they’re not focused on shutting down Gurley, the Bucs will be keeping a keen eye on Austin, one of the more dangerous young weapons in the entire league when he gets the ball in space.

A quick look at Austin’s career receiving numbers might not impress (1,046 yards, eight touchdowns, 9.3 yards per catch), but he’s done almost as much damage as a rusher over his first three NFL seasons (733 yards, six touchdowns, 8.7 yards per carry).

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press/Associated Press

A top-10 pick out of West Virginia in 2013, Austin certainly isn’t what most would consider a No. 1 receiver, but he can still impact a game in a similar way if he gets the ball in his hands with room to work. The Rams will do everything they can to find creative ways to make this happen, and it will test the discipline of the Tampa Bay defense to be ready for end-arounds, reverses and other gadget plays designed to get Austin in open space.

As is the case every week, getting consistent pressure on the quarterback and creating takeaways will be vital to the Bucs’ success on defense this week, but it will be equally important for them to shut down the two dynamic weapons the Rams have at their disposal.

Top Matchups and Players to Watch

Rams DT Aaron Donald vs. Bucs interior OL

Donald is the best defensive player in this game, and the Bucs are banged-up and youthful at their guard spots. Logan Mankins will likely be less than 100 percent if he’s able to start on the left side, while rookie Ali Marpet will get a crash course in stopping one of the most disruptive linemen in the NFL. Keeping Donald from taking this game over will be the prime objective for the Tampa Bay offense, and Mankins, Marpet and center Joe Hawley will have their hands full all night.

Cliff McBride/Getty Images

Bucs WR Mike Evans vs. Rams CB Janoris Jenkins

With Vincent Jackson out this week, there will be even more pressure on Evans to step up and perform like a No. 1 receiver. It also means the Rams will be able to put more of a focus on Evans, rolling coverages to his side of the field instead of worrying much about rookie undrafted free agents Donteea Dye and Adam Humphries. Jenkins is St. Louis’ best cover man, so look for him to line up across from Evans often as St. Louis tries to force Winston to throw elsewhere.

Prediction

The Bucs got a punch in the gut last week, losing a must-win game to an opponent they should have handled comfortably. With the playoffs likely nothing more than a dream at this point, many might expect a young team like the Bucs to pack it in after the dip in morale.

But the Bucs have proven time and time again this season that they can bounce back from rough outings, and they can win on the road. They’ll have to do both this week, on a short turnaround, on national television, but I’m not betting against a team that’s shown resilience all season long.

Expect this one to be an ugly, low-scoring affair. I think the Bucs will do just enough to keep Gurley and Austin in check, and make just a few more plays on offense than the Rams to come away with a victory and get back to .500 on the year.

Final Prediction: Bucs 17, Rams 13

Luke Easterling is a Featured Columnist covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NFL draft for Bleacher Report. He is also a senior NFL draft analyst for Draft Breakdown. Follow him on Twitter @Luke Easterling.