FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Listen to enough Sean McVay press conferences, and you’ll hear him call football some version of “the greatest team sport there is” a handful of times. It is coach speak, of course, but it’s easy to see the point after a game like last week, when the Rams’ struggling pass and run games resembled a chicken and egg conundrum.
But on Sunday, the Rams offense was operating in harmony for two quarters, and despite a fourth-quarter scare, it was enough for a 28-22 win over the New England Patriots.
The Rams saw their run game picking up chunks to the tune of 4.5 yards per carry getting the offense into favorable second and third downs. The offensive line, with rookie Beaux Limmer back in the starting lineup, keeping quarterback Matthew Stafford upright with no sacks allowed. Receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua putting all kinds of stress on the defense, creating space for each other and the likes of Colby Parkinson and Tutu Atwell.
“Just trying to play good football. You look at it today, it’s all things, right?” said Stafford, who with four touchdown throws passed Eli Manning for 10th on the all-time list. “It takes everybody.”
Sunday was the first time this season the Rams (5-5) exceeded 400 total yards of offense with 402. That included 107 on the ground, the first time the run game has reached triple-digits in three weeks. Kupp secured 106 yards and two touchdowns, his first multi-score game since Sept. 2022. Nacua added another TD and 123 yards, including a career-high 117 in the first half.
“When you’re able to run the football and other things can come off of it, it’s what offensive ball should look like when it’s quality,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “I thought there were a lot of examples of that. We have to be able to build on this. I was proud of that group.”
The Rams first two drives felt frustratingly familiar. No third-down conversions, stalling at midfield and no points in the first quarter for the second week in a row and seventh time this season. Big gains by Nacua and Kyren Williams were squandered. Throws by Stafford were either off-target or impacted by the Patriot pass rush.
Meanwhile, New England quarterback Drake Maye was doing a good job of releasing the ball quickly as the speedy Patriots receivers found space underneath. The Pats (3-8) got out to a 7-0 lead and threatened to do more before defensive tackle Kobie Turner deflected a third-down pass to force a punt.
But that’s when the Rams started to get moving.
It started with a 25-yard chunk play to Nacua. Backup running back Blake Corum came in for four carries and 21 yards. Another completion to Nacua got the Rams to the New England 5, and Stafford, rolling right, found Kupp on a simple out route for the touchdown.
Defensive tackle Braden Fiske flattened Maye on the next drive, forcing a fumble recovered by Turner at the Patriots 12. The next play, Nacua laid out for his first touchdown of the season.
The second-year receiver, who missed five games this season with a knee sprain, stayed down on the field after landing hard with the ball between his chest and the turf. He was taken into the injury tent and evaluated, but emerged with his helmet on and his breath back.
Nacua was back on the field for the Rams’ next drive, and on the opposite side of the field from Kupp to start the second half when Stafford found the veteran receiver on a 69-yard touchdown play. Kupp ran a simple seam route while the Patriots sent a blitz out of Cover-0, and all Kupp had to do was break one tackle and jog to the end zone as the 64,628 fans at Gillette Stadium sat in silence.
That was the Rams easiest score of the day, but they were able to add another with 19-yard pass to Parkinson for his first touchdown with the team. The Rams finished 3 for 4 in the red zone, an improvement from last week’s 0-for-3 showing.
“I thought it was execution. The guys did what they’re capable of doing,” McVay said. “We gotta be able to build on this.”
But the Patriots put together two long drives ending in a touchdown and a field goal to get within six with five minutes to play. Meanwhile, the Rams offense was unable to stay on the field with a three-and-out and a failed third-down throw to Nacua that led the Rams to punt the ball back to the Patriots with 2:14 to play.
Fortunately, safety Kamren Kinchens came up with his third interception in three weeks to seal the win, plopping to the turf as linebacker Christian Rozeboom insisted he not try to return the ball for a touchdown.
But the Rams offense came away feeling like they could have done more to close out the game, even as they won for the fourth time in five weeks.
“You’d like to say as an offense you don’t put your defense back out there,” Kupp said. “You’d like to find a way to come up with that third-down conversion and be able to just wind the clock out there. We don’t, but the defense comes up huge with the turnover so it’s really about playing off of each other.”