Jordan Fuller wrote the storyline this week, and he couldn’t have done it any better.
Fuller, the Rams’ rookie safety — a sixth-round draft pick, No. 199, same as Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady 20 years ago — intercepted Brady twice on Monday night to help seal the Rams’ 27-24 win.
Fuller mentioned offhand this week that Brady has been playing in the NFL for (almost) as long as he’s been alive. And sure, Brady’s deep ball is wobbly these days. But still, that’s a big deal for a young player, and especially one who has been on such a journey as Fuller.
Advertisement
“First of all, I’m definitely keeping those (game balls),” Fuller said with a laugh after the game, as the Rams’ locker room nearby erupted in celebration. “It just means a lot, being able to compete against one of the best quarterbacks of all time. It’s something I don’t take lightly, something this whole defense doesn’t take lightly at all.”
Fuller quietly took over the Rams’ starting safety role opposite strong safety John Johnson this spring, impressing coaches with his ball skills and his ability to get to his spot on every play. He struggled with a shoulder/neck stinger before the team’s bye two weeks ago and had a stint on short-term injured reserve. After he came back, two of his counterparts, rookie safety Terrell Burgess and second-year safety Taylor Rapp, suffered injuries and currently are on IR (Burgess’ injury is season-ending).
Against Brady’s extremely stacked group of receivers, which includes Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown (and that’s not even including tight end Rob Gronkowski), the Rams’ secondary depth looked slim. Yet with Fuller’s two interceptions, plus a pass breakup by John Johnson and two by cornerback Darious Williams, the Rams held Brady without a completion of longer than 18 yards, and just 216 total passing yards.
Fuller said Brady’s first interception, in the third quarter, appeared to be thrown right to him, deep in center field.
“Don’t drop it,” he said he repeated to himself until he secured the ball. On the second interception, which iced the win in the fourth quarter after a go-ahead field goal, Fuller said he read Brady’s eyes the entire way.
“Tonight he was outstanding,” head coach Sean McVay said. “That’s an offense that can beat you in a variety of different ways. He shows up in crunch time, made the play that we expect him to be able to make, and he was awesome.”
Advertisement
Fuller wasn’t the only Rams rookie who stepped up big. Running back Cam Akers and receiver Van Jefferson each scored their first NFL touchdown.
Akers worked into space out of the backfield, caught a pass and ran hard for a 4-yard score in the third quarter to give the Rams a 24-17 lead.
“I liked the tough contribution from Cam Akers. You could feel the burst,” McVay said. “I mean, wow, that’s a tough run defense that we played tonight. … And then Van Jefferson came through with a big touchdown catch as well.”
Fans finally got a look at the goal-line, one-on-one precision moves that Jefferson perfected in training camp (against Jalen Ramsey) on his second-quarter, 7-yard touchdown catch.
“They’re the future,” Johnson said of the rookies. “They came in ready to work. … True professionals. I tip my hat to them, and I’m very excited for them. They’re definitely the future — it’s a no-brainer.”
All of these rookies, by the way, were drafted in the second round or later (some much, much later). But each is contributing in important ways and especially in this crucial November stretch.
“They’re just great football players that have found a way to exceed the expectations, given their draft slot,” McVay said. “I’ve just been very pleased with those guys. I love this team, and the way that these guys continue to improve.”
Welcome to The Pile. The Rams are 7-3 and sit atop the NFC West with four division games coming down the stretch. Let’s start poking around.
Vintage Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods
Rams receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods were exactly who we know them to be.
The two combined for 23 catches and 275 yards against a Tampa Bay secondary that previously had allowed an average of just 223.7 yards per game.
The Rams knew they’d have a hard time against the NFL’s No. 1 rushing defense, even though their run game had been working well in previous games. So it was on Woods and Kupp (and quarterback Jared Goff, but we’ll get to him) to keep the offense moving in a game that featured 51 passing plays in 71 total offensive snaps.
Advertisement
Kupp got things going early, and hit 100 receiving yards by halftime, and Woods quickly followed. The most demonstrative sign that the two would click into their signature groove came on the first drive, when Kupp caught five passes for 62 yards and had plenty of yards after the catch, and Woods scored the drive-capping 4-yard touchdown. The Bucs previously had allowed just 5.8 yards per pass attempt; with Kupp and Woods’ efforts, they allowed 7.4 against the Rams.
Woods finished with 12 catches on 15 targets for 130 yards and a touchdown, while Kupp had 11 catches on 13 targets for 145 yards.
Also “vintage” Kupp/Woods? Kupp had 79 of his yards after the catch, while Woods had 72 YAC yards. They also did it from everywhere, combining to run 13 different route types, according to Next Gen Stats, with nine of those picking up 10 or more yards.
