THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — One of Sean McVay’s best traits as an offensive playcaller is his ability to dial up easy, efficient passing plays for his quarterback. And nothing exemplifies that better than the screen, a godsend for the 2017 Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams are averaging 9.77 yards per play on screen passes this season, which trails only the Washington Redskins — McVay’s former team — for the NFL lead, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Todd Gurley has gained 196 yards off the screen, trailing only the New Orleans Saints‘ Alvin Kamara (245) and the Redskins’ Chris Thompson (217). Jared Goff has thrown for 342 yards off the screen, trailing only the Saints’ Drew Brees (490), the Redskins’ Kirk Cousins (424) and the Cincinnati Bengals‘ Andy Dalton (401).
The key, Gurley said, is McVay’s ability to “line us up and make everything look the same,” the running plays and the passing plays indistinguishable in large part because of how tight receivers will line up with the offensive line.
But it can also be simpler than that.
“First of all, Todd is really good,” Goff said. “He’s good at catching and filling lanes. And I think more important than that, we’ve got a really athletic offensive line.”
Andrew Whitworth, Rodger Saffold, John Sullivan, Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein have all had their moments blocking downfield this season. On Sunday, in a 32-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Saffold blocked his defender at least 10 yards up the field, springing Gurley for an 18-yard gain off a screen pass with about 90 seconds remaining before halftime.
“It’s just great playcalling from Sean,” Saffold said, “his ability to see what the defensive guys are doing and how to adjust to different techniques, which is kind of putting me one on one with the last defender, which has been able to help us out tremendously. Especially when they drop in a zone. They’re 15 yards off the ball. Now it takes a lot of stress off me because all I have to do is try to attack and meet them at the point and let Todd do his thing.”
Gurley — also a valuable check-down option who has kept Goff’s interception rate low — is tied for the NFL lead with 11 touchdowns and ranks second with 1,502 scrimmage yards. He’s averaging 11.25 yards after the catch, which trails only Thompson — a major pass-catching weapon out of the backfield for McVay in Washington — for the NFL lead.
But Saffold has one request.
“If Todd can just slow down further down the field,” he said, “that would really be great.”