After losing three straight games, the Los Angeles Rams have gotten back on track the last two weeks with wins over the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals to head into their bye week at 5-3.
Two games against opponents with losing records turned out to be exactly what the Rams needed as the defense found its form and offense got back on track. The win against the Bengals this past weekend in London was highlighted by the work of the offense, particularly Cooper Kupp. The wide receiver finished the game with a career-high 220 yards, breaking his previous record of 162 by halftime.
Kupp averaged 31.4 yards per reception, and Rams head coach Sean McVay acknowledged the third-year receiver’s ability to create the separation needed to get those numbers, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“You can just see, the ability to create after the catch, making plays, being able to create separation,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “He had some huge third-down conversions versus some man coverage structures and then he also had some good ability to find some soft spots in some zones on some in-breaking routes. But it was a combination of the protection, (QB) Jared (Goff) finding him and then Cooper being able to connect with him and make those plays.”
Kupp repeatedly found himself wide open against the Bengals defense. While there were worries that Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor would have the inside scoop on the Rams’ gameplan, he was unable to stop Kupp.
The 220 receiving yards for Kupp are the second-highest for a single game in the NFL this season, which was certainly an encouraging sign as he had totaled just 67 yards in the last two games.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff was excited for Kupp, wondering if he could have helped him break the all-time single-game receiving record:
“What’s the record for the NFL, most ever? We were wondering on the sideline,” Goff said. “It’s 300-something. When he got 220, we were like, ‘Alright, we need to go for 300.’ It was good. I thought Cooper plalyed well. It’s cool he’s got that record now, and the next time we come to London, we’ll have to go beat it.”
The single-game receiving record was set by Rams wide receiver Flipper Anderson in 1989 when he recorded 336 yards. Kupp’s 220 ties him for 76th-most on the all-time list, so he and Goff still have a ways to go if they want to approach Anderson’s record in the future.
