Still a staple of Sean McVay’s offense, play action has been a strength for Matthew Stafford
Sean McVay has frequently talked about a marriage between the run and pass since taking over as the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. He understands you can make life more difficult for defenses by calling plays that look the same at the start but then diverge in ways that move defenders out of position.
Matthew Stafford has benefitted this season from that marriage of the run and the pass. He’s arguably the best quarterback in 2024 on plays that utilize play action:
Matthew Stafford has been one of the best play-action passers in the NFL this year:
1,151 yards (3rd)
8 TDs (3rd)
0 INTs (T-1st)
123.7 passer rating (6th) pic.twitter.com/24h7DOhVpR— Wyatt Miller (@wymill07) December 3, 2024
Stafford has completed 66% of his passes this season for 2,983 yards, 17 TD’s and seven interceptions. Roughly 40% of his yardage and nearly half of his touchdown production has come off play action passes. The veteran signal caller has also kept the ball out of harm’s way on these plays despite his turnover-worthy plays ticking up from a career year in 2023.
Much has been made of Los Angeles’ struggles on the offensive line. Play action likely helps in this facet because of the potential that it keeps pass rushers honest and stay home against the run. If the offense is one-dimensional, defenders can pin their ears back and tee off on the quarterback—which we’ve unfortunately seen from LA at times this season.
The Rams will need Stafford to be at his best this weekend if they want to take down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. LA currently sits at .500 and they will want to stave off a losing record as the NFC West divisional race remains closely competitive.
We saw Stafford toss four touchdowns on Thursday Night Football to beat the Minnesota Vikings. This was one of only two games the Vikings have lost this season with the other coming against the front-running Detroit Lions.
