Redemption and late heroics unite young decision-makers in the Rams’ win at the Saints

NEW ORLEANS – This time it wasn’t veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford who showed off the late-game heroics in Sunday afternoon’s 21-14 win over the New Orleans Saints.

The Los Angeles Rams’ young defensive line, much maligned by last Sunday’s kicking in the backside of the Philadelphia Eagles’ running game, held off the Saints’ inside runs on second and third down from their 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Line was fourth and only seven points ahead. Quarterback Derek Carr dropped back to pass on fourth-and-3, and rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse fought off his blocker to hit Carr and end the game. According to Next Gen Stats, Verse finished the race with a team-best seven performance.

No, at a certain point, Stafford — who chuckled after the game as he acknowledged that he had seen just about every type of football game in his 16-year NFL career — knew that the best thing for the Rams’ painfully stagnant offense was in it would consist of getting out of the game. Literally.

“The way the game started, the way we played in the first half, it was definitely frustrating,” Stafford said. “You sit there and say, ‘Man, there are plays out there – we’ve got to get them!’

“And at the same time, I know that every time I pass it, I feel like I’m getting good yards. So it’s like, “I’ve got to try and find a way to get some points on these drives, these guys at the front are playing well enough to get these points!”

The @RamsNFL Get a HUGE stop on 4th descent!

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– NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2024

The offense started Sunday’s game in a similar way it has done too many times this season: No points. For the ninth time this season, the Rams went without a touchdown in the first quarter despite their key starters and role players returning from injuries earlier in the season.

Additionally, the Rams were shutout in the first half for the second time in head coach Sean McVay’s tenure (previously the New England Patriots had a first-half shutout in Super Bowl LIII). Their passing and Stafford’s protection looked disjointed and slow. But once they had successful runs, they abandoned the run to favor the pass. A three-and-out early in the game included three pass plays and ended up being the Rams’ only play of the first quarter as the Saints successfully ran out the clock on their possessions on both sides of the Rams’ failed drive.

Even the connections that click so often — like Stafford to receiver Cooper Kupp on “must-have” plays — didn’t work. Stafford passed to Kupp from the Saints’ 25-yard line on fourth-and-4, but he failed incomplete. Stafford threw the ball to a spot on the field that Kupp was supposed to reach on the route (in the end zone), and if Kupp had made it there, he would have been open for the touchdown. But, Kupp explained after the game, a defensive back who was supposed to cover Tutu Atwell made a mistake – which actually redirected Kupp on his route and threw off the timing of the play.

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The Rams overcome a first-half shutout to beat the Saints 21-14: Takeaways

Of the Rams’ 23 plays in the first half, 11 were runs that averaged more than six yards per carry between two running backs. On their third possession of the half (they only had three), the Rams ran the ball five times for 39 yards, reaching the New Orleans 49-yard line. Then Stafford fell behind on its first possession and was sacked for an 8-yard loss. McVay called a short outlet catch-and-run (pass play) on second-and-18 to get back to at least a “neutral” third down (in this case, third-and-9). Stafford’s third-down pass fell incomplete.

McVay said there was a shared emphasis between coaches and players when they met in the locker room at halftime to stick with what was working. That meant the running game. The players said he told them straight up that he would call run after run in the third and fourth quarters, and they wanted to carry out that plan.

“I thought our coaches, I thought (offensive coordinator) Mike LaFleur and (offensive coach) Ryan Wendell, really all of our offensive coaches did a great job of recognizing it and communicating it,” McVay said, “and being it to us managed to achieve some of the right things we wanted to do.

“Ultimately what matters is that the players can bring it to life and they have done that in a big way.”

Running back Kyren Williams finished his second game with over 100 rushing yards this year. He averaged 6.9 yards per carry on his 15 carries, accounting for 104 yards and one touchdown. Rookie Blake Corum added eight carries for 42 yards (5.3 per carry).

Williams, who has struggled with blunders this season, including a fourth loss last week, said that after a week of energy and personal responsibility, he felt “like me, me and me” again on the field in practice on Sunday. felt. He also noticed that the Saints defenders “sensed” him as a runner.

“I think we carried it,” Williams said, “and that’s the O-line. They moved their boys and I’m just squeezing and slapping my holes. If you get in my way and I have nowhere else to go, I’ll run you over. I think they did a good job of really getting their defenses in position and getting the defenders moving. I was just able to outrun them.”

New Orleans rallied with the Rams in the second half, tying the game 14-1 on a 28-yard throw and catch from Carr to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who lined up behind senior cornerback Darious Williams. The Saints converted two points, another passing play to practice the call-up of Dante Pettis.

The Rams appeared in danger of stalling on another drive in response, facing a third-and-10 from the New Orleans 25-yard line, but a Saints defender jumped offside and then The officials called a pass interference penalty on an intended ball for receiver Puka Nacua and the Rams reached the 7. Perhaps the most deft passing play of their day, a quick strike (a bit like a sidearm throw) from Stafford on Nacua from a pre-snap motion gave the Rams the lead for good with 8:54 left.

Puka Nacua caught five passes on Sunday, including this touchdown that gave the Rams the lead for good. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)

The Saints had star running back Alvin Kamara on outside runs for much of the game, essentially daring the Rams’ defensive backs and inside linebackers to stretch wide and get down from their pre-snap positions to attack. But inside the 10-yard line they ran inside. Fourth-year defensive tackle Bobby Brown III was able to stop Kamara on third-and-4, which helped set up Verse’s rush on the corresponding fourth-down.

“You can’t be blocked by a tight end, you just can’t,” Verse said after the game. “So I just brought him back and took off (to meet Carr).”

Verse was brutally angry with himself for his mistakes in last week’s 37-20 loss to the Eagles. The training week until Sunday was all about personal responsibility. He asked coaches and teammates not to cut him any slack — to be tough on him on details all week.

Teammates on the other side of the ball took notice, too – and watched gleefully from the SuperDome sidelines as Verse secured their sixth win.

“It’s a huge deal and it’s hard to execute, especially for someone like him who plays at such a high level,” Kupp said. “He had early success in this league. One of the hardest things is to feel like the way you played is justified, and it makes it easy to excuse yourself when you’ve done a lot of things and people right. I tell you, that you are doing many things right.

“For someone like that to come in and say, ‘Hey, even though I’ve done this and this and that, I can still do a lot better and be responsible for the mistakes I’ve made, that’s a big deal for a guy like Jared.’ .”

(Top photo by Kyren Williams: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)