During their loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams found themselves in fourth-and-8 on their second-to-last offensive drive of the game; it was set up by a false start on fourth-and-3. Before that play, the Rams picked up 2 yards on a third-down screen pass to Puka Nacua.
The Rams, unsurprisingly, called another screen pass to counter Arizona's tactic of blitzing Matthew Stafford, especially on third and fourth downs. On paper, the call makes sense as the ball should go over the heads of oncoming defenders in theory, leaving the pass for Kyren Williams to take upfield with a convoy of blockers.
The reality is that the play was snuffed out immediately, with the Cardinals' All-Pro safety Budda Baker man-marking Williams, leading to an incomplete pass and turnover on downs.
The #Rams running this play on 4th and 8 and on the verge of losing to the #Cardinals is blowing my mind.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 18, 2026
What. The. Heck.pic.twitter.com/q0Bf9xPJja
The play, which was pedestrian and predictable, was one of many errors committed by Los Angeles in the loss.
Cardinals writer Zach Gershman spoke to Baker about the play. In his response, the All-Pro stated that his pre-snap assignment was to blitz, but when he saw that Williams didn't pick him up, he realized something was occurring and marked Williams.
"Certain calls have the understanding if the running back tries to block you, you hit him," said Baker. "That was just one of those situations. I'm rushing the quarterback, and I see the running back not wanting to block me. Something's up, you know. That's what it was."
It seems that teams are reading what the Rams' running back does, regardless of who is playing the position, in order to quickly decipher plays. Keep in mind that the Rams' loss to the Seattle Seahawks occurred in the NFC Championship Game when outside linebacker Demarcus Lawrence realized Williams wasn't going to be a blocker, giving up his job as a pass rusher to cover Williams.
Had Lawrence missed, the Rams likely would have scored the game-winning touchdown. Head coach Sean McVay called Lawrence's move a "fortuitous bust" after the game, but Lawrence revealed he outmaneuvered the Rams based on his post-snap read, regardless of defensive design. It appears the rest of the NFL is quickly following.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Budda Baker details how he blew up Rams’ pivotal 4th-down screen