With one yard between the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas end zone on fourth down midway through in the fourth quarter, Sean McVay decided to go straight ahead.
No clever plays for this high-flying offence. No elaborate schemes from their inventive coach.
CJ Anderson ran directly into the left side while his line cleared a path. He tumbled into the end zone with 7:16 left for the Rams' final points in their first play-off victory in 14 years, 30-22 over the Cowboys on Saturday night in the divisional round.
LA Rams' CJ Anderson (35) celebrates with team-mates after he scored on a fourth-down play
'We always talk about attacking success, never fearing failure,' McVay said of his reasoning behind the simple call. 'We wanted to come out here and try to play fearless tonight.'
Los Angeles' ground game is something to be feared after racking up a franchise play-off-record 273 yards rushing from the opening drive to Anderson's final first-down run.
Anderson rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and Todd Gurley ran for 115 more yards and another TD to send the second-seeded Rams (14-3) to the NFC championship game for the first time in 17 years.
That's also the most ever allowed in the postseason by the five-time Super Bowl champion Cowboys, who were playing in their NFL-record 63rd postseason game.
'Feels great, just running the ball the way we did,' quarterback Jared Goff said after his first career play-off victory. 'Two 100-yard rushers, that's rare, and it starts with those five guys up front.'
Next weekend, the Rams will face the winner of the other divisional play-off game in New Orleans between the top-seeded Saints and the defending Super Bowl champions Philadelphia Eagles.
The long-struggling Rams had won only one postseason game since their last trip to the Super Bowl in February 2002, but the 32-year-old McVay has added his first play-off victory to his spectacular two-season franchise turnaround . Los Angeles is one win away from another Super Bowl trip after McVay largely stuck to old-time football basics with his unlikely running back tandem and an offensive line determined to assert its superiority.
Running back Anderson (R) celebrates with quarterback Jared Goff after scoring a touchdown
With the Rams' veteran offensive line cutting holes in the Cowboys' defense, Gurley and Anderson became the fourth set of team-mates in NFL history to rush for 100 yards apiece in a post-season game, an improbable development just a few weeks ago. Gurley is the Rams' offensive centrepiece and one of the NFL's elite running backs, but Anderson is a well-travelled veteran playing only his third game with the Rams after signing last month when Gurley was
