The Los Angeles Rams headed to Wembley Stadium in Week 7 to play the Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite being without Puka Nacua, it was the Rams’ most dominant victory of the season, winning 35-7. The Rams dominated from start to finish as quarterback Matthew Stafford threw five touchdown passes. They will now head into the bye week sitting at 5-2. Here are this week’s 10 takeaways.
1. Rams finally start fast
The Rams have had a tendency of starting slow this season. Following last week, they averaged just 3.3 first quarter points per game. Despite playing in a different country at 6:30 a.m. PT and getting off the plane just over 24 hours earlier, the Rams had their best start of the season. This is a team that hadn’t scored a touchdown on its opening drive since Week 3. In this game, they had touchdowns on three of their opening four drives.
For much of the season, the Rams have seemed almost sluggish at the start of the games. In a game in which that would have been understandable, it was the exact opposite. The Rams came out and took control of this game early. Before the Jaguars had a chance to blink, it was 14-0. This was arguably the Rams’ best start and, again, it came in a different country in a game being played at 6:30 a.m. PT without their best offensive player.
2. Sean McVay got deep in his bag
Some of the best performances from Sean McVay have come when he’s been short-handed. In 2021, the Rams were without four key starters due to COVID restrictions against the Arizona Cardinals. McVay deployed jumbo packages with six offensive linemen. Without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp last year against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams leaned into 12 personnel in an eventual win.
From 2021-24, the Rams used 13 personnel on six plays total. Against the Jaguars, the Rams ran 13 personnel on 38.7 percent of their snaps. Three of the Rams’ touchdowns came out of 13 personnel. Coming into the game, it was expected that the Rams may lean into 12 personnel more given the lack of depth at wide receiver. However, nobody expected to see 13 personnel. It’s a reminder of just how great an offensive mind that McVay has. The Rams were able to take a personnel grouping that they never use and make it a focal point of their offense.
3. No Puka. No problem.
Coming into the game, there were some questions on who would replace Puka Nacua in the offense. At times, Matthew Stafford has been criticized for locking onto certain receivers. Still, shouldn’t getting the ball to your best player be a good thing? On Sunday, Stafford distributed the ball around the offense well. He completed passes to ten different wide receivers. It was the first time since Nick Foles in 2015 that a Rams quarterback has accomplished that feat.
| 2015 | 2025 |
| Todd Gurley | Davante Adams |
| Wes Welker | Colby Parkinson |
| Tavon Austin | Tyler Higbee |
| Jared Cook | Xavier Smith |
| Bradley Marquez | Kyren Williams |
| Tre Mason | Jordan Whittington |
| Brian Quick | Terrance Ferguson |
| Kenny Britt | Blake Corum |
| Lance Kendricks | Konata Mumpfield |
| Benny Cunningham | Davis Allen |
Konata Mumpfield and Terrance Ferguson each caught their first career touchdown passes. Colby Parkinson led the Rams in receiving yards and got close to scoring a touchdown. Everybody on offense stepped up in Nacua’s absence and the Rams put out one of their best offensive performances of the season. They went a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone and outside of the third quarter, were almost impossible to stop.
4. Defense showed up in big spots
Between the second half of the game against the Baltimore Ravens and the first half of this game, the Rams defense had not allowed a point in a full game. The first half against the Jaguars was the third half this season in which the defense has pitched a shutout. They consistently made plays in big spots as the Jaguars went 2-for-6 on fourth down. Two of those four stops came in the red zone and the other two were well within scoring range. Had the Jaguars turned those into 20 points, this is a different game.
There’s no doubt that the Rams defense has had moments in which they’ve been shaky. The second half against the Eagles and first half against the 49ers come to mind. However, over the course of the first seven games, this has been a top five unit. It took the Jaguars until the final play of the first quarter to finally get a first down. They have the ability to make things difficult, especially when they earn the right to pass rush. Trevor Lawrence was sacked six times.
5. Braden Fiske makes presence felt
There has been a lot of discussion about Braden Fiske’s sophomore slump and how he’s had a disappointing season. Fiske must have heard some of the criticism because he was consistently in the backfield against the Jaguars. While he didn’t have a sack, he had a pressure on 4th-and-7 that led to a throw away from Lawrence. Fiske had eight pressures against the Jaguars which led the Rams defensive line.
