Goodbye, London. Hello, goodbye.
The Rams ended their long road trip with Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium, giving them some time off.
The Rams completed a total of five touchdown passes, three and one to rookies Konata Mampfield and Terrence Ferguson, respectively, and edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young led a mostly stifling defense as the Rams improved to 5-2 heading into the off week.
In a light rain and without an injured star receiver, the coach and Stafford focused on 10 different receivers during the win, which was well worth the nine-day road trip.
The Rams were ahead of the Ravens. They remained in Baltimore last week and practiced at Oriole Park at Camden Yards before departing for London on Friday.
They arrived on Saturday and played on Sunday.
And they showed no signs of jet lag.
Vaas sacked Trevor Lawrence on the first play and the Rams led 21-0 at halftime, continuing their run as McVay remained undefeated in the London game.
Young rookie outside linebacker Josiah Stewart, linebacker Nate Landman, lineman Larrell Murchison and safety Quentin Lake contributed to Lawrence’s seven sacks. Lake and lineman Koby Turner, who also forced a fumble, knocked down a pass in the backfield.
In 2017, McVay’s first season, the Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham Stadium. Two years later, they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley Stadium.
Sunday’s game was played thousands of miles away in Southern California, but it had a Rams family feel.
Jaguars coach Liam Cohen was an assistant under McVay, and first-year Jaguars general manager James Gladstone worked for nine years under Rams general manager Les Snead.
The week off should be a boon for Nacua, who missed the game against the Ravens with an ankle injury. The Rams thought it best to let the third-year pro rest and recover during the off week before facing the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 2.
That opened the door for Adams and others.
By the end of the first quarter, Stafford had completed passes to seven of eight different receivers targeted, including a touchdown to Mumpfield and two touchdowns to Adams.
In the fourth quarter, Stafford scored touchdowns with Ferguson and Adams.
Adams and Stafford said in Baltimore that they are still trying to figure out the timing for each other.
They discovered it on Sunday. Adams caught five passes for 35 yards, and all of his short touchdown receptions were the same red zone plays the Rams envisioned when they signed the three-time All-Pro.
Stafford completed 21 of 33 passes for just 182 yards, but he did make it count.
Therefore, for the first time since 2021, the Rams will enter the off week with a winning record.
In 2023, the Rams went 3-6 with a bye, but then won seven of eight games to finish 10-7 and advance to the playoffs.
Last season, they had a bye and went 1 win, 4 losses, but then won 9 of 12 games, finished with 10 wins, 7 losses, and advanced to the playoffs.
But Sunday’s winning trend was closer to 2017, when the Rams shut out the Cardinals 33-0 at Twickenham Stadium and went 5-2 before earning a bye. The Rams won the NFC West and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
The Rams will leave the West Coast only twice, with a game in Carolina on Nov. 30 and a game in Atlanta on Dec. 29, after trips to Tennessee, Philadelphia, Baltimore and London.
They had to feel good about it while preparing for the long flight home.
