Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams saw their six-game winning streak come to a painful end in a 31-28 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Los Angeles went into Sunday having a slight lead on the NFC’s top seed, and saw it disappear in the span of an afternoon. Their path to the number one seed only got harder because of the loss.
It’s time to get into the good, the bad and the ugly from the Rams’ disappointing loss.
Puka Nacua and Davante Adams were among the few players who bothered to show up against Carolina.
Nacua made a pair of absolutely insane catches near the end of the game, including a one-hander that might be the catch of the year.
Adams added 2 more touchdown receptions, extending his league-leading total to 14. The veteran wideout has been a touchdown machine these last few weeks, and has 117 touchdown receptions in his career, passing Antonio Gates. He is four scores (and seven years ago) away from tying soon-to-be Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald for sixth-most all-time.
The Nacua-Adams duo combined for 10 receptions for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 targets. Very rarely has this pairing disappointed this season, and they did everything possible to almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It just wasn’t meant to be this week for the rest of the team.
I gave the Puka Nacua and Davante Adams duo plenty of love, so time to do the same for Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.
The pair had 153 rushing yards and a touchdown apiece. Corum led the team in rushing with 81 yards on 7 carries, and also ran in a 2-yard score that put the Rams up 21-17 before halftime.
McVay has done well lately in giving the Michigan product more carries. It’s clear he’s a dynamic back and brings a lot to the offense to complement Williams.
Controversial opinion, I know. So how is a loss good, you say?
There was some chatter in the NFL world, or at least on this site, that the Rams were possibly peaking too fast. Sometimes teams in years past that have gotten hot in the middle of the season wind up slumping down the stretch and suffer an early playoff exit.
Four of the Rams’ last five games entering Week 13 had been blowouts. In my mind, the team was due for a setback or two in the second half of the year.
Don’t get me wrong, the loss was a bad one for Sean McVay’s group. With big matchups with the Lions and Seahawks looming, it’s probably a good thing they got a bad loss out of their system now before it happens too late in the season. Take the time to work out the kinks, and they’ll be just fine in the long run.
