Monday Morning Rambling: Rams Finally Flip the Script in Win Over Eagles

Over the last two years, the Los Angeles Rams haven’t just lost games. They’ve found ways to lose in the most gut-wrenching fashion possible. It hasn’t been often that the Rams have lost ‘normally’.

In their first loss of the 2025 season, the Rams fell to the Philadelphia Eagles after not one, but two potential game-winning field goals were blocked. In Week 5, the Rams lost to the 49ers, getting stopped on 4th-and-1 from the 11-yard line in overtime.

How the Eagles' game-ending field goal block on Joshua Karty sounded on Rams radio pic.twitter.com/ZYymbHtcyb
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) September 21, 2025

While the Rams didn’t lose again until Week 13 to the Carolina Panthers, Matthew Stafford fumbled with the offense in field-goal range to tie the game late.

Everybody remembers what happened in Week 16 when the Rams blew a 16-point lead to the Seattle Seahawks with the help of a controversial two-point conversion to lose in overtime. When they tried to lose in a normal fashion, they still managed to come back from 21-0 against the Atlanta Falcons to lose on a field goal in the final 30 seconds.

Zach Charbonnet with one of the craziest two-point conversions ever 😳 pic.twitter.com/cVxpndsudN
— TheWolverine.com (@TheWolverineOn3) December 19, 2025

In the NFC Championship Game, the Rams got stopped on fourth-and-4 from the six when trying to take the lead in the final five minutes. That was after fighting back from 11 points down because of a muffed punt.

Fast forward to this year, and the Rams lost last week to the Denver Broncos after leading 16-0 at the half and then coming up on the wrong end of a defensive pass interference penalty.

Josh Wallace called for DPI against Pat Bryantpic.twitter.com/8QJQNT46Lg
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 28, 2026

It’s been special teams gaffes, controversial officiating decisions, untimely turnovers and a plethora of other issues. However, when the Rams have lost over the last two years, they’ve tested the sanity and emotional breaking point of fans.

On Sunday against the Eagles, the Rams looked to be dead in the water. They trailed 20-10 and had shown no signs of being able to move down the field to score. While Nick Sirianni got criticized for his decision to go for it from the two-yard line, could you blame him? The Eagles got stopped, but Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense faced a 98-yard field in front of them. In their previous five drives combined, the Rams had only picked up 75 yards.

With 8:17 left in the fourth quarter, the Rams had a 3.2 percent win probability according to Next Gen Stats. Even when the Rams took over with 7:26 left in the game, they only had a 5.1 percent win probability according to ESPN Stats and Info.

It was looking to be a box score anomaly. At that point, the Rams were set to become the first team since the 1997 Chicago Bears to lose while holding their opponent to at least 0-for-12 on third down. Teams were previously 2-23 when going at least 0-for-12 on third down and had lost 23 straight. The Rams had significantly outgained the Eagles. Through three quarters, the Rams had 247 yards to the Eagles’ 119.

Stafford hadn’t played well up to that point. In fact, the only quarterback to win a game with 50 or more passing attempts, 300 passing yards, two interceptions and zero touchdowns was Jameis Winston back in 2018. Up until Sunday, quarterbacks were 1-27 with that stat line.

Much like he had in the Super Bowl, head coach Sean McVay gathered his offense to remind them what was at stake and not to lose belief. There may have only been eight minutes left, but the game was far from over.

The thing with Stafford is that he can play poorly for 3.5 quarters, but more often than not, he plays his best football in that final half of the fourth quarter. That was the case on Sunday. On the Rams’ two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, Stafford was 12-for-15 for 140 yards. When Kyren Williams broke three tackles to put the Rams up 24-20 and give the Rams their first lead of the game, McVay’s speech had worked, and a switch had flipped for the Rams’ offense.

When Kam Curl batted down Jalen Hurts’ pass on fourth down, it was as if a huge weight was lifted off the Rams’ shoulders. For all the times that the Rams had lost in the most gut-wrenching ways possible, they had finally come out on the other end of one. It was the most improbable win since McVay took over as the Rams’ head coach, and it was also one that this team desperately needed.

3 Things I Can’t Stop Thinking About

1. Kyren Williams’ Performance

Over the past two years, I’ve been one of Kyren Williams’ biggest critics. That’s not to say I haven’t been appreciative of his value to the Rams’ offense. At the same time, I have questioned whether or not he should be the bell cow in the backfield. The Rams do not beat the Eagles without Williams. It certainly didn’t look like Todd Gurley, but Williams had a Gurley-esque stat line. His touchdown run to put the Rams ahead in the fourth quarter was iconic and will go down as one of the best plays of the season.

Kyren Williams POWERS IT IN FOR THE LEAD!!@LARvsPHI on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/LW85llHviL
— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026

2. The Rams Defense Deserves More Credit

Much like with Williams, the Rams don’t win without the defense. They were consistently put in bad spots in the first half and didn’t let that faze them. In the second half, the Eagles picked up a total of four first downs and didn’t have a single first down in the third quarter. If the defense even allows one touchdown in the second half, the Rams don’t have a chance to come back. They kept fighting and the offense finally rewarded them at the end.

3. Will the Rams Make More Changes on Special Teams This Week?

For as consistent as Harrison Mevis has been inside of 45 yards, in today’s NFL, you have to have a kicker you can trust to at least have a chance of making a long field goal. Mevis missed from 48 yards on Sunday, and the Rams opted not to kick from 56 after Jake Elliott made from that distance earlier in the game. Mevis then had a kickoff go out of bounds. Alex Bachman replaced Xavier Smith, but he didn’t look to be the answer either. The Rams need to bring in some competition like they did for Josh Karty last year.

Game Ball: Kyren Williams

Can I split the game ball or give out two and also give one to the Rams defense? If I only have one game ball, it has to go to Kyren Williams. Again, the Rams do not win the game without him. With Terrance Ferguson hurt, the Rams needed a third option in the passing game to step up. That player was Williams who became the first Rams running back since Todd Gurley in 2018 to record 10 receptions in a game. Williams is the first player this season to record at least 10 receptions and at least 10 carries in a single game. Only Christian McCaffrey and Jahmyr Gibbs have accomplished the feat since 2024.

Stat of the Day: 0-For-12

For the first time in franchise history, the Rams held a team to at least 0-for-12 on third down. It’s only the third time that they’ve held a team to at least 0-for-10 on third down. The last time they did it was in Sean McVay’s first game as the Rams’ head coach in 2017 against the Indianapolis Colts. It’s also the first time a defense has held an opponent to at least 0-for-12 on third down since the Los Angeles Chargers held the Denver Broncos to that mark in 2023. What the Rams did against the Eagles, even if they were short-handed, was special.

Looking Ahead

There’s no doubt Sunday’s win against the Eagles was important for the Rams. The Rams are set to play the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 5, and outside of last week, they were looking like the best team in the NFL. They turned the ball over five times and managed to beat the Chargers. Despite not playing as well, they could have still beaten the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Instead of being 1-3 and staring at a potential 1-4 start, the Rams are 2-2 and will be no worse than 2-3 when they face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. Given how the Bills have played over the last two weeks, this game at least feels more winnable than it did a few weeks ago, especially at SoFi Stadium. The Rams will have to play much better than they did against the Eagles, but in the final two drives, it finally looked like something clicked with the offense.

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