“Really, you go into games hoping for games like this every single night,” Woods said. “Making plays, the ball’s finding you, Jared’s zippin’ it. You’re in that rhythm, you can’t be touched no matter what coverage, who is lined up in front of you…
“When you’re really in rhythm, it doesn’t matter who is in front of you. You’re just going out there and it turns into route-versus-air when you’re in a rhythm like that.”
Woods and Kupp each also had a crucial snag on the final go-ahead drive, to help set up Matt Gay’s 40-yard field goal.
“I thought Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods were outstanding tonight,” McVay said. “You talk about guys creating on their own, tough catches in crunch time moments.”
Woods said he felt he and Kupp entered a rhythm with Goff, and that they had their timing down, including when the team went to its tempo offense. At times in the last few weeks, it felt a bit off between Goff and the two receivers, but it clearly clicked against one of the league’s top defenses.
Advertisement
“I just feel like it was a credit to the game flow, really,” Woods said. “Felt like we were executing on our quick passes, our quick tempo. Really just catching them in some looks. For me, being involved in that quick-pass game and being able to run some routes downfield and keep this offense, the momentum of our drives well. … They stopped our run game pretty well, so our receivers had to step up and (make plays).”
Have the Rams finally found a kicker?
The Rams brought in their third kicker of the season this week, Gay, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, but was waived by them this September.
Monday night, Gay recorded a touchback on four of his five kickoffs, something the Rams desperately needed so their coverage unit could get into its lanes. He also hit all three of his extra points — which had been an issue with previous kickers — and then had a slight hiccup on a missed 44-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, with the game tied 17-17.
It’s safe to say he made up for it with what ultimately was a game-winning 40-yarder against his former team.
“You can’t write it,” Gay said. “It’s one of those stories. … The first game you’re activated, you’re going back to the place you were last year, the place you felt you should have been. You get to play on prime time, Monday Night Football. There was a lot of emotion for me coming back in. … It’s definitely a little bit more for me to come back and play in this stadium, and obviously hit that kick.”
Gay, who was signed on Tuesday, had to wait five days to join his new teammates as he underwent COVID-19 protocols.
McVay said that when Gay finally got to practice on Saturday — their last day of practice for the week — there was a level of excitement from teammates as they watched him go through his reps.
Advertisement
That carried into the game.
“Watching Matt throughout the game, you could feel there was a lot of confidence,” McVay said. “I know he had the one miss, but there’s a difference between a miss and then one of those where you’re like, ‘All right, this looks a little shaky.’ And he was true all night. Great height, good timing. He was very accurate and I loved what he did.”
McVay, vibrating to the tip of his hair with energy as he did his postgame video interview, gleefully added that Gay looks like he works out with All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
“The kicker’s pretty jacked, man,” he said with a grin. McVay then passed Gay as he left the room, and, off camera, told Gay that assessment in person.
“Fuckin’ jacked for a kicker, man. Good job, buddy,” McVay said.
The reality of Jared Goff’s day
Yes, Goff threw two interceptions and yes, the Bucs scored 10 points off of them.
There was one truly ugly sequence midway through the fourth quarter, right after the Rams’ defense made a crucial stop, in which the snap was bobbled (Goff fell on it), the offense took a delay-of-game penalty and then Goff threw the second interception.
Goff said that when the stall hit the offense, with the Rams leading 24-17, it was a product of him making “some dumb decisions, honestly.” McVay said he was proud of the way Goff responded after the second interception, and especially when the Rams got the ball back late, with the game tied, and had to get downfield for what they hoped would be a game-winning drive.
“I thought Jared continued to demonstrate resilience,” McVay said. “He was outstanding from the jump, and we had one little mistake where he threw the interception on the screen, but what did he do? He just kept competing. … What he did in terms of leading us down the field at the most important moment, I think, was critical.”
Advertisement
The Rams knew it would be a pass-heavy game from the jump, and had only 20 run plays (their backs averaged just 1.9 yards per carry for a total of 37 yards). Goff threw 51 times, his second-most attempts of the season. His 61-attempt game against Miami perhaps was a mistake, but this high-volume air attack was by design against a stout front seven.
Interceptions aside, Goff had a pretty good day, notably stepping up in the pocket when Tampa Bay brought heavier pressure. Goff escaped at least one sack and extended a play, and got the ball out on the quicker throws that the Rams needed in order to beat defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ blitz.
In fact, Goff was perfect against the blitz in the first half, according to Next Gen Stats, going 10-for-10 for 146 yards and a touchdown. He finished 16 of 18 for 203 yards (of his total 376), two touchdowns and no interceptions when operating against a blitz. One of his interceptions came on a miscue on a screen with running back Darrell Henderson, and the second simply seemed to have been a poor decision by Goff, which he alluded to in his postgame press conference.
