The Rams rallied in the second half and then held on to beat the Saints

NEW ORLEANS – They ran three plays in the first quarter.

They were shut out in the first half.

Things were anything but easy for the Rams on Sunday in the Big Easy.

Still, Matthew Stafford passed for two second-half touchdowns, Kyren Williams ran for another and rookie edge rusher Jared Verse made a late clutch play as the Rams beat the New Orleans Saints 21-14 at Caesars Superdome.

Williams rushed for over 100 yards and receivers Demarcus Robinson and Puka Nacua caught touchdown passes as the Rams recovered from an embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles to improve to 6-6 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Seattle Seahawks (7-5) lead the NFC West and the Arizona Cardinals (6-6) are above the Rams in the tiebreaker. The San Francisco 49ers (5-6) were also in the thick of the division race heading into Sunday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills.

Puka Nacua of the Rams scores the decisive touchdown after a short catch despite an attempted tackle by Pete Werner of the Saints (20).

(Butch Dill/Associated Press)

The Rams have five games remaining, including Sunday at SoFi Stadium against the Bills and four days later a match against the 49ers in Santa Clara. They end with a road game against the New York Jets and home games against the Cardinals and Seahawks.

“One day at a time,” coach Sean McVay said.

One day — and for the Rams, the sooner the better — McVay’s offense will start a game quickly, finish drives and maintain momentum.

That didn’t happen on Sunday.

After the Saints kicked a field goal on their first possession, the Rams went out of bounds three times.

Then the offensive awaited. And waited. And waited.

The Rams didn’t make another play until the Saints kicked another field goal on the first snap of the second quarter.

“You sit there and say, ‘Man, there are plays out there. We have to get them and make them happen,” Stafford said.

It was a “strange situation,” said receiver Cooper Kupp.

“It’s a lot of standing around,” he said, adding, “It’s a strange feeling.”

The Rams got the ball twice in the second quarter and Williams and rookie running back Blake Corum ran well, but the Rams couldn’t finish drives and went into the locker room down 6-0.

“We had about three drives,” senior lineman Rob Havenstein said in the first half. “Normally you want to achieve that in the first quarter. We got one and it was three and out, so obviously that wasn’t ideal.”

It also won’t be sustainable if the Rams want to make the playoffs and return to the Superdome for Super Bowl LIX in February.

“We have to be able to figure it out,” McVay said of slow starts and poor execution early in games, adding, “but I also don’t want to overreact.”

The Rams didn’t panic on Sunday.

The second half “was going to be ours,” said Williams, who finished the game with 104 yards on 15 carries.

“We knew that as a running back group,” he said, “and we knew that as an offensive line and an offense in general.”

Rams wide receiver Demarcus Robinson (15) makes a touchdown catch against the Saints.

(Butch Dill/Associated Press)

Williams scored on a short run midway through the third quarter and Stafford’s short touchdown pass to Robinson on the first play of the fourth quarter extended the lead.

The Saints tied the score with a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but rookie Jordan Whittington’s 43-yard kickoff return sparked a drive that Stafford capped with a touchdown pass to Nacua.

Verse sealed the victory with less than two minutes left and the Saints faced a fourth-and-2 at the Rams’ nine-yard line. Verse rushed from the right edge and got the ball in his hand as quarterback Derek Carr attempted a pass.

What was going through Verse’s mind as he pursued Carr?

“Hold on to the ball, hey, just one more second,” Verse said with a laugh. “Hold on to it. You don’t have to do anything extra. Just hold on a little longer.”

Verse’s play was the last for a defense that had given up 481 yards, including 255 rushing yards from Saquon Barkley, in a 37-20 loss to the Eagles.

Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) kept the pressure on Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4).

(Tyler Kaufman/Associated Press)

Saints running back Alvin Kamara rushed for 112 yards, but the Rams prevented him from breaking off long scoring runs like Barkley did.

The Rams will need to use their offense earlier than the second half, but Stafford, who completed 14 of 24 passes for 183 yards, didn’t seem too concerned.

The 16th-year pro said he’s played enough games to know that teams can build a lead quickly “before you bat an eyelid, and at the end of the game you’re in a bind.”

It’s a game with ups and downs, he said.

“It’s very rare that you go down, score 14 points and then just run away with the football game,” he said. “So, your time will come.

“You have to find those opportunities and when they come you have to take advantage of them.”

It would be a start for the Rams to do this early in games.

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