Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes to become the Rams’ career leader, and the Los Angeles Rams built a 28-6 halftime lead on their way to a 35-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, October 25, at Allegiant Stadium.
Los Angeles snaps a two-game losing streak, including last week’s 18-16 loss to Arizona, and moves to 3-4. Las Vegas also falls to 3-4 after its fourth straight loss, and it has now allowed at least 30 points in four consecutive games. Sean McVay is 4-0 against the Raiders.
Stafford makes history in the first half
Stafford’s first touchdown pass of the day, a 3-yarder to tight end Davis Allen with 6:25 left in the first quarter, finished an eight-play, 59-yard drive that survived a holding penalty that wiped out a Blake Corum touchdown run. The Raiders had already missed one scoring chance when Matt Gay pushed a 51-yard try wide left, and Gay’s 30-yard field goal later in the quarter made it 7-3.
Then the Rams took over. Allen caught his second touchdown, from 5 yards, to finish a 12-play, 80-yard drive early in the second quarter. Puka Nacua, a Las Vegas native who was a game-day decision with a calf injury, caught an 11-yard touchdown pass to cap a 7-play, 81-yard drive with 4:15 left in the half. That was Stafford’s 155th touchdown pass as a Ram, one more than Roman Gabriel. Stafford already holds the Detroit Lions’ record with 282, and he is the first player to hold the career mark for two franchises.
After Las Vegas turned the ball over on downs at the Rams’ 48, Los Angeles needed only 37 seconds to score again. Kyren Williams ran 17 yards for a touchdown with 1:19 left in the half. Gay’s 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half made it 28-6, the Raiders’ largest halftime deficit at home since 2015.
Raiders push back, but too late
The third quarter was scoreless, and most of the reasons were mistakes. Las Vegas went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Rams’ 13 and Kirk Cousins threw incomplete. One play later, Williams fumbled and Jeremy Chinn recovered at the Los Angeles 30, but the Raiders gave the ball back on downs again when the Rams challenged a fourth-down catch by Jalen Nailor and won. Corum then broke a 43-yard touchdown run, only for a face mask penalty to erase it.
The Raiders opened the fourth quarter with a six-play, 91-yard drive, and Cousins hit Tre Tucker for a 37-yard touchdown on third-and-3. On the next snap, linebacker Nakobe Dean intercepted Stafford, and Cousins found Ashton Jeanty for a 15-yard touchdown four plays later. Las Vegas failed on both two-point tries, and it was 28-18 with 13:12 left.
Los Angeles closed it with a 12-play, 70-yard drive that took 6:38 off the clock and ended with Corum’s 4-yard touchdown run. Gay added a 36-yard field goal with 4:11 left, but Konata Mumpfield fielded the onside kick, and the Rams ran out the clock. “This league is so humbling,” McVay said. “Humility is only a day away, but I was proud of the way the group prepared.”
The numbers
- Matthew Stafford: 23 of 29 for 195 yards, three touchdowns and an interception; sacked once.
- Rams running backs: Williams ran 16 times for 99 yards and a touchdown, and Corum had 17 carries for 93 yards and a score. Together they averaged 5.8 yards a carry.
- Rams receivers: Nacua had eight catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, Colby Parkinson five for 48, and Allen four for 20 and two touchdowns, his first scores of the season.
- Kirk Cousins: 26 of 44 for 295 yards and two touchdowns, sacked twice. He leads the league with 16 touchdown passes.
- Raiders skill players: Tucker caught five passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Jeanty had eight catches for 61 yards and a score but only 15 rushing yards on eight carries. Brock Bowers caught six passes for 73 yards.
- Defense: Quay Walker and Dean each had 12 tackles for Las Vegas. Quentin Lake led the Rams with seven tackles, and Byron Young and Braden Fiske had sacks.
Los Angeles ran for 199 yards on 38 carries, held the ball for 34:14 and scored touchdowns on all five of its red-zone trips. Las Vegas ran for only 48 yards, converted three of 14 third downs and two of five fourth downs, and scored one touchdown in five trips inside the 20.
What it means
McVay had spent the week explaining how the Rams would play without the injured Davante Adams, and the answer was tight ends and the running game: Allen and Parkinson combined for nine catches, and the two backs did the rest. Stafford said the plan made the fourth quarter more comfortable than recent weeks. “I thought our coaches did a great job of giving us a plan that we felt great about coming in here to execute,” he said.
Kubiak, who spent the week calling the Raiders’ third-quarter slump a coaching problem, got a scoreless third quarter this time but a first half that decided the game. “Well, no one’s coming to help us,” he said. “We’ve got to figure it out ourselves as a coaching staff, with the players, and we have to complement each other as well because we’ve got to start the game a lot faster offensively.”
Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie missed a second straight game with a groin injury after being listed as questionable.
What comes next
The Rams host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, November 1, at 4:05 p.m. ET. The Raiders visit the New York Jets on Sunday, November 1, at 1 p.m. ET.
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