Surprising Rams and Bucs set to renew rivalry, with a similar question facing both.

Are they for real? That was the question asked of Tampa Bay after the win over Cincinnati on the road, and even though the Bucs have lost two blowout home games to two NFL Heavyweights, the answer is still generally a positive one. While the Bucs seem to win more on the road than they do at home, the Rams are facing the opposite in their quest to answer the important question. What is for real anyways? If it is beating the teams you are supposed to beat, then yes, Tampa bay is in the “real” catagory. The combined records of the teams that the Bucs have beaten is 3-14. Now that is not the Bucs fault, they play who is on their schedule, and even in bad years the Panthers are tough on the road, and Tampa Bay has a history lately of going into Charlotte and getting run all over. This time they didn’t, nor did they get beat in Cincinnati, where the Bucs historically do not do well traveling to AFC teams. All of that is starting to change though, as the Bucs seem to be more resilient on the road than they are at home. Whatever the pattern, the equally young St. Louis Rams team is not finding it to be so. The Rams have only been on the road twice in this young season, but have been beaten by two points from the lowly Raiders out in Oakland, and then they were torn apart by the Lions in Detroit 44-6. Say this about the Bucs losses, they have come against teams that are combined 8-3. The Rams road losses are to teams with a 3-9 records, and their home wins are not much to speak about either. They beat San Diego, a team that is simply horrendous away from its own house (0-4), a convincing win over Seattle and Washington, and they began the year off with a win over the Cardinals. Later in the week we will look back at the series that really heated up around the turn of the millennium as the two teams were at the epoch of their heydays in the NFL and shared some epic Monday Night battles. For now though, they are two teams heading in parallel directions; on the rise with young quarterbacks, and young defenses, all the while asking themselves, and getting asked by their fans the same question.