The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Los Angeles Chargers by a final score of 23-22 in the Rams second preseason game of the year, as Stetson Bennett played the entire game and threw a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.
Bennett and the Rams didn’t dominate like they did against the Dallas Cowboys, but their preseason defense did hold Justin Herbert and the Chargers starting offense to a field goal on their only drive of the game and did just enough to open the door for the late comeback win.
Bennett continued to flash and impress overall as he, at least in preseason action, has looked like a viable quarterback at the NFL level for maybe the first time in his short career. That said, Bennett did throw an interception and the verdict is still out on whether or not he’ll make it long-term in the NFL, but it seems he’ll stick with the Rams for at least another season. Especially with Matthew Stafford’s early season status still in question.
Aubrey Pleasant refused to answer any questions about Stafford after the game, deferring to Sean McVay’s next availability to the media on Monday.
It appears that L.A.‘s plan, if Stafford can’t go, will be Jimmy Garoppolo, and if Jimmy G. can’t go, then Bennett may have done enough to be the third option. We’ll see if Bennett gets his third start in a row against Cleveland next week and the Rams backup quarterback spots could be worth monitoring in the coming weeks.
I suppose you could call this preseason game: The Battle for L.A., though that seems a touch dramatic, but it was interesting that the Chargers had Herbert and some of their starters battling in this one, whereas the Rams took their normal preseason approach of not playing starters, and their backups looked sound. The Rams may have more depth on their team now than they have had in the last few years.
The Rams have one more tune-up game against the Cleveland Browns next week, then they’ll have to pray and hope that Matthew Stafford actually does suit up for Week 1 against the Houston Texans when their season officially kicks off.
