INGLEWOOD – As he walked up to the lectern after the Rams somehow pulled off a 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers, head coach Sean McVay was still gathering his thoughts, trying to put together a coherent opening statement.
“Alright, um,” he began, before slapping his hands down on the wood. “Holy (expletive).”
Honestly, how else do you describe a game like this?
The Rams (1-2) entered Week 3 winless and decimated by injuries. Down Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, 40% of an offensive line and 50% of a secondary, the team stared down the possibility of falling to 0-3, a death sentence for playoff hopes. That likelihood jumped in the first quarter when San Francisco (1-2) got off to a 14-0 lead behind the first two of three Jauan Jennings touchdowns.
The Rams had never overcome a 14-point deficit in the McVay era, and they fell behind by that margin again in the third quarter. And yet they kept chipping away, and somehow found a way to get an improbable win.
“I’m not into improbable, probable,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “The NFL is an improbable business, I’ll tell you that.”
How else would you explain how this happened?
The first inkling that something special could happen came in the second quarter. Down 14-0, the Rams had finally completed a pass only for Stafford to commit intentional grounding on first down. A couple of short completions, and the punt unit came out for fouth-and-6 from the Rams 43.
Only McVay, sensing his team needed a spark after five lifeless quarters dating back to last week’s debacle against the Cardinals, called a fake punt. Direct snap to running back Ronnie Rivers, outside run to the left.
Rivers barrelled ahead for 7 yards, spurring on a 16-play drive that ended with Kyren Williams flipping into the end zone for a touchdown.
“I felt like it was a great momentum boost,” Rivers said.
That was the first of several pivotal moments for the Rams special teams, a unit that ranked near the bottom of the NFL in most categories in 2023. But whether it was punter Ethan Evans dropping two of his three punts inside the 20, or Joshua Karty being perfect on his kicks, or receiver Xavier Smith coming up off the practice squad to return San Francisco’s punt with 55 seconds left all the way to midfield to set up the game-winning kick, that part of the team was ready when called upon on Sunday.
“Really proud of [special teams coordinator] Chase Blackburn’s leadership,” McVay said. “That’s been a strength of ours through three weeks.”
It wasn’t even clear that Karty would be able to play on Sunday after injuring his groin last weekend. He didn’t practice on Wednesday and Thursday, and McVay said how Friday’s practice went would determine his game status.
But he was cleared to play, and when it came time for him to attempt a 37-yard field goal for the win with five seconds to play, the rookie calmly knocked it through the uprights.
“I’ll enjoy it for about 24 hours,” Karty said. “Take an off day and then move on to the next one.”
He never gets his chance without the young Rams defense calming down after rocky starts to both halves to hold the 49ers to seven first downs and three points over their last four possessions. The secondary held firm even as the pass rush gave quarterback Brock Purdy time to throw on the Niners’ penultimate drive, ultimately forcing a missed field goal and the fateful punt to Smith.
“We knew as long as we did our job,” defensive tackle Kobie Turner said, “that we had ‘9’ waiting.”
That would be Stafford, the wily veteran who had already written a long book of comebacks. He added another chapter on Sunday.
On the Rams’ first touchdown drive, he connected with five different receivers. He continued to put his faith in Tutu Atwell after a couple of bobbled balls. That paid off after Jake Moody’s missed field goal in the fourth quarter, when Stafford lofted a 50-yarder to the speedy receiver on the very next play.
Two snaps later, Stafford audibled to a run call on the goal line for a second time, and for the second time it resulted in a Williams touchdown, this one tying the game with 1:54 to play. Then after Smith’s return, Stafford’s attempt to tight end Colby Parkinson drew the pass interference flag that got the Rams into field goal range.
“It took all phases,” Stafford said. “It’s a real cool team win, a fun one to be a part of.”
And one that couldn’t have come at a better time. Just one of 129 teams that have started a season 0-3 since 1999 has made the playoffs. But instead of living in that reality, the Rams hope they can build off of one of the more, dare I say it, improbable wins in franchise history.
“I think it was something that was kind of unspoken,” Williams said. “That’s something that we knew we had to do. An 0-3 start is not good, and we know that. I feel like that’s something that we prepared this week to make sure that didn’t happen.”