FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Rams picked up a bounce back win knocking off the Patriots 28-22 on Sunday afternoon. Los Angeles’ offense caught fire in the second quarter leading to an insurmountable lead for the Rams. The Rams are now 5-5 as they are right in the mix for first place in the NFC West.
Here are takeaways from the Rams win over the Patriots:
Superstar duo goes crazy
A week ago the Rams couldn’t find the end zone and suffered defeat to the Dolphins.
This week the Rams’ leaned on their superstar wide receivers to open the offense back up again.
Puka Nacua finished the game with 7 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Cooper Kupp added 6 catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
Kupp got the scoring started in the second quarter with his five-yard touchdown catch followed by Nacua’s 12-yard touchdown pass to put the Rams up 14-10 before the half.
Kupp opened the second half with a 69-yard touchdown pass to give Los Angeles a 21-10 lead.
During the team’s second and third quarter offensive surge quarterback Matthew Stafford leaned heavily on his top targets to help the Rams jump to their sizable lead.
With Nacua and Kupp healthy the Rams offense is one of the best in the NFL and gives them the best pass catching duo.
Stafford throws 4 touchdown passes
Matthew Stafford came in to the week off of a game where he struggled in the loss against Miami. He was pressured throughout the game and didn’t lead the offense to not a single touchdown scoring drive.
Thanks to a cleaner pocket and big time plays by his star receivers Stafford and the offense exploded in New England.
Stafford finished the game with 295 yards and 4 touchdown passes.
This was Stafford second game this season with 3 or more touchdowns thrown in a game. His last game with 3 or more touchdown passes came on October 24 against the Minnesota Vikings when he also threw 4 touchdowns.
Stafford and the passing offense has had their struggles this season due to injuries with his top receivers and poor offensive line play but yesterday they looked more like the offense we expected to see.
The offensive line didn’t give up a sack and it allowed Stafford to play lights out.
The key to a late season surge will be keep Stafford up right and the former Super Bowl must get the ball to his star weapons so the offense can peak.
Fiske, Kinchens and Lake lead the defense to the win
The Rams have won four of their past five game since starting 1-4 and a lot credit should be given to the emerging defense.
This week the defense was lead by rookies defensive tackle Braden Fiske, safety Kamren Kinchens and third-year pro safety Quentin Lake.
The rookie out of Florida State Fiske has been playing much better football lately. He recorded his second game this month with 2 sacks by picking up 2 against the Patriots. His ability to pass rush up the middle has led to standout play with the pass rushers around him as well. Fiske now has 5 sacks on the season after Sunday.
The Rams third round pick out of Miami, Kinchens has been a key piece to the defense this month. We all know about the plays he made against Seattle earlier this month and he was back to making plays yesterday afternoon. Kinchens recorded 8 tackles (6 solo), forced a fumble and intercepted Patriots quarterback Drake Maye to secure the win for Los Angeles.
Not to be left out, the former UCLA Bruin Lake balled out against the Patriots. Lake recorded 11 tackles (7 solo) and a pass deflection. His work in the slot has really helped the defense improve.
The defense will be key to continued success for Los Angeles and will be vital to keeping them in the NFC West race.