SANTA CLARA — Remember the concerns, four long weeks ago, that the Rams’ offense was too one-dimensional? Too reliant on Puka Nacua? Too stagnant in the red zone?
After scoring a season high in a 42-26 win over the San Francisco 49ers, you can put those complaints to rest.
Too one-dimensional? Quarterback Matthew Stafford completed passes to eight receivers and threw touchdowns to four different players as he became the fourth Ram and seventh quarterback in NFL history to throw four touchdowns in three straight games.
And 11-personnel is no longer the end-all, be-all for this offense as the team continued its reliance on 13-personnel at a 44.8% clip against the 49ers (6-4).
Too reliant on Nacua? The star receiver had six targets and a touchdown on a screen pass on Sunday, but it was Davante Adams who led the way with eight targets, while tight end Colby Parkinson added five.
When head coach Sean McVay talked about creating a “more versatile” offense in January, this ability to spread the ball around and deploy different personnel was part of that vision.
“I think the important thing is, and I give our defense a ton of credit, they’ve inspired us in a lot of ways where they’re using everybody, different personnel groupings,” McVay said. “I’ve heard my dad say it before, everybody loves being a part of something bigger than themselves as long as they feel like their role contributes to where you’re trying to go. … I’ve said it to you guys before, the best offenses I’ve been a part of or the best teams use everybody. They have different ways they can make you pay.”
Too stagnant in the red zone? The Rams (7-2) went 5-for-5 in that department on Sunday, scoring three times through the air and twice on the ground with Kyren Williams.
In the last three weeks, the Rams have gone 12-for-13 in the red zone and averaged 37 points while extending their winning streak to four, and keeping pace with the Seattle Seahawks – next week’s opponent – for first place in the NFC West.
“Players executing,” McVay said. “They’ve done a great job. I think we’ve been able to be efficient in both phases. I think guys are winning one-on-ones, Matthew’s putting the ball where he wants to.”
The Rams looked like they were scrimmaging against air for portions of the first half. Screen passes, runs out of 13-personnel, downfield shots, whatever they tried, worked. Even a feint by Stafford as he was about to scramble on the goal line drew in the San Francisco defense, allowing Stafford to hit tight end Davis Allen in the back of the end zone for the 400th passing touchdown of his career.
And the defense did not allow the 49ers to get out to the fast start they enjoyed at SoFi Stadium in Week 5. Emmanuel Forbes‘ third-down pass breakup, another Nate Landman punch out recovered by Kamren Kinchens and a Byron Young stop of Christian McCaffrey on a fourth-down edge run got the Niners offense off the field.
But this was the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. Even short-handed without Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall, that offense was never going to roll over.
Backup quarterback Mac Jones was surgical, completing 33 of 39 passes. McCaffrey might not have run the ball terribly well, but Brian Robinson provided some power to the backfield, breaking a tackle to get into the end zone and cut the Rams’ lead to seven on the opening play of the second half.
But the Rams responded with a 12-play drive that took seven minutes off the clock, ending with an Adams touchdown, his sixth in three games.
Then, when the Niners again got within a touchdown on a scramble drill TD, the Rams stayed aggressive instead of trying to burn clock. Stafford took a couple of deep shots to tight end Terrance Ferguson, connecting on one for 19 yards.
After four straight dropbacks to open the drive, Stafford finally handed the ball off to Williams, who ran seven yards for his second touchdown of the game to make it a 15-point advantage again.
Then, for good measure, why not a no-look pass to Parkinson for his first touchdown of the year? After Sunday, Stafford had completed passes to all four tight ends in each of the last three games, and all four have now scored at least one touchdown in those contests.
“We’re out there to get the run game started, we’re out there to pass protect and the game honors toughness,” Parkinson said. “I think the touchdowns are a result of that.”
It was after this last touchdown that Stafford gave a little shimmy with his hands above his head in triumph, and McVay smiled and pointed at his quarterback, who has thrown for 1,688 yards and 20 touchdowns without an interception in the last six games.
Oh, and on Sunday became the first QB in NFL history to throw 13 touchdowns to zero interceptions in a three-game span.
“When you’re on a heater, you just don’t touch whatever he’s doing,” Nacua said. “I’m like, ‘You could do whatever. You could walk on water right now.’ “
You could say the same about the Rams – don’t mess with what’s working. But as McVay always says, the enemy has a say. The Seahawks will bring one of the NFL’s top defenses to Inglewood next weekend, and the Rams will try to keep what’s working working.
“When we’ve won games, we also haven’t gotten too high; we know there’s things to clean up, we know there’s big challenges ahead,” Stafford said. “But this team comes to work with the right attitude. I love being a part of it and we’ll just continue to do that.”