Game Recap: Rams defeat Saints 30-22 on Thursday Night Football

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Under the bright lights of prime time, the Rams (8-7) continued their playoff push with a 30-22 win over the Saints (7-8) Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 328 yards and two touchdowns, his fifth-straight game with two or more passing touchdowns. Wide receiver Puka Nacua led L.A.’s receivers with 9 catches for 164 yards and one touchdown; Demarcus Robinson (6 catches for 82 yards) accounted for Stafford’s other touchdown. Running back Kyren Williams added 22 carries for 104 yards and 1 touchdown as the Rams scored 28 or more points for the fifth-straight game.

Defensively, nose tackle Kobie Turner had one sack to reach 6.5 on the season, passing Kevin Carter (6) for second-most in a rookie season in franchise history.

After forcing the Saints to punt on their opening possession, the Rams marched downfield to the Saints’ 2-yard line. They needed a 4th-down conversion, but came away with points via a 2-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Nacua for a 7-0 lead with 2:28 left in the first quarter.

An early second-quarter, 20-yard field goal by kicker Lucas Havrisik made it 10-0 Rams, but a miss by Havrisik from 47 late in that same period cost Los Angeles a chance to extend its lead to 13. On the possession after the miss, New Orleans quarterback Derek Carr connected with wide receiver Rashid Shaheed for a 45-yard touchdown pass that cut L.A.’s lead to 10-7 with 2:28 to go in the first half.