How Matthew Stafford’s 'love of the game' play won it for Rams

By Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFL Writer

Moments after Matt Gay made his 26-yard field goal as time expired for the win, Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay sprinted down the sideline to find quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The two hugged near midfield. McVay leaned in to say a few words in his QB's ear, concluding with "I love you!" before heading off to shake the hand of Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians.

"He’s our leader," an emotionally drained McVay said of Stafford afterward. "We love him. What an outstanding job he did on a huge stage today against the reigning world champs."

Stafford still had his helmet on minutes after leading the Rams on a three-play, 72-yard drive with just 42 seconds left, putting L.A. into field-goal position for an improbable, 30-27 victory over the Bucs in the NFC divisional round of the postseason at Raymond James Stadium.

The Rams raced to a commanding 27-3 lead, went through a nightmarish meltdown in the second half that included four fumbles against the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers and appeared on their way to suffering the same fate as many other teams that have faced the seven-time Super Bowl champ.

"I put our defense out there in a terrible spot," said Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, who lost a fumble, along with two by Cam Akers and a bad snap past Stafford by center Brian Allen. "You never want to do that. We preach on the sideline before we go out there: ball security. And I kind of started the slow trickle of what our offense turned into out there."

But on Sunday against the best to ever do it in Brady, Stafford did what McVay brought him to Los Angeles to do: He put the Rams in position to get to the Super Bowl.

Moments such as Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay provide validation for McVay’s move to secure the services of Stafford nearly a year ago, when he traded Jared Goff, two first-round selections and a third-round pick to the Detroit Lions for the 33-year-old signal-caller.

With the victory, the Rams are one win away, having advanced to the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium, the home of this year’s Super Bowl.

That game will be a rematch for the Rams against their NFC West rivals, the San Francisco 49ers (6:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX). McVay has not defeated Niners coach Kyle Shanahan in six meetings. Overall, the Rams have a seven-game losing streak against San Francisco.

Nonetheless, the Rams have been installed as 3.5-point favorites.

"We’ve got to get ready for a team that we know has been a really tough matchup for us," McVay said. "They’ve done an outstanding job. It will be a great game."

The Rams joined San Francisco and the Cincinnati Bengals as road teams advancing to the title games.

Down 20 points with 7:07 left in the third quarter, Tampa Bay looked out of it. But as he did three years ago, when the New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 in the Super Bowl, Brady rallied his team.

The Bucs scored on four of their next seven possessions, the last set up by Akers' second fumble of the game. That led to a 9-yard touchdown run by Leonard Fournette, his second of the game, to tie it at 27.

To the Rams' credit, they didn’t panic. Instead of playing for overtime, with 42 seconds and a timeout, McVay gave Stafford the green light to move the ball downfield into scoring position.

The drive didn’t start out well. On first-and-10 from the Rams' 25-yard line, Stafford attempted to scramble down the middle of the field but was sacked for a 1-yard loss by Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul.

"I was thinking I was going to run it," Stafford said afterward. "That was a poor idea."

However, on second-and-11 from the 24-yard line, Stafford found Kupp for a 20-yard gain to the 44-yard line on an out route.

The Rams chose to go no-huddle, forcing Tampa Bay to line up quickly. Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles decided to blitz, sending six rushers and leaving the middle of the field open. Making matters worse, the all-out blitz was not communicated to everyone on the field, according to Tampa Bay defensive players who spoke to reporters afterward.

Kupp, aligned in the slot to the right of the formation, ran what the Rams call a "Love of the game" pattern — essentially a clear-out, decoy route deep down the middle of the field, creating a void in the defense for other receivers to get open underneath.

However, with Tampa Bay blitzing and no safety deep, Stafford looked to get the ball to Kupp early, hitting him with a perfect pass in stride. Kupp hauled it in and was tackled by Antoine Winfield Jr. at Tampa Bay’s 12-yard line.

"He came up to me afterward and was like, ‘Was that zero?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah,’" Stafford told reporters. "He ran his route and was hauling, felt no top shelf to the coverage [and] was like, ‘I better get my eyes back.’ He looked up and said that thing was floating. He got to a good spot. It was fun."

Kupp, who finished the regular season as the NFL’s triple crown winner, leading the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16), was once again spectacular. The Eastern Washington product finished Sunday with nine receptions for 183 yards and a score. Kupp didn’t play during the Rams’ 2018 Super Bowl run because of a left ACL injury, so he'll have an opportunity this time around if the Rams can win next week.

After Kupp’s catch, Stafford slammed the ball to the ground after spiking it with four seconds left, screaming as the field-goal unit took the field.

"I don’t know what I said there," the QB told reporters. "All the guys along the sideline were like, ‘Man, you were in a dark place.’ I said, ‘Sometimes you’ve got to go to those places to make some plays happen.’ Man, I was enjoying the moment.

"In my mind, I live for those kinds of moments. I would have loved to have been taking a knee up three scores, but it’s a whole lot more fun when you’ve got to make a play like that to win the game and just steal somebody’s soul."

You can’t blame Stafford for being a little overly enthusiastic. At the start of the postseason, he had not won a playoff game in his 13-year career. But he had a history of performing well in end-of-game situations. Stafford now has 43 game-winning drives, which ties him with Brett Favre for sixth in league history.

He finished Sunday 28-for-38 (73.7%) for 366 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Just as importantly, after throwing a league-high 17 interceptions in the regular season, Stafford has not turned the ball over in his two playoff games with the Rams.

Along with Stafford and Kupp, the Rams had several guys step up and make plays. Odell Beckham Jr. finished with six receptions for 69 yards. Aaron Donald, Von Miller and Leonard Floyd each had a sack. Playing in place of left tackle Andrew Whitworth, Joe Noteboom did a good job helping to keep Stafford clean. The QB was sacked just twice on the day.

Cut by the Buccaneers a season earlier in favor of Ryan Succop, Gay got a bit of revenge against his former team when he made the game-winning field goal. He missed a 49-yarder earlier in the game that would have given the Rams more cushion.

The 44-year-old Brady finished 30-for-54 for 329 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. The Bucs were shorthanded on offense, missing receiver Chris Godwin and right tackle Tristan Wirfs because of an ankle injury.

Reportedly considering retirement, Brady told reporters afterward that he would take some time before making a decision.

However, Von Miller believes we have not seen the last of Brady.

"I’ve got a lot of respect for the guy," Miller said. "The only reason not to like Tom Brady is because he wins. He’s a great guy, hell of a leader. I don’t think this is going to be the end of it. He’s going to dust himself off and be ready to go."

But Brady isn't going to the NFC Championship Game. Instead, that's where Matthew Stafford and the Rams are headed.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @eric_d_williams.