Tyler Higbee caught the tiebreaking touchdown catch in his season debut and Kyren Williams rushed for 122 yards and one score to help the Los Angeles Rams notch a 19-9 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.
Kamren Curl made a key strip-sack of Aaron Rodgers early in the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead score as the Rams (9-6) won for the eighth time in their last 10 games.
Los Angeles took sole possession of first place in the NFC West, pending the results of the Seattle Seahawks game against the Minnesota Vikings later Sunday.
Matthew Stafford was 14-of-19 passing for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Rams.
Aaron Rodgers completed 28 of 42 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown, the 499th of his career, for New York (4-11). Davante Adams caught seven passes for 68 yards and a touchdown for the Jets, who lost for the 10th time in the past 12 games.
Curl delivered his strip-sack of Rodgers and Jared Verse recovered at the Jets’ 21-yard line with 11:42 remaining in the game.
Three plays later, Stafford hit Higbee on an 11-yard touchdown play to give Los Angeles a 16-9 lead with 10:11 remaining. Higbee was playing in his first game since tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee 11 months ago in a playoff loss against the Detroit Lions.
Joshua Karty’s 45-yard field goal with 5:17 remaining increased the lead to 10.
The Jets attempted to rally but Anders Carlson’s 49-yard field goal was wide right with 1:57 left. Then Xavier Gipson muffed the catch of a punt 23 seconds later and Jordan Whittington recovered for the Rams to seal it.
Carlson snuck a 21-yard field-goal attempt inside the left upright as time expired to give New York a 9-6 halftime lead. Both teams missed extra points after their first-half touchdowns.
The Jets moved 99 yards on 14 plays on their first drive. Rodgers connected with Adams on an 11-yard scoring play with 23 seconds left in the opening quarter.
New York went for it on fourth-and-1 on its own 33 midway through the second quarter and Breece Hall was stuffed for no gain. The Rams took advantage of the short field as Williams scored from the 2 to tie it with 6:22 left in the half.
The Jets took another gamble when they were at the Rams’ 13-yard line in the third quarter. This time, Rodgers’ fourth-and-4 throw to Adams was incomplete with 5:19 left as New York possessed the ball for the first 9:41 of the second half without scoring.
Los Angeles answered with a 13-play drive that concluded with Karty’s 38-yard field goal to tie it at 9 with 12:44 remaining in the game.
–Field Level Media
