Rams give Matthew Stafford a wide range of deep targets

Rams give Matthew Stafford a wide range of deep targets

Long touchdown passes to Van Jefferson and Cooper Kupp in the season-opening victory over the Bears show that DeSean Jackson isn’t the team’s only long-ball threat.

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Rams give Matthew Stafford a wide range of deep targets​

When the Rams signed wide receiver DeSean Jackson as a free agent last winter, the rest of the NFL faced a worrisome question.

How good will the Rams’ passing game be with a speedy veteran capable of catching long passes from Matthew Stafford?

After the Rams’ 34-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night, the question for the league is even more frightening.

How much better is the Rams’ passing game if Jackson is only one of several deep targets for Stafford’s throws?

Jackson had a diving catch for 18 yards during a first-quarter drive that resulted in a field goal, the longer of his two gains in the season opener at SoFi Stadium. Meanwhile, wide receivers Van Jefferson, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods and tight end Tyler Higbee all had plays of 19 yards or longer in the game. Stafford’s touchdown heaves to Jefferson and Kupp covered 67 and 56 yards, and a 37-yarder to Higbee transformed another touchdown drive.

If the Rams lacked a deep threat last year, maybe the problem wasn’t Kupp, Woods and Jefferson but the need for a quarterback and playbook to give them a chance.

“It starts with giving players the opportunity,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday after his fifth consecutive victory in a season opener. “If I look at myself critically, I haven’t always done that.

“But Cooper, Van, Robert, these are guys that are not limited. Higbee makes a big play down the field yesterday. We all know what DeSean’s done throughout the course of his career.”

So maybe it’s not about Jackson stretching secondaries and opening up short routes for Kupp, Woods and Jefferson. It’s about all of them doing that for each other. Or so McVay would like defenses to think.

“We’ve got a handful of guys that we feel like can activate all parts of the field in the pass game, whether that be creating after the catch on underneath stuff, making plays in the intermediate game (or) being able to stretch the top shelf of the coverage,” McVay said.

“The fact that we can do that with any of our skill players is something that makes us more difficult to defend. I thought that was key for us (Sunday) night and something that we need to continue to illustrate and progress as the season goes on.”

The long touchdowns to Jefferson on the Rams’ third play of the game and to Kupp on their fourth snap of the second half were the result of many contributions.

Stafford, obviously. In his first game since arriving in the trade that sent quarterback Jared Goff and draft picks to the Detroit Lions, Stafford achieved at least two firsts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he was the first quarterback to win his debut with a team while passing for 300 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. And he was the first to have two touchdown passes of 50-plus yards in his debut with a team since Lee Grosscup with the 1962 New York Titans (AFL).

The offensive line, of course. Stafford was sacked only once, and the line gave him and the receivers time for those long plays to develop. Center Brian Allen received a game ball after his return from a 2019 knee injury.

Finally, or firstly, the receivers’ teamwork. Watch Kupp’s touchdown catch, and you see Woods run an intermediate route that distracted Bears safety Tashaun Gipson from Kupp.

“The importance of Rob on the outside being able to push vertical, hold that safety out there so he can’t squeeze down, really is (why) I was 30 yards open,” said Kupp, who was more like 15 yards open.

Now, how much better can it get if Jackson is catching deep balls too?

“DeSean’s going to get his, I know it’s coming for him,” Kupp said. “Luckily for Van and I, we were the recipients this week. But I think every week it’s going to be about who happens to have their number called for those shots, and then making the most of them when they come.”

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

The Rams got through the first game with only one reported injury. McVay said nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day “banged his knee up a little bit.” The coach said Joseph-Day might miss practice this week but should be able to play against the Indianapolis Colts (0-1) on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

[Tano]

The offensive line, of course. Stafford was sacked only once, and the line gave him and the receivers time for those long plays to develop. Center Brian Allen received a game ball after his return from a 2019 knee injury.

This times 100

 

[Flint]

This topic will probably crop up throughout the season, especially if the rams continue to hit explosive plays which were mostly absent last year.
we all thought the offense would be fine without Cooks to take the top off, there are plenty of guys who can get deep, maybe not on a straight go route but in the right situations Woods, Kupp and Higs can get it done. We’ll probably never know if Goff refused to throw deep or McVay stopped calling deep shots. Regardless it didn’t happen much.
Now with a new qb and a play caller with no apprehension the offense lights up a Fangio style defense. So now the questions will come, did McVay have these answers last year and Goff took the check down? Was McVay trying to cover for Goff with the whole intermediate passing rely on RAC?
I heard Chris Simms on the radio talking about Stafford and although I don’t agree with him often this sounded pretty accurate. He said the biggest difference between Goff and Staff is that in straight passing situations where play action would be a waste of time Stafford is better, better at going through progressions, better at manipulating the defense, better at moving within the pocket. Goff may get better at these things but with AD and Ramsey in their prime the team couldn’t wait.

 

[Tano]

This topic will probably crop up throughout the season, especially if the rams continue to hit explosive plays which were mostly absent last year.
we all thought the offense would be fine without Cooks to take the top off, there are plenty of guys who can get deep, maybe not on a straight go route but in the right situations Woods, Kupp and Higs can get it done. We’ll probably never know if Goff refused to throw deep or McVay stopped calling deep shots. Regardless it didn’t happen much.
Now with a new qb and a play caller with no apprehension the offense lights up a Fangio style defense. So now the questions will come, did McVay have these answers last year and Goff took the check down? Was McVay trying to cover for Goff with the whole intermediate passing rely on RAC?
I heard Chris Simms on the radio talking about Stafford and although I don’t agree with him often this sounded pretty accurate. He said the biggest difference between Goff and Staff is that in straight passing situations where play action would be a waste of time Stafford is better, better at going through progressions, better at manipulating the defense, better at moving within the pocket. Goff may get better at these things but with AD and Ramsey in their prime the team couldn’t wait.

I have to agree with this.

Last year for whatever reason, McVay went away from the deep passes - was it the offensive line's inability to pass protect (which they did a 1000 times better in this game - maybe it was also due to Stafford) or was it McVay's lack of confidence in Goff's ability to throw deep with any accuracy anymore. Or both.

All I know - when I watched the Jets game last year, McVay only had one receiver in the first half go 20 yards past the line of scrimmage once before the 2 minute warning and on that play Jefferson was wide open and Goff was going to throw to him and Blythe's guy hit him right when he threw the ball. Maybe McVay realized that Goff took too long to make a decision on whether to throw deep or not AND his line wouldn't be able to hold long enough for Goff to make this throw.

I don't know and I doubt we will ever find out.