INGLEWOOD, CA– Winning their second consecutive game, the Los Angeles Rams soundly beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 24-9, in the Battle for LA at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, November 1.
The Rams improved to (4-4) behind a strong ground game featuring Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. This balance on offense takes pressure off Rams Quarterback Matthew Stafford, and the aerial attack has helped the Rams get out of a rut.
Matthew Stafford passed for 157 yards and a touchdown, Blake Corum and Kyren Williams rushed for scores and the Rams overcame a slow start for the crucial victory over the winless Los Angeles Chargers to get back to .500 football.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Chargers fell to an abysmal (0-7) record in this nightmare season.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert passed for 257 yards and threw two interceptions for the Chargers, who returned from their bye week and extended their worst start to a season since 2000.
Although the offense led by coordinator Mike McDaniel showed some signs of life with 295 yards, the Bolts failed to score a touchdown for the second straight game — and they’re still the NFL’s only winless team after their defense couldn’t stop a Rams offense missing the injured Davante Adams.
“There’s no quit,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “There’s no surrender. It’s going to be an opportunity next week, and get ourselves ready for that. It’s that motivation. There’s next week. … You’ve got to keep moving forward, and just give it your very best and get better, but there’s never any quit.”
LA’s two NFL teams don’t have a bitter rivalry despite their geographical nearness, and both offenses started poorly with early interceptions. Quentin Lake set up the Rams’ opening field goal by picking off Herbert’s short pass and returning it 45 yards.
Herbert has thrown an interception in all seven games this season, but the Chargers also struggled to run the ball. McDaniel, who retained play-calling duties despite the Bolts’ winless start, called back-to-back successful flea-flickers to get the Chargers moving toward their second field goal in the second quarter.
“I think the turnovers are what’s stopping us, and that’s something we have to clean up,” Herbert said. “When we’re not converting on third down and not scoring points in the red zone, it’s tough in that regard.”
The Chargers haven’t scored a TD in their last nine quarters of play, yet the Rams were pretty terrible themselves early on at SoFi.
They gained just 24 yards on their first 15 plays, going without a first down on their first five drives for the first time in McVay’s career.
The Rams trailed by six when they finally got their initial first down on a 40-yard completion to Tutu Atwell. Moments later, Williams waltzed in untouched for the game’s first TD with 19 seconds left in the first half.
The Rams made another strong drive out of halftime, with Corum racking up 55 yards on the drive that ended with his graceful 23-yard score.
Two plays after Trent McDuffie had the Rams’ second interception, Nacua took a screen pass for an 18-yard score.
Chargers host the Houston Texans next Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
The Rams travel to our Nation’s Capital to take on the Washington Commanders.
