Mayfield Miracle on Stadium Drive. LA Rams comeback instant classic

We talked about the LA Rams turning the corner last week. Well, we didn’t realize that the team was about to witness a miracle: The Mayfield Miracle on Stadium Drive. The LA Rams played an instant classic, the type of game that will be talked about for generations to come. There are not enough words to truly discuss the incredible miraculous event that took place within SoFi Stadium on Thursday, December 8, 2022, so I won’t try.

I can share that at one point late in the game, the ESPN Win Probability had the Las Vegas Raiders pegged at well over 98.0 percent to emerge the victor on Thursday Night Football. So much for playing the percentages.

There are no guarantees in life, and certainly not in football. Some fans who had already decided that the LA Rams acquisition of QB Baker Mayfield was another worthless player claimed by a bad team may go silent. Others who refuse to acquiesce to being wrong will merely not talk about what just happened, awaiting some day in the future, where events are less . . . astounding. Then, on the occasion when Mayfield is not playing well? Well, they and all of those ‘The LA Rams have squandered their future,’ narratives will be back.

Don’t be so sure that what is turns into what will be  . . .

It’s unfortunate, but many would rather be heard and right than be wrong and enjoy the surprising success of another LA Rams gamble that panned out.

Success? One win. An unexpected, come-from-behind victory in which the LA Rams scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a season where the Rams have consistently fallen apart in the second half. This was a game where the Rams’ offense scored just 17 points. But how many will notice the Herculean effort of a depleted defense that allowed just 16 points to an opponent that arrived at SoFi Stadium red hot and scoring almost at will?

The news from this season has had plenty of repercussions. Not only were the Rams wounded and struggling, but the team faced the possibility that veteran QB Matthew Stafford may decide to hang up his cleats and walk away while he can. And who can blame him? He has a Super Bowl ring. He has placed his name in the NFL record books. But even the remotest possibility creates nightmares for the LA Rams’ succession plans. There is no QB ready to take over if Stafford chooses to retire.

In one Thursday Night Football game, everything changed. The entire outlook for the LA Rams’ future has transformed from bleak and gray to new rays of optimism and sunshine on the horizon.  No, I’m not talking about the NFL Playoffs here. I’m talking about something so very much simpler. The LA Rams may have found their quarterback successor to veteran Matthew Stafford. Perhaps even more importantly, an NFL quarterback who was unceremoniously run out of two NFL towns may have found a permanent home.

Tough love and harsh truth

For those of you who need to be fed spoonfuls of flowery happy-happy joy-joy messages about the LA Rams right now, I don’t have that type of message.  Nor is this the ‘sky is falling!’ messaging that seems to show up more frequently about the LA Rams by fans who are disgruntled with the team’s fortunes this year.

The LA Rams were less than two minutes from falling to a 2022 NFL season record of 3-10, a point that translates into elimination from the NFL Playoffs, and signals the LA Rams organization to begin the arduous task of swiveling efforts for the 2022 NFL season into increasing efforts for the 2023 NFL season. And for the fans who want to find fault with this team, there was plenty of fertile ground to sow that negative perspective.

And if that is how you choose to support the team? Have at it.

But the Rams’ roster is much stronger today. The Rams’ front office already has two new options that can significantly help this team in the future. The team should either:

Extend QB Baker Mayfield and have a solid backup quarterback who can win games for the foreseeable future
– OR –
Allow QB Baker Mayfield to test the NFL Free Agency market. If he continues to find success for the LA Rams, that could result in the Rams being awarded a 2024 NFL Draft third-round compensatory pick.

The tide is changing

Sometimes you miss the sounds made by the winds of change if you spend too much time shouting rage. The Rams showed that this team was ready to win in Week 13. The team simply needed someone to show up and show the team how to do so.

The LA Rams had claimed former 2018 NFL Draft top-pick QB, Baker Mayfield, for more than the press coverage his presence would create on a faltering team. The LA Rams have long been a team happy to go for broke, the high-stakes rollers of the NFL.

The LA Rams have been more than happy to trade away first-round picks to acquire game-changing talent. But how often have the LA Rams been able to place a claim for a former first-round chosen quarterback who was waived by an NFL team just 5 seasons after the NFL Draft? This season may have been painful to endure, but did the Rams get an unexpected reward along the way? Whether or not Baker Mayfield proves to be a franchise quarterback for the LA Rams in the future, let’s not taint this incredible performance.

