The Los Angeles Rams avoided disaster on Sunday afternoon after blowing a 23-point lead to the Indianapolis Colts. They managed to win it in overtime on a touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Puka Nacua, but the game was much too close for comfort, despite the six-point margin of victory.
This team has been experiencing growing pains all season and those showed up again on Sunday, as did some literal pain in Matthew Stafford’s hip. But they overcame a stalling offense and some big plays allowed on defense to win in OT, 29-23.
Here’s what we learned from the victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.
1
Brett Maher’s misses were (almost) very costly
Maher has looked good this season but he would’ve been a big reason for the Rams’ loss if they didn’t hold off the Colts. He missed a 46-yard field goal and then another 48-yarder, each of which would’ve given the Rams a much more comfortable lead instead of giving the Colts life down three possessions.
Maher has a big leg and has mostly been reliable but that 40-50-yard range is the crucial one and Maher missed two kicks in that area on Sunday.
2
Sean McVay got too conservative too early
McVay clearly wanted to rely on the run game in this one, which was encouraging to see. But the times in which he called conservative run plays was questionable. There was a point in the third quarter when he called a run on third-and-4 from the Colts’ 34-yard line, which only gained 2 yards. He settled for the field goal and Maher missed, so the drive came up empty.
If you’re going to run on third-and-4, you’re most likely looking to go for it on fourth down in that situation, but McVay played it safe and took the field goal.
He also got very conservative before halftime, running it three straight times and not being aggressive despite having 1:45 left on the clock, two timeouts and starting the drive from their own 37-yard line. Maher missed a 46-yarder to end the first half because of those conservative calls.
3
Rams finally give Kyren Williams some relief
The Rams have barely taken Williams off the field in the last two weeks but they gave him some relief on Sunday. Ronnie Rivers carried it nine times for 47 yards, allowing Williams to catch his breath a little bit. Williams is still the unquestioned starter, carrying it 25 times for 103 yards – his first career 100-yard game – but it was good to see the Rams limit his wear and tear slightly after two games where he played 95% of the snaps and 100%.
If McVay plans to keep utilizing Williams as his workhorse this season, he’ll need to manage his workload a little bit because running backs can’t sustain a pace of playing almost every snap.
4
Matthew Stafford showed a ton of toughness in the second half
Stafford injured his hip in the second half and was in a lot of pain. He was limping around the field after seemingly every play, which really limited the offense because the Rams couldn’t call a normal drop-back passing game.
That caused the offense to stall, going five straight possessions without putting points on the board. That wasn’t the sole reason the Rams blew a 23-point lead but Stafford’s injury certainly didn’t help. He couldn’t move like his normal self and because it was the right side of his lower body, he probably couldn’t drive off his back leg, either.
5
Offensive line plays just fine despite shuffling
Every Rams fan was calling for McVay to put Joe Noteboom at left tackle after Alaric Jackson went down last week, but McVay opted not to go that route. This week, he made Zach Thomas a healthy scratch and plugged Noteboom in at left tackle, with Kevin Dotson getting the start at right guard.
The results were significantly better than they were with Noteboom at right guard and Thomas at left tackle last week. Noteboom held up well at left tackle and Dotson was a physical force on the interior between Coleman Shelton and Rob Havenstein.
The Colts landed nine hits on Stafford and had two sacks, but the offensive line still had a good game, all things considered.
6
Rams must be better about limiting big plays
Anthony Richardson didn’t put up huge numbers through the air, only throwing for 200 yards, but he did so on only 11-of-25 passing. That’s an average of 18 yards per completion, compared to 11.8 yards per completion for Stafford. That’s because four different Colts players had receptions of at least 22 yards, with three of those hauling in passes of 30-plus yards.
The Rams defense was plagued by big plays, including a 35-yarder to Mo Alie-Cox when Michael Hoecht was inexplicably in man coverage against the tight end. They also allowed runs of 20 yards and 23 yards by Zack Moss and Anthony Richardson, respectively. If the Rams can cut down on those long gains, the defense will be in much better shape.
