Los Angeles Rams outlast Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earn opportunity to host NFC championship game

-- When the Los Angeles Rams acquired Matthew Stafford in a blockbuster trade last winter, the veteran quarterback said he wanted to play in big games, an opportunity he seldom received during 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions.Stafford and the Rams -- fresh off a dramatic 30-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium -- are now one victory away from the biggest game of all.And they nearly blew their chance to get to the NFC Championship Game, losing four fumbles and a 27-3 third-quarter lead to Tom Brady and the defending champions before Stafford led a 63-yard drive in the closing seconds to set up the winning field goal."In my mind, I live for those kind of moments," said Stafford, who pulled off the 43rd game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime of his career, the most of anyone since he entered the league in 2009. Los Angeles will have the chance to do what Tampa Bay did last season and play in the Super Bowl on its home field.According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the only other team to lose a 24-point lead in a playoff game and still win was the Chargers in 1981."That's why you play four quarters and try to finish that game out," Rams coach Sean McVay said. All the times that I've played Tom Brady, it always comes down to the end, so I knew no lead that we had was safe."The Rams became the first team to win a playoff game after losing four or more fumbles since the 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers, who won the AFC Championship Game against the Raiders despite four lost fumbles."As an offense, we first and foremost did a terrible job of executing for this team in the second half," Kupp said.