Rams shake off slow start, slide past Saints

Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes, Kyren Williams ran for a score and the visiting Los Angeles Rams held off the New Orleans Saints 21-14 on Sunday. Stafford passed for 183 yards and Williams rushed for 104 yards on 15 carries for the Rams (6-6), who reached .500 for the third time this season. Alvin Kamara rushed for 112 yards and Derek Carr passed for 184 and a touchdown for the Saints (4-8), who lost for the first time in three games under interim head coach Darren Rizzi. The Rams, whose NFL-record streak of 129 consecutive games without being shut out in the first half ended, broke through on their first possession after the break. Williams capped a 70-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, giving Los Angeles a 7-6 lead that held up through the end of the third quarter. Stafford threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson on the first play of the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 14-6. New Orleans responded on the ensuing drive, with Carr hitting Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 28-yard score and connecting with Dante Pettis on the two-point conversion to pull the Saints even at 14 with 11:53 remaining. Back came the Rams, who moved 56 yards on eight plays. Stafford found Puka Nacua for the go-ahead 7-yard score with 8:54 to play. Carr drove New Orleans to the LA 9 but threw incomplete on fourth-and-3 with 1:09 left. The first possession of the game ended with Blake Grupe kicking a 54-yard field goal to give New Orleans a 3-0 lead that held up through the end of the opening quarter. Grupe was wide left on a 36-yard attempt on the first snap of the second quarter. The Rams, who ran just three plays for 4 yards in the first quarter, held the ball for 12 plays and drove to the Saints’ 25 on their first possession of the second. But they passed on a field-goal attempt, and Stafford misfired on fourth-and-4. Grupe bounced back to make another 54-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the first half, giving New Orleans a 6-0 lead. –Field Level Media