Oct 28, 2018; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) celebrates a 29-27 win over the Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
NFLBy Matt Clapp on

The Rams led the Packers 29-27 with about one minute left on Sunday, when Jared Goff fed Todd Gurley a toss that Gurley ran for a first down on 3rd-and-10 from the Green Bay 21-yard line. The Packers had no timeouts left. The Packers also have Aaron Rodgers, who frequently leads them to late comebacks. You *expect* Rodgers to lead the Packers to a comeback when the opportunity is there (even when it seems that opportunity isn’t realistically there).

So, rather than score a touchdown that he could’ve had, Gurley chose to go down inbounds inside the five-yard line.

It’s a very smart play by Gurley. Sure, a touchdown likely seals the game anyway, and it would make Gurley’s stats look fancier. But going down there would require the Rams fumbling a snap on a kneeldown to lose.

If Gurley scores a touchdown and Greg Zuerlein misses the extra point, it’s an eight-point game. Odds are still highly, highly in the Rams’ favor with under a minute left and Green Bay having no timeouts and needing a two-point conversion in addition to a touchdown. But that *possibility* is still there, especially with Rodgers at quarterback.

The bottom line is that the odds the Rams fumble a kneeldown snap are much lower than the odds Zuerlein misses an extra point (which is also a small chance, but these things happen; see: Justin Tucker last week), and it’s not worth giving Rodgers any opportunity whatsoever.

So, Gurley made the right football play, and the Rams kneeled to come away with a 29-27 victory that has them 8-0 on the season.

But it’s a play that pissed off many fantasy football owners, obviously.

It’s also a play that pissed off many bettors, because the Rams closed as 7.5-point favorites, and the over/under total was 57 points. With a touchdown and extra point there (and no ensuing points from the Packers), the Rams win by eight points. A touchdown would make the “Over” hit as well.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Todd Dewey, Gurley’s decision to go down resulted in a $1 million-plus swing at Vegas sportsbooks.

Gurley had the correct reaction when the media brought up his decision to go down hurting fantasy teams and bettors.

But you can be sure that tons of fantasy owners and bettors didn’t have the same reaction to the play. Here’s some Twitter reaction to Gurley stopping short of the end zone:

https://twitter.com/paulloduca16/status/1056694005591724037

https://twitter.com/KingCoachDub/status/1056715114882183168

https://twitter.com/abdulamemon/status/1056693312793522176

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Matt Clapp