There’s a reason Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp are one of the best quarterback-receiver tandems in the NFL and their 69-yard touchdown on Sunday was yet another example to support that claim.
It’s not that Kupp is the fastest receiver in the NFL or that Stafford is the most accurate. They’ve had so much success in the last three-plus years because they’re always on the same page – whether it’s pre-snap or mid-play.
That was the case on their long touchdown against the Patriots. When Kupp saw that the Patriots were running Cover 0, he adjusted his seam route to break inside more, giving his quarterback a clearer throwing lane knowing the ball had to come out quickly.
STAFFORD TO KUPP.
📺: #LARvsNE on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/oIXIp7d8Iq— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
Kupp explained what happened on the play, telling reporters how important it is to be on the same page as his quarterback.
“They had Jones off and outside about 8 yards and Dugger inside and I thought they were going to get some kind of 220 Tampa safety look and be able to drop out of there with how far off he was,” Kupp explained postgame. “And on the snap, Dugger just disappeared and what I thought was going to be a Tampa 2 ended up being a soft zero and it just goes back to a really old rules we used to have about running seam routes against zero and speeding that thing up and ripping in there and Matthew was just ready to go. It’s not something we’ve talked about in a while but being on the same page with him, it’s huge when you can do those and you can make those plays where you have small margins. Matthew’s getting hit and letting that ball go, trusting I’m going to be where I’m supposed to be, so glad we were able to make that one come alive.”
Stafford echoed Kupp’s thoughts after the game, as well, saying he saw exactly what his receiver did post-snap, which worked to perfection.
“I just hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to run that kind of a play against a zero pressure,” he said. “I’m just glad he was on the same page I was on and did a nice job at the top.”
Sean McVay has watched Stafford and Kupp work together for years and he probably never gets tired of seeing them make plays like the 69-yarder on Sunday. He confirmed Kupp made the right play to shallow off his route a little bit at the top and Stafford hit him in stride for an easy touchdown.
“He read it right,” McVay said. “That was the adjustment you want with that specific route and that coverage contour. He and Matthew were on the same page. It was a 69-yard touchdown. We like those plays.”
