Since Sean McVay became the Rams’ head coach in 2017, Los Angeles has fielded one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. Over the last five years, the Rams have had 115 passing plays that gained at least 30 yards – tied for the fifth-most in the NFL.
The offense got a little stagnant in Jared Goff’s final season in 2020, but there was a noticeable uptick in big plays when Matthew Stafford took over last season. The Rams tied for the league lead with 28 passes of at least 30 yards, matching the Bengals. They were also second with 79 passes of 20-plus yards, up from the 55 they had in 2020.
Stafford is an aggressive quarterback and the Rams had a receiving corps last season that naturally created big plays, either on deep shots or by receivers making defenders miss after the catch. This season, it’s been a different story.
Through two weeks, the Rams haven’t completed a single pass that went for at least 30 yards. They’re one of three teams without a 30-yard pass. They also have just one rush of 15-plus yards after having 18 such plays last season.
So what exactly has caused this regression in explosive plays? It’s still very early, being just two games into the 2022 season, but there is a reason for the Rams’ lack of big gains. Very simply, teams are playing top-down coverage and attempting to take away deep shots down the field.
McVay attempted to explain it, saying these quarters coverages have become “a little bit more prevalent around the league.”