THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Four of Jared Goff's first five passing attempts against the Raiders this past Saturday came off play-action, including his touchdown. A week earlier in the preseason opener against the Cowboys, play-action produced his longest pass of the afternoon.

If you can't already tell, play-action passing will be a big part of Sean McVay's offense with the Los Angeles Rams.

"Being able to have plays that start out looking the same that are different," is how McVay described the benefits of successful play-action. "I think it forces the defense to kind of have to adjust and react accordingly. You have to be able to run the football for them to honor the play-action pass. You have to show that you can be a threat in the play-action game, so now maybe you're going to dictate a different box count, and now you’ll get some better run looks. So, it all ties together."

Rams quarterback Jared Goff appears to be benefiting from coach Sean McVay's use of play-action calls. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

The Rams' stimulating offensive showing this past Saturday, in an eventual 23-21 win, began with Todd Gurley, who was able to pick up 38 yards on only eight carries. It ultimately helped the Rams sell the threat of the run. Goff faked a handoff and found Robert Woods and Gerald Everett on back-to-back pass attempts, with each of them able to get into the open field for big gains. Later, he faked a handoff to Gurley and found Cooper Kupp wide open over the top for a 23-yard touchdown. Seven days earlier, Kupp also hauled in a 19-yard pass near the sideline off play-action.

McVay's 2016 Redskins offense sported the NFL's best completion rate off play-action (72.6 percent) and its second-highest yards per attempt off play-action (10.96). That success is even more impressive when considering that those offenses averaged only 106 rushing yards per game, 14th in the NFL. The threat of the run wasn't necessarily there, but they were somehow still effective at selling it.

"We did run the ball efficiently," McVay corrected, alluding to the fact that the Redskins ranked ninth in rushing yards per attempt at 4.47. "I just had to give us a little bit more opportunity in terms of calling some of those runs last year."

McVay's Redskins were seventh in the NFL in passing attempts per game last year, but his Rams may be a little more run-heavy. The personnel is different, the strengths are elsewhere. That Redskins team had a polished Kirk Cousins at quarterback and a bevy of accomplished receivers, including Jordan Reed, DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. The Rams have done a nice job of improving at receiver this calendar year, but Goff is only 22 and Gurley remains their best offensive player.

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"It’s hard to be a dominant offense if you’re not balanced," said Rams center John Sullivan, a backup in Washington last year. "You have to be able to make teams worry about both facets, the run game and the pass game. Obviously, everybody loves to see big-chunk plays and throwing the ball vertically down the field. But the way that you open that up sometimes is by running the football effectively. The one feeds off the other."

Effective as last year's Redskins were on play-action, they didn't go to it frequently. Eleven teams ran play-action more often. And only 22.5 percent of the Redskins' passing plays that went 20 or more yards came off play-action, which ranked 14th in the NFL. The Falcons, the team with the NFL's most explosive offense last year, led the NFL in that department. An NFL-best 36.9 percent of Atlanta's 20-plus-yard passing plays came off play-action.

The quarterbacks coach for that team was Matt LaFleur, who is now the offensive coordinator with the Rams.