Raheem Morris said last week that the Rams “live and die off not giving up explosives.” It may not have seemed like a very consequential or meaningful quote, but it manifested itself just days later during the team’s loss to the Buccaneers.
Buy Rams TicketsIt’s a sign of the Rams playing not to lose – playing not to give up big plays and to force the opponent to beat them. It works some of the time, playing top-down coverages that take away deep passes. And Tom Brady didn’t complete a single pass more than 21 yards down the field, which is good.
But the Rams’ conservative approach cost them a win against the Bucs. Instead, they suffered a back-breaking loss to sink them to 3-5. It was like expecting a bike on Christmas and getting a lump of coal.
The Rams led Tampa Bay 13-9 with 1:57 left in the fourth quarter on Sunday. They had just gotten a stop on fourth down, with Jalen Ramsey breaking up a pass in the end zone intended for Mike Evans. After taking over on downs, all the Rams needed was one first down because the Bucs had just two timeouts.
Here’s the sequence Sean McVay called.
- 1st down: Darrell Henderson Jr. run for no gain
- 2nd down: Cooper Kupp end-around for 5 yards
- 3rd down: Henderson run for 1 yard
- 4th down: Punt
On third-and-5 with 1:39 left and the Bucs out of timeouts, McVay didn’t go for the kill. He played it safe, milking the clock and hoping Tom Brady wouldn’t do what Tom Brady does. He didn’t have to call a deep shot to Kupp to pick up 50 yards. He only needed 5 yards.
The fact that he doesn’t trust Matthew Stafford, Kupp and the rest of the offense to gain 5 yards to clinch a win is reminiscent of when he had Jared Goff at quarterback. It’s troubling, and it cost the Rams a win.
Sure, there’s an argument to be made that draining another 40 seconds off the clock and giving the ball to Brady with only 54 seconds instead of 1:30 – had they thrown an incompletion on third down – was the smart move. But it was also the safe move for a team that can’t afford to play it safe anymore.
Even still, the Rams had a chance at the end. They needed one defensive stop. They’d gotten those eight times earlier in the game, holding the Buccaneers offense in check. But just as McVay did, Morris played it safe with his calls.
He played the bend-don’t-break game and unfortunately, his defense broke. Brady got things started with a 28-yard gain to Cade Otton down the seam. Spike. Clock stops with 28 seconds left. Then, the Rams let Brady attack the sidelines with three easy completions to the left side.
- 4 yards to Leonard Fournette, out of bounds
- 14 yards to Scotty Miller, out of bounds
- 7 yards to Scotty Miller, out of bounds
At that point, the Bucs were at the Rams’ 7-yard line with 16 seconds left. They went 25 yards in 12 seconds, stopping the clock each time. Brady didn’t hold onto the ball for more than a few seconds on any of those plays, and he didn’t have to because the corners were playing 10-plus yards off the line of scrimmage.
They didn’t protect the sidelines, they didn’t disrupt any routes off the line. Free releases, quick throws and clock stoppages. Brady made it look easy, but largely because the Rams defense didn’t challenge the receivers.
Soft coverages are the name of this defense, but it bit the Rams on Sunday, as did McVay’s conservative play calling. That makes this one even tougher to swallow.
