McVay disappointed Goff didn’t take shot to Kupp late in 4th quarter

The Rams did a good job closing out the Cowboys in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, but they were one missed penalty away from nearly blowing it on Dallas’ final drive. They could’ve really iced the game prior to getting a stop on the Cowboys’ last possession, though, had Jared Goff been more aggressive on one specific play.

On first-and-10 with 3:34 left in the game, Sean McVay called a perfect bootleg to Goff’s left. The defense bit on the play-action fake, leaving the left side of the field wide open. Goff took the 4 yards on the ground and slid down, but he had Cooper Kupp streaking across the field with about 3 yards of separation on Anthony Brown.

The broadcast pointed out how open Kupp was, and McVay didn’t miss it either. He wished Goff pulled the trigger and took the shot to Kupp, which had a chance to go for a touchdown to all but end the game.

On the Coach McVay Show, J.B. Long asked McVay about that play and before he could even finish the question, he knew where he was going with it.

“Don’t say it. I mean, come on,” he said. “We gotta make a play! We gotta do it! If you’re asking, you know the question, baby. Let’s go. You want a walk-off and go up 10 or freaking have to punt it back and watch your defense get a stop?”

Here’s the play in question, showing Goff’s decision first and Kupp’s route below it. There’s no question Kupp was open, but it’s also hard to fault Goff for taking the free yardage.

Had he led Kupp upfield, it might’ve gone for six, though.

McVay did get more serious in answering the question after a second, saying he does want Goff to take shots like that because he’s capable of completing them.

“It was a smart decision but in all seriousness, that’s a reflection of the confidence I have in Jared to be able to make those plays,” McVay added. “He’s got such an ability to boot either way – that gives us a big difference. Got ‘em in a man-coverage situation and Cooper won his route and those are plays that [I] want him to be able to aggressively compete because he can make those and that’s a reflection of the confidence we have in him.”

The Rams wound up punting three plays later after two short runs by Malcolm Brown, giving the ball back to Dallas. Fortunately, the Cowboys couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity, as the Rams defense held tough to seal the 20-17 win.