Cooper Kupp’s absence was undeniably felt for the Los Angeles Rams last season after he tore his ACL in Week 10. Sure, the Rams exploded for 54 points in Week 11 against the Chiefs in that Monday night shootout, but the offense wasn’t the same the rest of the way.
Jared Goff obviously suffered the most, seeing his stats slide without Kupp on the field. That’s understandable considering that Goff’s passer rating when targeting Kupp is 129.9 in his career. Kupp was Goff’s security blanket underneath, oftentimes coming open for easy completions and first downs.
Play-action is where Goff missed Kupp the most. According to Pro Football Focus, his play-action numbers plummeted without Kupp.
With Kupp out, there was no facet of the Rams’ offense that was impacted more than play action — which is less than ideal for a quarterback that used it at the second-highest rate in the NFL last season. Goff’s play-action passing grade dropped from 93.0 prior to Kupp’s injury to just 66.4 after his exit. Even though his passer rating only dropped 20.0 points from 125.9 to a somewhat respectable 105.3, the film showed the two different sides of Goff’s play with and without Kupp on the field.
Play-action is a huge part of the Rams offense. Defenses have to account for Todd Gurley, so when they see play-action, they can’t help but react to the fake handoff.
With how often the Rams run play-action from under center, Goff frequently turns his back to the defense when he fakes the handoff to Gurley. That’s not easy for a quarterback to do, but having Kupp running crossers or underneath routes definitely helps Goff.
According to PFF, “Goff has targeted crossing routes 16.3% of the time in that span — more frequently than any other route.” That’s no surprise considering Kupp’s 90.4 receiving grade and 4.29 yards per route run on crossers both rank in the top 10.
The Rams offense should get back to the way it was playing early in the 2018 season once Kupp returns. He may not be a full participant in training camp, but he’s expected to be ready for Week 1, which is most important. You can bet there won’t be anyone happier to see the Eastern Washington product back out there than Goff.
