NEW ORLEANS — The first half of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints went about as poorly as the Rams offense could have imagined. The unit ran three plays in the first quarter, turned the ball over on downs at the Saints 25 in the second and squandered a promising, ground-based drive with three ill-advised dropbacks.
That all amounted to the Rams’ first scoreless first half since Super Bowl LIII, only Bill Belichick and the Patriots weren’t on the opposing sideline this time.
But the Rams (6-6) came out with a different focus and energy on offense, sealing a 21-14 win.
That energy started with running back Kyren Williams, as it so often has over the past two years.
Despite trailing 6-0 at halftime, things could have been much worse for the Rams if not for an illegal man downfield penalty that nullified a Saints touchdown, and a missed field goal by New Orleans (4-8) on that same drive.
And even with no points to show for it, the Rams found something before the break. Williams started to get going in the Rams’ final drive before the half. He took five consecutive carries to start the drive for 39 yards before a sack and two incompletions forced a Rams punt.
But the Rams went back to Williams to start the second half for two straight runs before quarterback Matthew Stafford found Puka Nacua for a third-down catch-and-run into Saints territory. Back-to-back carries for eight and 10 yards by Williams kept the Rams moving.
And after a diving Nacua catch got the Rams to the New Orleans 10, Williams did the rest of the work with two more runs, dragging the pile for the final four yards into the end zone.
Williams finished the game with 15 carries for 104 yards, and almost broke a long touchdown run two drives later, but an open-field tackle by safety Tyrann Mathieu limited the gain to 14 yards. Instead, Stafford found Demarcus Robinson for a 46-yard gain and a three-yard touchdown on consecutive plays.
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The Saints answered back with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, plus a two-point conversion to tie it up. But the Rams again benefitted from New Orleans’ undisciplined play.
A neutral zone infraction and a pass interference call gave the Rams a third-down conversion in the red zone, down to the Saints 7. Stafford fed the ball to Nacua on an outside screen and the second-year receiver did the rest, weaving his way into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
The Saints marched, working the clock below two minutes, getting into the red zone. But defensive tackle Bobby Brown III stuffed Alvin Kamara on third down, and outside linebacker Jared Verse came around the edge to hit Saints quarterback Derek Carr as he released on fourth down to get the game-sealing stop.