Matthew Stafford threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns as the Los Angeles Rams rallied from a third-quarter deficit to topple the Tennessee Titans 33-19 on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.
Stafford, who completed 23 of 33 passes with an interception, connected with Davis Allen on an 8-yard pass at the 1:17 mark of the third quarter to put Los Angeles (2-0) up 20-16. Allen was originally ruled out of bounds at the 1 but an expedited review overturned the call.
The Rams tacked on insurance with 9:40 left in the game on Stafford’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams. It came three plays after Byron Young’s strip-sack of rookie quarterback Cam Ward that Nate Landman recovered at the 21. It also marked Adams’ first touchdown as a Ram.
Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, hit 19 of 33 passes for 175 yards and his first touchdown. Scrambling to his right to avoid pressure, Ward threw across his body to the left side of the end zone and found Elic Ayomanor for a 9-yard score with 38 seconds remaining in the first half, tying the score at 10.
Tennessee (0-2) then got the ball back when Cody Barton picked off Stafford on the next play from scrimmage. That enabled the Titans to take a 13-10 edge to halftime on the strength of Joey Slye’s 37-yard field goal as time expired.
Slye bombed a 57-yard field goal at the 3:32 mark of the third quarter to give the Titans their final lead at 16-13. But the Titans’ offense misfired after that, managing only five yards on their next possession before Los Angeles put the game away.
Puka Nacua initiated scoring for the Rams with 8:39 left in the first quarter, taking a jet sweep on fourth-and-1 and running 45 yards for a touchdown. Tennessee had a chance to stop Nacua before the first-down marker but missed a couple of tackles.
Blake Corum capped Los Angeles’ scoring on a 1-yard plunge with 6:45 remaining in the game, his first NFL touchdown.
Nacua caught eight passes for 91 yards and Adams finished with six for 106.
–Field Level Media
