Cooper Kupp was supposed to be a decoy on Rams' huge game-saving catch

• Cooper Kupp made the game-winning catch for the Rams in the waning seconds of playoff game.
• Kupp didn't expect the ball to come to him, as he was supposed to just be a decoy.

The Los Angeles Rams pulled off a stunning win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers thanks to some late-game heroics from quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

After the Rams had led 27-3, the Buccaneers went on a tear through the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points to tie the game 27-27 with just 42 seconds left.

Unless the Rams could find some magic in the final seconds, the game was heading to overtime.

Stafford and Kupp found the magic, first connecting on an out-route that got the Rams close to midfield. Kupp was able to get out of bounds on the play, stopping the clock with 27 seconds left to play.

On the next snap, Stafford found Kupp again, this time streaking down the middle of the field without a man in front of him. Kupp was caught from behind inside the Buccaneers 10-yard line. The Rams rushed ahead to spike the ball with 6 seconds left on the clock to set up the game-winning field goal.

While Kupp proved to be the hero on that final play, it was not what the Rams had planned. Instead, Kupp was supposed to act as a decoy on what proved to be the game-winning play for Los Angeles.

"The route that I ran, we call it a 'love of the game' route, because you're just trying to draw coverage," Kupp said after the game. "But [Stafford] was able to read my body language and put the ball in the right spot for us."

Kupp's deep route over the middle, when the play goes on as intended, is meant to draw the attention of the deep man on defense. Ideally, this would open up one of his teammates on a shallower route underneath.

As Kupp explained, he was running a "love of the game" route because it's one you run not for glory, but rather because it has to be run and hopefully pays off for a teammate.

"A love of the game route," Kupp told reporters. "You're rarely getting the ball thrown to you. You're really just trying to pull people out for the other routes that are happening around you. So we just call it a love of the game route."

As it turned out, because the Buccaneers blitzed, keeping zero safeties back deep, Kupp's "for the love of the game" route quickly turned into him streaking down the field with only green ahead of him.

Stafford's breakdown of the final play was strikingly similar Kupp's post-game comments.

"The route that Cooper is running there, we describe it a lot of times in our meetings as a 'love of the game' route," Stafford said, mirroring the words of his receiver.

Stafford was able to recognize the unexpected moment and take advantage.

"You're never really getting the ball. You're just clearing out some area, working for some other routes. But they decided to bring everybody, so [Kupp's] basically the best option at that point. I felt it after the snap. Kind of recognized that it was going to be an all-out pressure and was able to put it to a good spot."

Stafford credited Kupp for being ready to make a play, even though he had no real reason to think the ball was coming his way until he was already into his route.

"That's the last guy I thought would have gotten the ball before the snap was snapped," Stafford said of Kupp. "He was ready, he was running, and he made a great play."

"He's always digging on every route, whether he's the primary or he's bait."

For the Rams, that consistent effort from Kupp paid off in a big way. When playing the role of the decoy, Kupp's hard route-running is what sells the defense on keeping him covered, thus opening up a teammate underneath.

On Sunday, that same hard running is what sent Kupp streaking open down the field on the biggest play of the game.