No need to shake off any rust, Stafford and co. easily handled business with flair at SoFi Stadium
As expected, the LA Rams hardly met any resistance during their week 9 match-up against the now 1-8 New Orleans Saints. Even though the Horns missed a week of action due to their week 8 bye, their momentum resumed effortlessly, never skipping a beat as Stafford led the offense on a full-on assault in front of the lively home crowd.
On their very first drive, the Horns progressed the chains at their command, easily dissecting a battered New Orleans defense missing several pieces in the secondary. Stafford found Tyler Higbee in the red zone with a 1-yard flick that resulted in the first score of the game, giving LA an early 7-0 lead thanks to the extra point from Joshua Karty. The Saints were limited to punts the rest of the quarter, applying zero pressure to the Rams’ defense.
Straight into the second, the Rams continued their scoring bombardment, with Davante Adams hauling in a 3-yard short pass in the end zone, further mounting LA’s lead, though Karty’s extra-point attempt was a bit wide left, leaving the score 13-0. The Saints’ next drive wasn’t completely empty-handed, though, with kicker Blake Grupe making a routine 39-yard field goal to give New Orleans three onto the scoreboard. In response, Stafford once again took charge, launching a 39-yard dot to Puka Nacua for his third touchdown of the night.
Karty redeemed himself with the made an extra point this time around, setting the score at 20-3. However, on their next drive, Karty missed once again, this time on a 39-yard field goal. The error seemed to spark a bit of a resurgence in the Saints’ offense, with QB Tyler Shough throwing an 11-yard pass to TE Juwan Johnson for their first and only touchdown of the night, improving the score to 20-10 at halftime.
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The Rams’ initial drive to kick off the third was a bit unusual, with the offensive effort stretching over 16 plays that commandeered a majority of the quarter. But it proved successful in the long run thanks to Stafford’s fourth TD, once again finding Davante Adams on a 4-yard dime, making the score 27-10 into the fourth.
Despite the massive lead, LA’s aggression didn’t let up—Kyren Williams was able to partake in the scoring action with a trivial 1-yard goal line touchdown to further boost the score to 34-10. Eventually, the Rams’ defense was able to seal the deal with a late-game interception at the hands of cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., concluding the match and cementing the Rams’ freshly earned 6-2 record.
There were a lot of good takeaways from week 9’s powerful performance. Even though it wasn’t the toughest of opponents by any means, it’s nice to see the boys in blue and gold back to dominating the gridiron. Stafford’s masterful game finished with a stat line of 281 passing yards and 4 touchdowns on 24-32 pass attempts, while Davante gave us an efficient 60 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on only 5 catches. Puka also shone thanks to 95 receiving yards and 1 touchdown on 7 catches, though we’re certain he would’ve had more if he hadn’t headed to the locker room for a brief period after a minor injury concern. Tyler Higbee’s 13 receiving yards and 1 touchdown on 3 catches, along with Kyren Williams’ 114 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 25 carries, also made massive impacts during the game.
In week 10 on Sunday, the Rams will line up against the San Francisco 49ers once again in another crucial divisional game that will surely shake up the NFC West standings. We’ll see if LA can redeem their earlier seasonal loss dealt by the hands of Mac Jones and Christian McCaffrey, and do so on enemy turf.