Kyren Williams’ form of leadership has always been about consistency. The perpetual work he does to keep his body right. The way his legs never stop churning. The energy with which he plays, whether trying to put an opponent away or trying to drag his team back into in a game.
It was the latter the Rams needed on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. And Williams delivered, breaking a tackle on his second fourth-quarter touchdown to complete a 24-20 win and 10-point comeback victory.
Sean McVay had taken a knee at the center of his offense late in the third quarter. The Rams offense had stalled again, this time due to penalties on receiver Puka Nacua and a member of the coaching staff for getting in an official’s path on the sideline.
McVay implored the offense to get back on the right page, before the game slipped away.
A fourth-down stop turned the Eagles over with 7:26 to play. That set the Rams up at their own 2-yard line, needing 98 yards to get back into the game. That seemed insurmountable with the way the Rams (2-2) had played to that point.
But quarterback Matthew Stafford threw four consecutive completions for 63 yards to get the rhythm going, then Williams drew a late hit out of bounds on third down to get the Rams into the red zone. Williams punched the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, and the Rams had life with 3:27 to play. But he quieted down any celebration of the score, still work to do.
The Rams defense then did what it had done all day. Safety Kam Curl broke up a third-down pass over the middle as the Eagles (2-2) failed to convert on third down for the 11th time in 11 tries.
With the ball back at their 21 and 2:55 to play, the Rams turned to Nacua to get them down the field, gaining 35 of his 125 yards on the day. Then on the goal line, it was Williams’ turn again, running through the arms of linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and into the end zone to cap off his day with 146 all-purpose yards and two scores.
All day, it was mistake after mistake for the Rams’ offense. It’s not like the defense or special teams were immune — Darius Cooper getting open in the end zone twice and a missed field goal by Harrison Mevis come to mind.
But dropped passes, missed blocks, overthrown balls and — above all — penalties defined the day for Stafford and his unit.
The rainy conditions at Lincoln Financial Field made an immediate impact on the game. Stafford overthrew Konata Mumpfield on the Rams’ opening possession, and it was intercepted by safety Andrew Mukuba and returned the ball 21 yards to the Rams 28.
It was the first of two interceptions by Stafford, bringing his total this year up to six. The two turnovers led to 10 Eagles points. A 41-yard punt-return by former Ram Britain Covey set up the first of Cooper’s touchdowns, so the Rams gifted the Eagles 17 of their 20 points before the half.
And the Eagles needed all of that help. This wasn’t the same Eagles team that beat the Rams three times in the last two years. They came into Sunday without star receiver DeVonta Smith and linebacker Zach Baun. They lost right tackle Lane Johnson before kickoff due to personal reasons. Then running back Saquon Barkley and corner Quinyon Mitchell left the game with leg injuries.
Eventually, with the help of Williams’ tireless legs, the Rams won the war of attrition to finally vanquish the Eagles for the first time in five tries.
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