Early in the second quarter of the Rams’ eventual victory over the Vikings on Monday night, Minnesota had what looked like a game-changing scoop-and-score.
But the replay official changed it to an incomplete pass upon further review.
On first-and-10 from the L.A. 30, Matthew Stafford was hit by Jonathan Greenard, but before the quarterback was taken to the ground, he let go of the ball. The officials determined Stafford was attempting a shovel pass in the direction of Puka Nacua — though Stafford barely was able to let the ball go and didn’t have his eyes up.
Stafford said postgame that he felt Greenard on his back and knew where Nacua was.
“I was gonna be hurt in a bad way if they tried to say that wasn’t a shovel pass,” Stafford said. “I mean, that’s exactly what I was trying to do, and trying to plead my case. I’m glad that they looked at it and understood that’s what I was doing.
“I could see his cleats looking down, and just dumped it at his cleats,” Stafford added.
Stafford noted that was just him doing everything he could to avoid a negative play.
“Throw a ball away, get a ball out quick, dump it on somebody’s feet,” Stafford said. “Second-and-10 is a whole lot better than second-and-14 after a sack or whatever it would’ve been. I was just trying to keep us as close to ahead of the chains as I possibly can, knowing where your guys are at, understanding that is a pass in the direction of a receiver and it worked out for us.”
Second-and-10 also would’ve been better than a fumble or the down-and-distance after intentional grounding.
For what it’s worth, Kevin O’Connell — who was the Rams offensive coordinator when they won Super Bowl LVI to cap the 2021 season — wasn’t buying that explanation.
“They just said that ’17’ [Nacua] was in the area and it was an incomplete pass,” O’Connell said postgame. “I know that quarterback pretty well and know when he’s trying to throw it to somebody and when he is not, but that was the explanation I got and we had to just keep playing.”
No fumble, no game-tying touchdown, no intentional grounding.
The Rams punted two plays later.
