INGLEWOOD, Calif. — This much is true, and held true in the Los Angeles Rams’ eye-popping, all-too-narrow, heart-valve-busting 44-42 win over the AFC East champion Buffalo Bills on Sunday night:
When quarterback Matthew Stafford and his cast of offensive stars are at their best, they’re hard — almost impossible — to beat.
Stafford was 23 of 30 for two touchdowns and no interceptions, a passer rating of 132.6 and a staggering EPA (expected points added) per play of 0.78 according to analytics calculator RBDSM.com.
He was the player we’ve come to know as “Peak Stafford”, complete with arm angles that don’t make any sense at all and knife-twisting audibles at the line of scrimmage, with some of the purest yet most unwise throws you’ll ever see (including an unbelievable sideline toe-tapping catch by second-year receiver Puka Nacua in the second quarter, which Nacua said Stafford threw blindly because of pressure in his face).
“Shoot, I absolutely believe and trust (in that) ball coming out of No. 9’s hand with every inch of my body,” Nacua said postgame. “When I see the track, and it spins so right, I’m like, ‘I know exactly where this ball is gonna be.’ ”
PUKA NACUA! ABSOLUTELY UNREAL!
📺: @NFLonFOX | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/QQQNDqo0FC
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 8, 2024
Stafford had a little extra in him on Sunday night, too.
We knew it the moment he flushed out of the pocket on a third-and-9 in the first quarter and threw on the run to Nacua to convert the down. The Rams started 3 for 3 on third down on that opening possession, which was a touchdown drive, and finished the game 11 for 15 on third down. They didn’t punt until the fourth quarter.
A third-and-5 screen touchdown to Nacua, that ultimately helped stave off a furious Josh Allen-fueled Buffalo comeback, was vintage Stafford.
“Peak” Stafford.
Knife-twisting Stafford, whatever you’d like to call it. Hell, just let him literally call it.
The play was an audible at the line of scrimmage into a play that was essentially the inverse design of a screen pass Stafford threw to Nacua for a touchdown in Week 13 against New Orleans. That previous play, from the Saints’ 7-yard line, sent Nacua in a double motion across the formation before popping into his split on the right side and was built out of their run/pass option family of concepts. It manifested with a quick pass from Stafford to Nacua with blocking up the right and to the outside.
Against the Bills, there was no real run option as Stafford made his check (though the play looked similar pre-snap) and Nacua stayed static pre-snap in his split on the right side and cut the screen movement inside.
There’s more: The play from Week 13 was in itself a version of another screen that showed a similar pre-snap look that Stafford and the Rams used in previous seasons. Sunday, Stafford kept his signal for the new play the same as the much older concepts because he noted that some specific Bills defenders knew the signal for it and could possibly reorganize the defense. Ultimately the Rams ran a completely different play out of that same signal. Nacua scored — the 19-yarder was well-blocked as he carried the ball into the end zone.
The Rams were previously only converting about one-third of third-down attempts, third-worst in the NFL, and had nine touchdown-less first quarters this season plus a first-half shutout in New Orleans in Week 13.
Seven of the converted third downs — including the fourth quarter touchdown — belonged to Nacua, who for all his ascension into stardom with a historic rookie season in 2023, flashed even brighter against the rolling Bills. Nacua finished the game with 12 catches for 162 yards, a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown and said postgame he wished he could have dug out a few more safeties for running back Kyren Williams in the blocking surface. Williams had 87 yards and two touchdowns (he eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in the effort) and backup Blake Corum added a tough 34 yards on eight carries.
“He was such an igniter today,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said of Nacua, exhaling with awe as he spoke. “I thought obviously Matthew was in total command. I thought Kyren and Blake both had some really tough, hard-earned runs. I thought the line was straining. … Puka, for him to come up the way that he did … he was awesome.
“He’s so physically and mentally tough. Love him. ‘Igniter’ is one of the biggest compliments I can give somebody. You elevate everybody around you, you bring energy to this football team, and he certainly did that today.”
The Bills, colleague Joe Buscaglia told me, even practiced the “blind pass breakup” technique needed to defend the air-bending sideline pass that Stafford seems to throw Nacua’s way every few games all week in practice. It didn’t matter.
It’s called “G.O.A.T.” energy, said Williams emphatically after the game. Nacua has it in spades.
But when he, Stafford and Williams (with a healthy assist from veteran Cooper Kupp, of course, who added 92 yards and a touchdown off of five catches) are on the field and operating at their intended level, the Rams offense reaches new highs. That’s what carried them into a surprise wild card last season, and propelled L.A.’s statistics to the top of the NFL.
That, plus an offensive line that didn’t allow a sack in only its second game together as a collective group, in theory helps the Rams as they enter the most crucial weeks of their season. They have a 33 percent chance of making the playoffs according to The Athletic’s model, are a game back in the NFC West from Seattle and play each of their NFC West opponents a final time in three of their last four regular-season games starting with the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday.
They’ll need as much, or more out of their special teams unit and their defense. The former provided a major catalyst on Sunday, when reserve inside linebacker Jake Hummel blocked a Buffalo punt in the second quarter and rotational tight end Hunter Long scooped up the loose football and ran it in for a touchdown.
The defense, on the other hand, started to fall apart in the second half when the Bills decided to cut a pocket-comfortable Allen totally loose in hopes of closing a 31-14 deficit.
Allen almost did, too. In the second half he escaped pressure, found an open gap and went on the run for explosive gains that set up each of three touchdown drives.
In the third quarter, Allen broke off a 17-yard run on second-and-25, then threw a 51-yard touchdown to receiver Khalil Shakir on the next play. As the fourth quarter began, Allen picked up another 20 yards by running out of pressure, then got extra yards via a horse-collar penalty (outside linebacker Jared Verse). Allen ran in a touchdown himself to cap the drive. On a possession in the fourth quarter, down 38-28, Allen’s 30-yard run set up another touchdown to bring the Bills within three points, 38-35, with 8:49 to play.
We can’t know what was said over the Bills’ headset communications as Allen started heating up and playing that particular brand of hero-ball by which he is so known. But everyone felt the moment the energy shifted.
“Yeah, you could feel it from the field, too,” said McVay with a grim smile. While some teams opt to spy Allen because of his running ability, the Rams appeared to lack one specific answer or adjustment that would consistently work.
“We had some movements up front where you’re trying to have some ‘cover-me’s’ and things like that, but if you leave a gap open he’s going to step up and he can extend and keep his eyes down the field or he can run away from you. He can break tackles. I mean, he’s a nightmare to defend.
“It’s a balance of, I don’t think you can just sit back and just let him navigate the pocket. He can beat you from the pocket. He can beat you with his mind. He can beat you with his arm, he can beat you with his legs. That’s why he is a legitimate MVP candidate, he’s one of the best players in this league. We were searching for some different answers.”
Nacua’s fourth-quarter touchdown, and some questionable late-game decisions by Bills coaches helped preserved just enough of the Rams’ lead.
In the locker room afterward, their entire medical and training staff hustled to set up recovery equipment for players to preserve just enough of their bodies before Thursday.
That’s when the weight and the stakes of the postseason truly begin.
What version of the Rams — whose highs were reached Sunday, but who have also hit many lows all season — will we see?
“I think we just keep going to work,” McVay said. “These guys have done a great job of really just being able to commit to, ‘Are we doing everything in our powers to have no regrets when we look back on this thing?’ Are we really putting it out there? Are we not afraid to do whatever it takes to try to be able to come away with the result? No matter what happens, let’s go cut it loose. Let’s go play free.”
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(Top photo of Nacua: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