It’s a reminder that while sacks are important, there are other ways to impact the game. The sacks will come for Fiske, but he’ll have the next two weeks to get healthy for the second half of the season. After a strong game against the Jaguars, it’s a performance that he should be able to build off of going forward.
6. Adams and Stafford finally connect
For much of the season, it has felt as if the Rams have been forcing Davante Adams the ball in the red zone. Adams has led the NFL in end zone targets, but had been largely inefficient in those targets. Whether it was timing or just not being on the same page, the Adams and Stafford connection left a lot to be desired through the first six weeks. After zero catches on his first two targets, it looked like Sunday was heading in the same direction.
That was until Stafford connected with Adams in the end zone once, and then twice, and then for a third time. Two of the touchdowns came on back corner fades which is Adams’ specialty because of his elite body control. Adams may have only had 35 yards on five receptions. However, it was a glimpse of what this connection can be once it hits its full potential.
7. The Darious Williams revenge game
After the 2021 season, Darious Williams left the Rams for the Jaguars. Williams got his pay day and then had four interceptions in 2023. The Rams brought him back last season as a familiar face in the cornerback room. He started the season on the bench, but has played well over the last two weeks. Williams arguably had his best game of the season against his former team. While he had a penalty, he also had four pass breakups and was credited with one dropped interception. However, he probably could have had two interceptions. This was the type of performance that the Rams have needed out of their cornerback room.
Kam Kinchens was, as fans in London might chant, ‘he was here, he was there, he was every freaking-where.’ The second-year safety was all over the field on Sunday. Quentin Lake had his first sack of the season and also had a pass breakup on a third down. Lake has been making plays on a near-weekly basis.
8. Matthew Stafford has MVP performance
At this point in the season, Matthew Stafford should be leading the MVP discussion. While he didn’t necessarily light up the stat sheet, what he did without his top wide receiver was impressive. Stafford finished with only 182 yards, but had not one, not two, not three, not four, but five touchdown passes against the Jaguars. On a day in which Stafford passed Jared Goff in all-time touchdown passes in Rams franchise history, he made history in more than one way. It was the first time Stafford had thrown five touchdown passes in a game since 2015. It also marked the first time a quarterback had thrown five touchdown passes in an international game.
Stafford may not have been perfect and certainly let some throws get away from him in this game. At the same time, some of the throws that he did make were next level. At 37, Stafford is having one of his best seasons in the NFL. Against a team that led the NFL in turnovers, Stafford remained efficient which was exactly what the Rams needed.
9. This was the most complete game of season
The Rams were 4-2 heading into the Jaguars game, but they had yet to really have a complete game. There was the stretch in the third quarter in which the offense sputtered, but this was about as complete as it gets. There was no slow start and the Rams went into the half leading 21-0. It was 28-0 before the Jaguars got their first points on the board. This was a game in which the Rams were able to play some of their reserve players and Jimmy Garoppolo took the final snaps in victory formation.
These are the types of games that you should be able to enjoy as fans. Offensively, the Rams were rolling for much of this game while the defense consistently got stops and sacked Lawrence six times. It was pure domination from start to finish. There wasn’t a point in this game in which it felt like the Jaguars might win. This is what the Rams can be at their full potential and we need to see more of it after the bye week.
Heading into the season, I had the Rams at 4-3 going into the bye week. They currently sit at 5-2 and will be no worse than tied for first place in the NFC West after Week 7. An argument can be made that the Rams should be 7-0. They are quite literally two plays away from being undefeated. The Rams have to feel very good about where they stand going into the bye week.
At the same time, the real season starts when the Rams return to action. The Rams may be 5-2, but all five of those wins are against AFC opponents. Those wins don’t matter when it comes to playoff tiebreakers. The Rams will play the New Orleans Saints out of the bye week. However, the next three games are against the 49ers, Buccaneers, and Seahawks. That’s when we’ll find out just how good this Rams team is. The Rams have positioned themselves well, but they need to be focused if they are to make a run in the second half of the year.
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