Matthew Stafford could not escape.
Early in Sunday’s night’s game against the Tennessee Titans, the Rams quarterback was sacked twice on consecutive plays. He had passes intercepted on two plays in a row, one that was returned for a touchdown.
He looked nothing like the subject of NFL most-valuable-player conversation, and everything like former quarterback Jared Goff during those stretches when he made coach Sean McVay’s blood boil.
Stafford is regarded as one of the best comeback quarterbacks in the NFL. But this time the hole was bigger than the one that was dug to build $5-billion SoFi Stadium.
The Rams’ four-game winning streak ended with a 28-16 defeat before a crowd of 71,785.
“Felt like I kind of settled in the second half,” Stafford said. “But at that point I had done too much damage really early in that game to get us out of it.”
The high-flying Rams offense that looked so great in the season opener against the Chicago Bears and a big win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at SoFi Stadium?
It produced a meaningless touchdown with less than 30 seconds left.
“I don’t think this is reflective of the type of football team that we are,” coach Sean McVay said. “We had a rough night. And it really seemed like kind of that was the narrative of the night.”
When it was over, the Rams’ prospects for playing in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium suddenly appeared as foggy as the mist that crept into the stadium before kickoff.
The Rams dropped to 7-2 heading into next Monday’s NFC West game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. It is the Rams’ last game before an open date, and it apparently cannot come soon enough.
The Titans were supposed to be handicapped by the absence of star running back Derrick Henry, who has run over and through opponents the last two-plus seasons.
But they didn’t need him.
Rams head coach Sean McVay looks at the foot of quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was injured in the fourth quarter.
Not on a night when Titans defensive linemen Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry ran circles around — and right through — the Rams’ offensive line.
Stafford was sacked five times. The Rams were penalized 12 times for 115 yards.
“The thing they needed in this game was for us to make mistakes,” offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”
Stafford did not practice Wednesday or Thursday and he was limited Friday because of back stiffness.
Stafford had said he would be fine, and McVay said he was not concerned because the 13th-year pro had experience managing and playing through injuries.
But Stafford looked out of rhythm against the Titans, who won their fifth game in a row to improve to 7-2.
“Did Matthew make some uncharacteristic plays? Yeah he did,” McVay said. “But I’m not going to say that’s a result of what occurred.”
Neither did Stafford, who suffered an ankle injury late in the game but said he was fine.
The Rams trailed, 21-3, at halftime after Stafford had two passes intercepted — one that was returned for a touchdown by Titans safety Kevin Byard.
“I basically spotted them 14 points,” Stafford said. “Can’t do that in the NFL.”
But Stafford appeared to get going in the third quarter.
On the Rams’ first possession, he drove his team 84 yards, connecting with Robert Woods, Van Jefferson and tight end Tyler Higbee for sizable gains before finding Higbee for an apparent short touchdown pass.
But upon review, officials determined that Higbee had stepped out of bounds before catching the pass. The Rams settled for a field goal that trimmed the deficit to 15 points.
Stafford was sacked again late in the third quarter, but Matt Gay’s 54-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth cut the deficit to 21-9.
With less than seven minutes left, Stafford faked a handoff and rolled to his left. He stumbled and then was hit by linebacker Bud Dupree as his pass fell incomplete. Stafford limped as he started toward the sideline, McVay shaking his head in frustration.
The Titans, aided by two roughing-the-passer penalties, then launched a drive that culminated with Adrian Peterson’s short touchdown run to seal the victory.
Stafford fired a short touchdown pass to running back Sony Michel with 24 seconds left to avoid the embarrassment of failing to score a touchdown.
Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill completed 19 of 27 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown with an interception and ran for a score.
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