The Los Angeles Rams began their 2024 playoff run with a dominant victory over the Minnesota Vikings, setting the stage for a showdown against the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Divisional Round.
The Rams were big underdogs in the matchup, but they didn’t let that discourage them and stayed within striking distance for most of the game.
After a long Saquon Barkley touchdown run, L.A. pulled within six points and then got the ball back with just over two minutes remaining.
The Rams moved the ball into the red zone but lost momentum when Jalen Carter sacked Matthew Stafford on third down. The Rams’ drive ended when Stafford overshot Puka Nacua on the sidelines.
Jared Verse, who emerged as a key contributor on defense, said he still thinks about the heartbreaking loss multiple times each day, via “The Rich Eisen Show:”
“It crosses my mind about three times a day. I think about how if I did this, or I did that, we could have — if Saquon’s big run to the opposite of the field, if I didn’t hesitate off the bat, I could have caught him … I could have been better. I could have stopped that. It upsets me every day because we could have won that game.”
Verse may have only been in his rookie season, but he took the loss harder than anyone and sent a strong message to the Rams locker room after the game.
Verse tallied two sacks in the Rams’ playoff loss to the Eagles and did everything he could to change the outcome, but it simply wasn’t meant to be.
The 24-year-old wasted no time showing the impact he could make by returning a fumble for a touchdown in his playoff debut against the Vikings.
The Rams are expecting big things from Verse in his second year and the experience he gained as a rookie should only help him continue improving.
Jared Verse has lofty goals entering second season with Rams
Jared Verse finished the 2024 season with 4.5 sacks, 66 total tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two passes defensed while starting 16 games. He also led all rookies in quarterback hits (18), pressures (77) and hurries (56).
After taking home the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award, Verse said it was the first step toward becoming one of the all-time greats in the NFL.
“I think it’s a small step towards (becoming one of the best players ever),” Verse said in his press conference after receiving the award. “But there’s a lot of people that have won this award that after they win it, they get satisfied. That’s the main thing, you can’t get satisfied. This is just a small step to a big goal.”
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