McVay also noted that the Bucs’ defense “did some similar things” as Miami did three weeks earlier — meaning the types of pressures and blitzes — which the Rams knew would happen, considering how disastrously that went for Goff and the offense. The Bucs all-out blitzed Goff on a 19-yard completion to Kupp that set up the Rams for the game-winning field goal. It was Goff’s 50th pass of the game.
“We had just missed Josh Reynolds (two plays earlier),” McVay said, citing an incomplete pass on an identical play on first down, before the completion to Kupp on third-and-1.
“I think it says what we expect it to,” McVay said, “that he’s a really good quarterback that just stays steady and neutral throughout the course of the game. I was very proud of Jared tonight. Not surprised, but very proud of him.”
Woods said that on the sideline before the Rams’ last drive, with the game tied at 24, players could feel the worried energy from the coaching staff about the big moment that approached, but Goff helped keep everyone cool.
Advertisement
“The whole offense was like, ‘Yeah, don’t let the coaches and the hype build (the moment) up,'” Woods joked. “‘This is a normal situation for us. This is a Thursday practice.’ That’s what we were saying in the huddle.”
Goff hit Woods on a 23-yard crosser on the first play out of that huddle, and got the Rams to midfield.
“Set the tone right then and there,” Woods said. “When you make big plays like that to set the tone, it takes the defense’s heart and their pride. From there, you just stay on them.”
Joe Noteboom steps into big shoes
In his first start at left tackle, third-year lineman Joe Noteboom largely went unnoticed — and that’s a good thing, considering he was taking over for injured veteran Andrew Whitworth.
“Joe did great,” Goff said. “Joe did really well. That’s a really tough defensive line. It’s one of the best defensive lines in the league. For him to come in and do what he did … on a Monday Night Football game against a couple of good pass-rushers, and play the way he did, was tremendous.”
While the Rams overall struggled to run the ball, Woods said Noteboom’s presence was noted on passing downs as the receivers went to work.
“You gotta think about whose position, whose role he’s filling in,” Woods said. “Big Whit has been holding it down for years. … (Joe) comes in and fills a big role. He has (returning NFL sack leader) Shaq Barrett on that side, and Jason Pierre-Paul.
“It was really just holding it down, protecting Jared in the pass game, keeping it clean, holding down that edge, holding down his back side.”
Bottom of The Pile
• Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans scored a highlight-reel touchdown early in the second quarter, but it wasn’t against Ramsey in coverage. It was Troy Hill, with Ramsey having floated over to Chris Godwin. McVay was shown running down the sideline to call a timeout because he didn’t like the mismatch, but Brady got the snap off in time. When Ramsey stuck with Evans, as happened on 73 percent of Evans’ routes, he allowed four catches on seven targets for 40 yards, according to Next Gen Stats.
Advertisement
• Defensive lineman Michael Brockers deserves a shout-out here for the way he flew all over the field. Brockers had a quarterback hit and six tackles, and was key in the effort to contain running backs Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette. Not all of his good work will show up on the stat sheet, but it certainly did on tape.
• A win is a win, so I’m not going to pick at McVay too badly here, but I didn’t like the run call on third-and-8 at the Tampa Bay 22-yard line on the Rams’ final drive. It essentially was a throwaway snap, making it clear that the Rams were playing for the field goal and settling for three points instead of a touchdown. I think McVay will call it “having confidence in his kicker and defense,” but Brady got the ball back with 2:36 to play, and that’s just too much time. If not for Fuller’s interceptions, it perhaps would have been a different story. And Brady even flat-out noodle-armed a couple throws, so I wouldn’t expect such a decision to work as well against Russell Wilson or Kyler Murray when things get tight in these upcoming division games.
• The Rams can’t criticize certain officiating calls without incurring fines from the league, but I have to say that the second pass interference call on Ramsey was a big puzzler from my perspective. I also would not have blown the Brady fumble-but-wait-not-a-fumble dead so quickly — so that the result of the moment could not be fully determined — but honestly, nobody knew what the hell was going on during that play (though it looked like a fumble to me).
• The Rams are now finally finished with their East Coast travel for the year, after five trips in 11 weeks. Johnson said it best: “Thank the Lord we aren’t coming back here.”
• The Rams improved to 32-0 under McVay when leading at halftime. “You guys have to stop saying that. Don’t jinx us,” he said after the game. “Don’t say it anymore, please.”
• Quote of the night (other than “jacked kicker”) came from McVay, speaking about the joyful energy in the locker room: “I think a really good way to put it is the balance of urgency and enjoyment. I think these guys are really finding that right now. I love this group, love this team. Looking forward to enjoying this for a little bit, and then getting back at it in about six hours.”
(Top photo of Jordan Fuller: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
