The Los Angeles Rams’ sluggish start to Monday’s tussle in Atlanta, coming off 11 days’ rest, led to a second consecutive loss and has Sean McVay’s club staring at a more difficult postseason path.
Matthew Stafford tossed two first-half interceptions, including a pick-six, and the defense got run over by Bijan Robinson, including a 93-yard touchdown scamper leading to a 21-point halftime deficit. Buoyed by a Jared Verse field goal block returned for a TD, L.A. rallied to tie the contest late, but the defense gave up a field goal with 21 seconds remaining, and Stafford couldn’t connect on four straight passes to secure the 27-24 defeat.
“It was too many things to overcome,” McVay said, via the team’s official website. “We put ourselves behind the eight ball and that's why we're sitting here with the L."
Monday’s slow start came a week after the Rams lost a 30-14 fourth-quarter lead to Seattle, which dropped the Rams out of contention for the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference. Back-to-back losses now have the Wild Card-bound Rams looking at the No. 6 seed, which would include a trip to either Chicago or Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. A Rams win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18, coupled with a 49ers loss to Seattle, would give L.A. the five seed, which faces the NFC South winner (Carolina or Tampa Bay).
McVay said he plans on playing his starters in Week 18 in hopes of finding a groove heading into the tournament.
"Oh, we're playing,” he said, noting that it was always the plan. "We need to play better football. So I don't know what the consequences are and those different types of things, but we got to play better.”
Stafford went 22-of-38 passing for 269 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions for the game. It marked the QB’s first three-INT day since Week 1, 2022 (31-10 loss to Buffalo). After throwing just two INTs in the first 11 games, Stafford has tossed six picks since Week 13 -- only Shedeur Sanders (8) and Brady Cook (7) have more in that span, per NFL Research.
With the first-half pick-6, Stafford tied Brett Favre for the most interception return touchdowns thrown in NFL history with 32. Stafford and Favre are the only QBs with more than 30 interception return touchdowns thrown in their careers.
The poor performance from the QB could cost him a shot at earning his first NFL MVP award, with Patriots’ Drake Maye taking over pole position.
“He’s a total stud,” McVay said of Stafford. "We wouldn't be in a lot of the great situations we're in without (Stafford), but tonight was a night that he's capable of playing better."
The same could be said of the entire Rams team, which got bullied in the first half. The offense turned the ball over, and the defense failed to get a needed stop late. Los Angeles has allowed 27-plus points in four of their past five games. It’s not a good recipe heading into January.
“If we play like we did in the first half, if we play the way that we did in totality, we’re going to be at home watching everything else go down in two weeks,” defensive tackle Kobie Turner said. “So we gotta get our stuff together. We’re gonna go back and watch the tape. I believe in these guys so much.”
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