Some NFL teams need statement games more than others do. You win the Super Bowl, and that can stand as your statement for at least the following season and sometimes longer.
Which is not to say that the Buccaneers didn't want to beat the Rams on Sunday -- just that the Rams were the team in that matchup that was looking to make a statement, and did they ever.
The statement was, "We're for real, and we're coming for you." A season after the Bucs became the first team to win the Super Bowl in its home stadium, the Rams dealt for quarterback Matthew Stafford in an effort to become the second. Through three weeks, it's hard to argue that any team has looked better.
So let's go right to the big matchup of the day for the lead overreaction of Week 3.
The Rams are the new Super Bowl favorites
This was a Buccaneers team that returned every single starter and a good chunk of the backups and sparked more than one day of morning TV talk about whether it could go 17-0 in the NFL's newly expanded season. Fortunately, that question was definitively answered early enough, but the fact that the Rams answered it should not be overlooked.