The NFL Man of the hour: The Miraculous Mayfield

There are legends being written all around you. But we are far too demanding of those legends. If a player has a great game, we want two. If a player has two great games, we want a great season. If someone has a great season, we want a Super Bowl victory. If a Super Bow victory, we want a Hall of Fame career.

Sometimes, a miraculous game is simply that. A miraculous game. And the only force in the universe that can stop someone from kicking back and drinking in that positive event is setting expectations too high. If you step back and simply admire the reactions, you can easily see just how special this game, this moment can be

I loved the acquisition.

An inspired decision

And I loved the LA Rams’ decision to get newly arrived QB Baker Mayfield onto the football field. Doing so was not something that you might have expected these Rams to do. This has been a team that stuck with throwing to WR Cooper Kupp and TE Tyler Higbee despite a treasure trove of NFL talent on the roster. This was an offense that refused to run the football, even against the stingiest pass defenses. This was the same team that continued to place returning players into awkward positions on the offensive line, despite veteran NFL free agents sitting on the bench who were much more comfortable and prepared to compete in those roles.

So flying a quarterback into the LA Rams training facility, who the Rams Free Agency had successfully claimed just hours prior to their Thursday Night Football game, and then sending him out to compete for the team, was a thrilling surprise. Some don’t get it at all. But the fire and competitiveness that comes from a team that relaxes and just steps onto the football field to have fun playing a game of football truly do have a competitive advantage.  And yes, the LA Rams had fun in this one. Lots of fun.

The Rams have a fighter under center

Let’s break this win down for you. With 12:20 left in this one, the LA Rams trailed the Las Vegas Raiders by the score of 16-3 and were not able to sustain drives. Even as the offense moved the football, the Rams fumbled the football to end one drive, and a series of calls against the LA Rams offensive linemen eliminated a number of positive plays.

It was all but over according to the ESPN Win Probability chart, the Rams had just a 1.2 percent chance of winning the game at that point. The LA Rams had to do three things that they had not done all season long:

The plan seemed impossible

I  : The LA Rams had to score a fourth-quarter touchdown quickly
II : The LA Rams had to hold the Raiders offense to three downs and punt
III: The LA Rams had to march down the field and score their second fourth-quarter touchdown with whatever time remained.

Okay, now that you know what the Rams were up against, how did the Rams perform?  Well, the easiest part of this plan was the first touchdown. But it was difficult to get the Rams’ offense on track, as the Rams were forced to punt on a fourth down with three yards to go. And that would have been the end of the game, if not for an incredible Raiders penalty of five yards that gave the Rams’ offense new life.

With a new lease, Baker Mayfield went back to work, finding Rams WR Ben Skowronek several times, then passing twice to WR Tutu Atwell. In the Red Zone, the Rams geared down to passing to running backs, and finally, RB Cam Akers plunged it in with first down and goal to go as the Las Vegas Raiders’ one-yard line. The Rams had gotten to within one score, now down by 16-10.

Yes, the Rams scored but exhausted nine minutes in the process.  Now, it was up to the LA Rams’ defense to force a punt.

Punt and score? Exactly as planned

This win never happens if the LA Rams’ defense allows even one first down. After allowing a second down eight-yard burst by Raiders RB Josh Jacobs, the Rams faced third down and just one yard to go. But veteran ILB Bobby Wagner and DL Marquise Brown stopped Jacobs for no gain, forcing the Raider to punt the football.

That punt landed on the Rams’ 20-yard line and then rolled for 15 seconds more before being downed by the Raiders on the Rams’ two-yard line. For the Raiders players covering the punt, they celebrated as though they had won the game already.

The Rams had the football, but only had 1:45 seconds to drive the football 98 yards down the football field.  Still, it’s always darkest before dawn. And the dawn of new LA Rams QB Baker Mayfield had arrived.

On two successive plays, one with an interception, the other with a huge QB sack, it appeared once more as though the Rams would lose this one. But on each occasion, the Las Vegas defense was penalized, giving the Rams’ offense new life. That is when QB Baker Mayfield found WR Ben Skowronek for 32 yards, and suddenly this Rams offense began to gain yards and positive momentum. Two more completions advanced the football to the Raiders’ 23-yard line with just 16 seconds remaining, prompting the Rams’ new QB to spike the football and stop the clock.

Mayfield finds Jefferson in the endzone for a game-tying touchdown

On the very next play, Mayfield found Rams WR Van Jefferson in the endzone for the game-tying touchdown.

