The Los Angeles Rams returned to the win column in Week 4 following a 27-20 thriller over the Indianapolis Colts. L.A. badly needed the win following an epic meltdown last week against the defending Super Bowl champs. Now, the Rams are in great shape heading into a first-place showdown with the 49ers on a short week.
Before we look ahead to that one, let’s dive into the good, the bad and the ugly from the win over Indiana Jones and the Colts.
The Good
Puka Nacua is one of one … but you knew that right?
We writers at Turf Show Times are running out of superlatives
to describe Puka Nacua. Or shall we say, league-leading receiver Puka Nacua.
Nacua is tied with Cooper Kupp (2022) and Michael Thomas (2018) for the most receptions by a player in the first four games of a season. He is also the first Rams wideout to record 170 receiving yards in a game since Isaac Bruce in 2004, according to the L.A. Rams PR Twitter page.
What we’re seeing from Puka through the first four games has all the makings of a historic campaign.
How long will it be sustainable? Hopefully all season, considering no team has been able to slow him down. Looks like Nacua is making up for the time he missed last year, which prevented him from having his second straight 1,000-yard season. Lucky us, and unlucky for the rest of the NFL.
Matthew Stafford can be a Ram for as long as he wants it
Seriously, if the Rams were to keep Matthew Stafford for the rest of his career, who says no?
Stafford threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns in his 71st career game with 300 passing yards. His game-winning 88-yard touchdown to Tutu Atwell was the longest go-ahead score in the final two minutes of a game this century, per ESPN’s Sarah Barshop.
When it mattered most, Stafford came through, much as he has for the entirety of his career.
Much of the concern surrounding Stafford throughout training camp has pretty much disappeared. He keeps playing like this, and the Rams might have another deep playoff run in their future.
Run defense
It would appear that the Rams have a run defense. Took them long enough!
A week after limiting Saquon Barkley to 46 yards, Los Angeles held Colts star Jonathan Taylor to 76 yards on 17 attempts. That marked Taylor’s second-lowest yardage total of the season since his 71-yard output against the Dolphins in the opener.
Keep in mind that L.A. contained him after his 3-touchdown game at Tennessee in Week 3. Yes, the Titans suck, but still, it was an impressive effort versus one of the NFL’s best running backs. Overall, Indy rushed for only 85 yards, as Daniel Jones and his sneaky mobility were also held in check.
Run defense was one of the Rams’ biggest weaknesses in 2024, and so far, it seems to be much improved this season after passing two straight tests. Time to do it again against Christian McCaffrey in primetime Thursday night.
The Bad
Rams again struggle to put together a complete game
There’s one main issue holding the Rams back so far, and it’s that they cannot put it together for all four quarters.
Case in point, the team’s dreadful scoreless third quarter when they punted on each of their four possessions in the frame. Then, to cap it off, the Rams fumbled their first possession of the fourth quarter, with the Colts then going down the field and kicking a field goal to extend their lead to seven.
L.A. has had issues with starting slow, which wasn’t as much of a problem this week. However, this is a bad habit that they have developed, something I can’t stress enough, as I’ve written about in this section almost every week.
Once this team figures out how to play a complete game, the rest of the NFC will be put on notice since the Rams haven’t come anywhere close to reaching their peak yet.
The Ugly
Emmanuel Forbes is not it y’all
In a game that didn’t feature much bad or ugly from L.A., Emmanuel Forbes was the de facto option here.
The Rams had better pray to the football gods that they came away with a win, as luck was certainly on their side this weekend. Forbes was on the receiving end of that fortune after essentially giving up a long touchdown to Colts receiver AD Mitchell, who proceeded to fumble away the score before crossing the goal line.
In back-to-back weeks, Forbes has been overmatched by bigger and more physical wideouts. These last two games will not be the last time it happens, either.
I think we’re all seeing why he didn’t last very long in the nation’s capital.
The front office had better do something to upgrade at cornerback before the trade deadline. L.A. got lucky this week, but that’s obviously not sustainable every week. Forbes is going to cost the Rams on more big plays in upcoming matchups if no action is taken. He isn’t a short-term option that should be trusted.
