The Los Angeles Rams earned another tough victory over an NFC West rival in Week 15, this time against the Seattle Seahawks.
The win tied them with the Arizona Cardinals at 10-4 and put them in position to win the division should they win out the rest of the way. While the victory is worth celebrating, it marked a historic night for Cooper Kupp, who broke the Rams’ record for most receptions in a single season, passing the 119 previously set by Isaac Bruce.
Kupp’s first touchdown reception was a quick 6-yard catch in the red zone, and the receiver revealed that he had no idea that play broke the reception record, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com:
“I had no idea,” Kupp said when asked about setting the record. “Obviously, that’s a great honor considering the receivers that have come through this organization.”
Matthew Stafford expressed how proud he and the other Rams players are of Kupp for reaching that milestone:
“I mean, he’s a great player,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said of Kupp. “He’s having a fantastic season. He’s such a huge part of what we do as a team. You know, not only on offense, he’s back there catching a bunch of punts for us on special teams. Does a great job leading that group. I’m just happy that I get the chance to play with a guy like that. I know a lot of guys on our team feel the same way. We all take a hand in his success and that’s really fun. We’re just proud of him. Just proud of him watching him do his thing.”
It seems like every week Kupp is breaking some sort of record given the reception and touchdown pace he is on, but it has been that sort of season for the Eastern Washington product. With Robert Woods out for the season, Kupp has absorbed even more of the team’s target share and he has routinely turned them into huge performances.
Against the Seahawks, Kupp reeled in nine catches for 136 yards and touchdowns. A couple of those catches were contested snags off downfield throws from Matthew Stafford that put Los Angeles in scoring position.
With three games left in the 2021 season, Kupp has a chance to truly separate himself in the record books as the Rams make their playoff push. Even though defenses know the L.A. offense runs through Kupp, no team has been able to slow him down which means he could be in for another huge day against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16.