How rare was that offensive drive to win the game? I think you could say that it doesn’t happen very often. And I’m willing to bet that it has never happened behind a quarterback who has less than 48 hours learning the offense of his new time in the history of the NFL.

Kicker Matt Gay completed the comeback win for the Rams, kicking the extra point to place the Rams ahead by the score of 17-16 with 10 seconds remaining.

A comeback classic

The value of sticking with a poorly performing team and enjoying the players who show up in a big way cannot be overstated. Did you have any belief in this team? Even as I tried to rally fans to appreciate the effort of this team, the Schleprock wowsy-wowsy-woo-woo pushback from the despair of fans who had given up was impossible to change.

But this was a different effort by the Rams. The guy under center in this game, Baker Mayfield, may be new to this team, but he hasn’t been blessed with much success in his short NFL career. Despite being a top draft pick, Baker Mayfield has struggled to lead his team to success.

But he showed no hesitation in doing so in this one.

A win? Yes, a miraculous win

No hesitation

Mayfield didn’t hesitate to make the throws when Rams head coach Sean McVay dialed up more and more passes. In fact, Mayfield carried the aura of an NFL power back, and his throws seemed to get strong and more accurate as the game progressed.

Mayfield completed passes to six different Rams receivers in this one. He also completed passes to three different running backs.

Baker Mayfield showed maturity and complete composure in this offense, something that I suspected would happen. Rams head coach Sean McVay was able to get the former top-pick quarterback, Jared Goff, to the Super Bowl. He was successful in getting former top-pick quarterback Matthew Stafford his first and only Super Bowl victory. Now? He has a new former top-pick quarterback, Baker Mayfield, to work with.

Something special could be coming your way with this combination as well.

Return on investment

This was the type of game that the LA Rams organization and fans desperately needed. Not only is this a win out of nowhere, but the implications are far more significant. At best, the LA Rams have a top-pick quarterback who can inherit this team if and when veteran QB Matthew Stafford elects to step away from the game.

At worst, the LA Rams have converted a pocket change investment into an NFL quarterback who is now the talk of the NFL, and one whose victory in front of the entire NFL on prime-time coverage will certainly elevate his stock to the point where he becomes a coveted free agent in the offseason.

Hollywood ending

Didn’t this feel like a Hollywood movie?

The guy did not shy away from taking his shots. He threw, and that confidence in his own arm mirrored the confidence that his head coach Sean McVay had in him. But it defies all logic. The guy just got off the plane. He had a walkthrough of some 20+ plays. He learned the Rams’ two-minute offense in discussions held on the bus.

The Rams have proven to be hesitant to get new players involved in the offense too quickly, particularly those added to the team via Rams Free Agency signings.  But whether the team was compelled by his immediate grasp of this offense, or simply wanted to showcase the talent of Baker Mayfield to 31 other NFL teams, the result in the same. The entire NFL is talking about him now.

Why he fits the LA Rams

Initially, the hope was that the LA Rams could showcase Baker Mayfield in a handful of scripted plays on Thursday Night Football to stir up some interest among NFL teams. With the upcoming offseason, and the Rams all but eliminated from any postseason competition, the Rams must attempt innovative ways to generate a buzz.

I think we can all agree that this Thursday Night Football has overshot the mark a bit. But even after a jaw-dropping performance, Mayfield has retained all of his wit in the post-game presser. When asked about the game-winning TD pass to Van Jefferson:

It was clear from the comical response that the moment was not too big for Mayfield. In fact, he seemed to be right at home.

Completely competitive spirit

On the sideline and in the locker room, Baker Mayfield showed a humorous side of being a competitive maniac. He head-butted a helmeted teammate on the sidelines, and it was Robert Rochell that was sent backward. He was called out by HC Sean McVay for leading the team to a victory despite just arriving ’10 minutes ago,’ and proceeded to roar in a feral scream.

To be honest, that may be exactly what the LA Rams offense needs right now.

The leader of this offense must be willing to be that lightning rod, both to the good and to the bad, that will inevitably befall this team. Is Mayfield up to the challenge? Well, he certainly was in his first 48 hours with the team.

The Rams will reap the benefits of their mini-bye, rest up, and for one newcomer, learn the playbook a bit better. The Rams will next face the Green Bay Packers on the road. Do the Rams have a chance in that one? We have plenty of time to discuss that game.

For now, let’s savor the flavor of the Mayfield Miracle on Stadium Drive. After all, this LA Rams’ comeback is already an instant Holiday Classic of NFL lore.