The Los Angeles Rams tallied a vital win on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, moving them to 6-6 and one game back of the lead in the NFC West. L.A. had to grind in the second half to earn the victory, with head coach Sean McVay’s offense being led by a strong outing from running back Kyren Williams.
Williams had 15 carries for 104 yards and one catch for nine yards in the victory. He split carries with Blake Corum in the first half, but established himself as the lead back in the second half, where L.A. scored all their points, to lift them to victory and the .500 record.
In recent weeks, Williams had struggled to hold onto the ball, which led to a conversation with McVay and perhaps was the reason why Corum got more work than usual.
But McVay was impressed with the way Williams was able to bounce back and emphasized how important the running back was in helping L.A. get the win, according to Wyatt Miller of TheRams.com:
“Kyren’s energy was outstanding,” said head coach Sean McVay. “… When he put his foot in the ground, he was really level… doing a great job on slash running on the second and third levels. The offensive line… and tight ends were doing a good job of being able to get him to the second and third level.”
Williams echoed a similar sentiment about himself, saying that he is proud of the way he was able to lift the Rams and help them with a vital win in their season:
“It felt like I was me, myself, and I, and I was out there playing like that,” Williams said. “… Had great energy, and I was distributing that amongst the team.”
The Rams are hoping to get a similar energy boost from Williams next week as they face one of their toughest tests this season in the Buffalo Bills. They welcome the Bills to SoFi Stadium on Sunday at 1:25 p.m. in the hopes that they can shock the world and go above .500 for what would be the first time this season.
If not, it puts them in an even deeper hole that creates must-win situations for essentially the rest of the season. Luckily, it’s clear that players like Williams are up to the task.
Rams’ Cooper Kupp makes history vs. Saints
It took the Rams offense a while to get going as they did not score any points in the first half. That changed in the third quarter when Kyren Williams rushed for his 12th touchdown of the season to put L.A. on the board.
Matthew Stafford completed 14 of his 24 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Those were caught by Demarcus Robinson and Puka Nacua, who always seem to rise to the occasion for the Rams.
Cooper Kupp had a quiet day, catching only three of his six targets for 17 yards. However, he still managed to make NFL history by surpassing Keenan Allen for the most receptions in a player’s first 100 games.
