Rams upend the Commanders with team win

INGLEWOOD, California – The Los Angeles Rams have won four of their last five games thanks to the team’s 28-20 win against the Washington Commanders on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. The win for the Rams means the team has an outside chance to make the postseason. 

However, to qualify for the playoffs, the Rams will have to run the table and win the remaining games on their schedule. That means knocking off the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and the San Francisco 49ers. 

For Rams head coach Sean McVay, it’s still premature to begin to talk about the postseason. 

“Unless you told me the season ended right now, it doesn’t mean anything to me,” McVay remarked during a postgame press conference. “So how we move forward and how we handle our business over the next 72 hours and then leading into the game on Thursday is what’s most important. But love this group, love the opportunity for us to be able to learn and especially after being able to get the victory that those guys did a good job of.”

McVay was happy to talk about how well his defense played against the Commanders in the first half, the next-level running of Kyren Williams, and how the team found a way to earn its seventh win (7-7) of the season.

“Great job finding a way to be able to get it done,” McVay said. “You don’t take wins for granted in this league. A lot of credit goes to Washington the way that they battled, the way they made it interesting. But man, there are so many things that we can learn from and it’s a lot easier to be able to learn when you find a way to win.”

Since the team’s bye week in Week 10, the Rams have played stellar football. Having Williams in the backfield has made the offense of the Rams click a little bit better. After missing four games, Williams returned in Week 12. 

The second-year running back out of Notre Dame has rushed 100 yards or more in three of the last four games for the Rams. Although he had two fumbles against the Commanders, Williams rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown. Williams is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing (953 yards) and has already surpassed that mark in total offense. 

“This is a guy that puts in the work,” McVay added. “He’s got that growth mindset that you guys have heard us talk about. Really happy for him and I just love the way that he continues to just be able to take steps in the right direction, keep being coachable, keep being accountable. He’s made a lot of plays. He’s made a huge difference. When he’s in the lineup and when he is not, it’s a very different theme for us.”

For a while, the Rams looked every bit like they were going to pitch a shutout against the Commanders, holding a 20-0 lead in the third quarter at one point. But this is the NFL. Things can flip on a dime. 

After playing well for a little more than two quarters, the Rams defense gave up 20 points in the second half. Washington scored 13 points in the fourth quarter after making a quarterback switch from Sam Howell to Jacoby Brissett. 

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns, has seen this kind of stuff play out before. So he was not surprised by Washington’s late rally. 

“Yeah, it just lets you know that every play in the game, you don’t know what plays are going to be the big ones,” Stafford said. “We had opportunities to probably get first downs later in the fourth quarter. It didn’t happen. Had a chance to get some points, it didn’t happen. And they made some big plays. This is the NFL. I’ve been on the other side of that quite a few times early on in my career and finding ways to sneak games out.”