Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams managed to start the 2025 NFL season off on the right foot with a 14-9 win over the Houston Texans. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but the Rams came away with a hard-fought dub over a team expected to have one of the league’s best defenses. With everyone riding the victory high, here is the good, the bad and the ugly in L.A.‘s Week 1 performance.
Most of the talk leading into this game was about how good the Texans’ defense was. That was fair, as Houston should finish this season with a top-five unit. However, more people need to give L.A.‘s D more credit, as they held one of the game’s top young signal callers in check all afternoon.
The offense was off to a sluggish start in the first half, and the defense did its job, preventing the game from getting away from them early. New addition Nate Landman was the man with the Texans driving to win the game late in the fourth quarter. Landman forced a big-time fumble off Texans running back Dare Ogunbowale, which Braden Fiske recovered. Ballgame.
Dating back to last season, including the playoff win over the Vikings and excluding the Week 18 finale, Los Angeles has held five of its last six opponents to single digits. That number could grow to six with the team facing the woeful Tennessee Titans next week.
Houston was breaking in a new offensive coordinator, but there is nothing to take away from the performance of the Rams’ defense. If it can keep up this high level of production, L.A. should be joining the Texans atop the NFL’s defensive standings at the end of the season.
The third-year wideout just barely missed out on having back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns to begin his career last season. Well, it certainly seems like Puka Nacua is making up for lost time, head wound be damned.
Nacua caught 10 of his 11 targets for 130 receiving yards, making his presence felt early and often throughout the afternoon.
The BYU product caught the pass that put Matthew Stafford over 60,000 for his career—more on Mr. Stafford in a moment—and is simply a menace for opposing defenses to cover. Nacua has 14 career 100-yard games in 29 career regular season games played. Craziness! He also joined some pretty stellar company after Sunday’s showing:
No matter the number Puka has on his jersey, he’s still going to produce. Pairing him and Davante Adams is already off to a great start, as the All-Pro free agent acquisition added 51 yards on four receptions. May that continue throughout the year.
Sean McVay said it best when speaking to reporters after the game: “Matthew (bleeping) Stafford was in great command all day.” Okay, I added the bleep in there for dramatic effect,...
