Sunday was a different tune at SoFi Stadium from the Rams offense than what we’ve been accustomed to seeing this season. The Tennessee defense came out swinging from the start with two consecutive sacks in the first possession of the game, and from there the Rams’ offensive struggles remained a theme for the rest of the night.
“The momentum and the flow of the game, I didn’t do nearly a good enough job of helping our players establish that, particularly on offense. You go back and look at yourself pretty clean, and you get these things corrected,” said Rams head coach Sean McVay. “I trust the character of this locker room to be able to respond the right way. But this was not nearly good enough, and it starts with me.”
Despite the Rams’ slow offensive start and Matthew Stafford’s early interception, the Rams still managed to come out of the first quarter unscathed with a 3-0 lead. However, the Titans’ dominant second quarter was the culprit of most of the night’s damage, as they scored three touchdowns, two of which came 10 seconds apart. Matthew Stafford threw his second interception early in the quarter, which led to Titans’ Kevin Byard’s 24-yard interception return, putting Tennessee ahead 14-3. The Rams ultimately ended the first half trailing 21-3.
The third quarter dagger came at about the 8-minute mark when Matthew Stafford’s touchdown pass to Tyler Higbee was determined incomplete after further review revealed that Higbee stepped out of bounds before the catch. The play was reversed, along with hopes for any offensive momentum for the Rams. Shortly after, Matt Gay’s 22-yard field slightly closed the gap to 21-6. But the tune remained the same in the fourth quarter. Matt Gay made a 54-yard field goal at the top of the quarter, but it wasn’t until 24 seconds left in the game when Matthew Stafford finally threw his first and only touchdown, a 3-yard pass to Sony Michel. The night ended with a final score of 28-16, the Tennessee Titans gliding away with an easy win.
