OT: Stafford Makes The Play Needed When Needed (Rams Headed to NFC Championship)

Submitted by Code-7 on January 23rd, 2022 at 6:28 PM

Man, so impressed. Brady doing his thingbas usual and then, when Stafford had to make a big play, he delivered a strike to Cooper Kupp. Rams win by kicking a field goal on the next play to win the game as time expires. Congrats to Matt Stafford and David Long!

UMinSF

January 23rd, 2022 at 7:15 PM ^

That was defensive malpractice on the part of the Bucs. 

- How can you possibly allow your opponents' best player to roam wide open downfield 2 plays in a row?  That's insanity.

- Why the fuck would you call an all-out blitz when all you have to do is prevent a bomb? Rams had no timeouts and just a few seconds. All you had to do was prevent huge chunk plays. 

Rams spent most of the second half doing everything in their power to give the game away. Bucs did a ton of things right to tie it up - then absolutely shit the bed. 

Crazy, crazy game. 

Brian Griese

January 23rd, 2022 at 7:29 PM ^

They won’t admit it, but I think the Bucs were selling out so they could strip-sack Stafford or force him into a bad decision. Or, if they could have generated enough pressure, another sack guaranteed OT since LA was out of timeouts.

I really didn’t think a Blitz was necessary in that situation and certainly not at the expense of letting Kupp work one on one in the middle of the field. 

It felt very much like a defensive coordinator deciding that a LB that ran a 4.76 40 could man up a RB that went number 2 in the draft and ran a 4.4 40, but I digress…

Edit: Read after the game Arians said they decided to blitz and it wasn’t properly communicated to the defensive backs. How on earth does that happen coming out of a timeout?

Kolesar99

January 23rd, 2022 at 7:26 PM ^

Its great to see that Stafford was able to recover fully from the dreaded disease of playing with the Lions and excel!

mgoblue513

January 23rd, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^

Blitzing a cornerback and leaving a safety 1 on 1 with the best wr in the league might be the worst play call I've seen in a while. Terrible job by the Bucs DC. Kudos to Stafford for recognizing, but still way to completely fuck up your season on one play

itauditbill

January 23rd, 2022 at 8:18 PM ^

I just hope that the Rams can somehow comeback from the mental anguish of the vicious taunting at the hands of Suh. And I hope the officials can somehow overcome that horrible argument from the guy with a bleeding lip. That kind of activity is just not something we can handle in the NFL. I hope all get the counseling they need. 

Great throw by Stafford, con job by the refs...

Double-D

January 23rd, 2022 at 8:23 PM ^

Hard to throw the ball when your on the ground. Brady was getting swallowed up.

Stafford has clearly shown his haters they can eat crow.

Great QBs need good teams.

Shame on the Ford family for wasting such a talented QB.

Please remove WCF from the sleeve or the curse will remain. 

King Tot

January 23rd, 2022 at 8:41 PM ^

I always thought Stafford was very underrated because the Lions held him back and was happy to see him get another chance with a good team. Hope he wins it all!

energyblue1

January 24th, 2022 at 10:02 AM ^

All the QB's that touched the ball last won!  Jimmy G, Burrow, Mahomes, Stafford..  all in conference title games, all had the ball last.  

Still shocked at the Bills defense, 13 seconds left in the game and you go soft prevent when they only needed 40-50 yds... No DC should ever go prevent when the other team can tie or win with a score.  

Booted Blue in PA

January 24th, 2022 at 11:48 AM ^

Pet Peeve:

why the fuck do they feel the need to us his first and last name?  There isn't another Kupp on the field!

Almost every other player in the NFL is commonly referred to by their last name during the pxp... yet they almost always have to say "Cooper Kupp" like there are 2 other Kupps on the field..

it annoys the hell out me.   

Rant over, thanks for letting me vent.