Rodrigue: Rams wins hard to come by this season, but this one meant something

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — This was a game loaded with meaning. And with feeling.

The Rams may still only be 3-4 after beating the powerhouse Minnesota Vikings 30-20 on Thursday night. Yet this win mattered a little more, and not just because it felt like it could be a turning point for a team that spent the first part of the season reeling under injuries. Star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua both returned to the field after missing four and five games, respectively, to injuries. There were many reunions between the two teams. The Vikings are coached by Kevin O’Connell, who was the offensive coordinator when the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, and there were crossovers everywhere from players to staff and even strength and conditioning departments. Small clusters of players and coaches met with each other on the field before warmups began. Andrew Whitworth, the beloved left tackle for that team, was on the Amazon Prime broadcast crew. The championship banners hung in the rafters at SoFi Stadium, from where confetti once fell, and the memories of it didn’t feel quite so distant that night as they sometimes do.

To further add to the emotional weight: Kupp, the anchor of that Super Bowl team, has been the subject of trade calls to the Rams from other teams over the last couple weeks as the Nov. 5 deadline approaches and with the Rams’ season previously on the brink. I reported this on Sunday, for my column Monday (among other outlets); the speculation only crescendoed into a prime-time game that had legitimate implications toward the Rams’ roster construction and personnel.

McVay confirmed postgame that teams have called the Rams about Kupp (adding that some of what he’s seen on the topic is speculative, or untrue), and said, “I’m really glad to have Cooper Kupp back with us, and that’s what I expect to stay that way.”

Kupp stayed focused through the short week of preparation after Sunday’s win against Las Vegas. “I’m not thinking about that stuff, I’m not weighing anything against that,” he said, “it is what it is — there’s all that stuff out there, but there was something I think kind of cool about all of that stuff going on outside of the facility but on a short week every minute was spent preparing (and) trying to get ready to come out here and play. It gave me the opportunity to focus on being where my feet are, being able to prepare as best I can and come out here and let it rip.”

Nacua was activated off injured reserve on Thursday afternoon, despite not getting much practice since those are largely walk-throughs ahead of a TNF game. Head of sports performance Reggie Scott visited McVay’s office early in the week and told McVay he believed Nacua might “have a chance to go” where previously the target was the Week 9 game at Seattle.

“He said, ‘I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty good. He went and had a workout session where he ran routes and did a great job, his movement looked good,’” McVay said, “I talked to him and I said, ‘Do you want to try to give this thing a shot?’ He said yes, he took part in the walk-through on Tuesday. Did a little bit more movement on his own. And then yesterday in practice he looked really good. Once you tease me, you’re goin’.”

Nacua finished with 106 yards off seven catches (nine targets), while Kupp had 51 yards off five catches plus a touchdown (he also drew two pass interference penalties that proved very costly to the Vikings.)

As it turns out (she said sarcastically), having two top receivers — at least two receivers who draw the kind of attention Kupp and Nacua did on Thursday night — can make a pretty big difference for an offense. Not only did the Rams score a first-quarter touchdown for the first time all season, they also crossed the 20-point mark for just the second time this season and finished with their most points scored.

Veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson caught two touchdowns, both on single-coverage opportunities that he won.

“You can’t double-cover everybody on the team, you’ll leave somebody open,” he said, smiling. “Those guys get a lot of those double coverages, so that leaves me a lot of one-on-one time. Matthew was able to see that … I’m a pretty good player myself, too. I’m able to get open a little bit.”

The Rams only allowed four pressures the entire game, according to Next Gen Stats. Matthew Stafford was not sacked. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ NFL-leading defense often features a significant blitz frequency, but in the Rams’ case while Minnesota did at times show pre-snap looks as though they’d send extra rushers, they often dropped those players into coverage after the snap. Early in the game, the Rams’ effectiveness at running the ball combined with some quick passing by Stafford helped neutralize pressure, and as the game continued and defenders had to account for both Nacua and Kupp’s presence on the field, there just weren’t many extra left to send at Stafford.

“They didn’t pressure nearly as much as they had shown on tape,” McVay said. “I thought Matthew was hot from the jump, they slowed that down and really they didn’t pressure a whole lot in general. They brought the pressure at the end when we threw the little smoke screen out to Cooper, but for the most part they didn’t do nearly as much as what they had shown. …

“Coach Flores is a great coach. I think we were gonna be, we had to be ready for everything.”

This also helped open up how the Rams were able to distribute space even in condensed areas such as the red zone. For the first time all season, they were a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone, and all trips resulted in touchdowns.

Stafford, who played very well minus one interception on a pass intended for Robinson in the second half, came flying out of the tunnel during pregame player announcements with his finger pointing to the stands, his other hand beating his chest and he had that kind of darkly chaotic energy he sometimes lets out of the box right before he steals a couple souls (if you know, you know). During the game, he even slipped out of two would-be takedowns, hunching into a crouch and letting the pass rusher slide over him before taking off and throwing a touchdown pass to Kupp on the run.

You’re a wizard, Matthew! 🧙‍♂️

📺: @NFLonPrime | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/In93Y0aVCp

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 25, 2024

“Yeah, that was pretty cool,” said Kupp, “we were just talking, someone just recently did that — ducked through, ran up and made a play. It was literally this morning, (Stafford) was like, ‘You know, I’m just too old to be making that move. I’m too old to be doing that.’ I had a great view of him doing the exact thing! After he threw the ball I was looking for him like, ‘you liar.’ … But he was pumped after that. He had that ‘Matthew Stafford walk’ going on the sideline.”

It wasn’t just the offense that fed off of Stafford’s vibe, the defense got a lift as well. After allowing touchdowns on the Vikings’ opening two possessions, a defense that has improved each week started getting more pressure on Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold.

Rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse, in particular, seemed to build momentum as the game continued. He got chipped by extra blockers in the early minutes, but told me postgame he adjusted to work around the edge and leaned on his power rush and seemingly endless energy to bull back his assignments at times. Verse finished the game with 1 1/2 sacks, a tackle for loss and two additional quarterback hits.

“When they get tired, I’m not gonna get tired,” Verse said. “I’m gonna keep talking, I’m gonna keep being loud, they’re gonna get more tired. They’re gonna fall down. They’re gonna be quiet. … It’s a mind game. It’s like chess.”

And that really embodies what Thursday night became for the Rams, despite all of the weight, emotion, feeling, whatever. That is the type of energy the Rams transferred back and forth between each other out of the tunnel and as the game unfolded, and in every phase (even the punter — Ethan Evans pinned the Vikings on the 5-yard line with 1:53 to play and an 8-point lead; this set up a safety that featured a controversial no-call as Rams’ Byron Young got ahold of Darnold’s face mask).

There’s a long road ahead, of course. I can’t help thinking about something veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein told me earlier in the week: A good team first needs to learn how to win together.

They are slowly getting the “together” part handled, as players return from injuries. After back-to-back home wins, they might be getting a taste for the rest of it too.