The Los Angeles Rams dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, capturing a 35-7 victory in a game they controlled from start to finish.
The Rams grabbed the game by the horns rather quickly, forcing three-and-outs on each of Jacksonville's first two drives of the game and driving right down the field for touchdowns on each of their own first two possessions. Before you could blink, it was a two-score game. It would never be closer than that the rest of the way.
Matthew Stafford had himself a monster game, completing 21 of 33 passes for 182 yards and five touchdowns against a pass defense that had been one of the better units in the NFL coming into the game -- completing passes to 10 different receivers along the way. It was the first five-touchdown game in the history of the NFL international series and Stafford's first five-score game since 2015.
Davante Adams was on the receiving end of three of those scores, making leaping grabs in the back of the end zone each time. The other two touchdowns each went to rookies, with one landing in the arms of Konata Mumpfield and the other going to Terrance Ferguson.
The Jags made an absolute ton of mistakes, with Trevor Lawrence taking seven sacks and the team committing 13 penalties for 119 yards. (They also had two additional penalties declined.) That list of infractions included a back-breaking block in the back that erased a 62-yard punt return touchdown by Parker Washington, plus numerous pre-snap penalties on offense -- an issue that has plagued the Jaguars throughout the season -- and multiple pass interference calls that extended Rams drives. They also had a missed field goal by kicker Cam Little.
The L.A. defense, meanwhile, continually buckled down at key moments, forcing the Jaguars into a 3 for 15 day on third downs, allowing just 2 conversions on 6 fourth-down opportunities and holding the Jaguars to zero touchdowns on two trips into the red zone. Jacksonville's lone score came on a 33-yard pass from Lawrence to Travis Hunter, marking the latter's first touchdown of his career.
With the blowout victory, the Rams improve to 5-2 on the season heading into their bye week. Pending the results of the remainder of Sunday's games, they are in first place in the NFC West. The Jaguars, meanwhile, drop to 4-3 heading into their own bye and are now even further behind the first-place Colts in the AFC South.
This connection was the story of the game for the Rams offense. Stafford targeted Adams eight times and they connected on five of them for 35 yards and three scores. Each of those grabs was wildly impressive, with Adams hauling in two touchdowns on goal-line fades and another on a one-handed grab in the back of the end zone.
The Jaguars simply had no answer for Adams, especially when he got into one-on-one situations against smaller defensive backs. No matter with whom they tried to guard him, Adams dunked on them in the end zone.
As mentioned above, it was a morning filled with mistakes for the Jaguars. The penalties, in particular, were a massive problem. The Jags had THIRTEEN penalties accepted and two more declined, and they cost themselves 119 yards with those miscues. One of them took a score off the board, several extended Rams drives and still more set their own offense back behind the sticks. Jacksonville came into the game second in the NFL in penalties, and it continued to be a problem for the Jaguars on Sunday morning.
The lone bright spot for the Jaguars was the rookie wide receiver/cornerback. He played significantly more on offense than defense, and he had the best day of his young career in the wide receiver role. Hunter finished the game with 8 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown on a career-high 14 targets. He had mostly been used as a short-area target for the Jaguars during the first six games of the season but made an impact down the field in this one, including with a 33-yard touchdown grab that was the first score of his career.
Hunter played sparingly on defense but he did have a really nice pass breakup on a go route to Davante Adams in the third quarter, indicating his two-way skill. We still have to see the Jaguars figure out the best way to take advantage of the fact that he can play on both sides of the ball, but it was encouraging to see him go off offensively and make at least one big play on defense.
Jaguars fail to convert on fourth-and-13 and the Rams can now kneel out the clock, assuming the Jaguars don't use their one remaining timeout. It'll be a 35-7 final as the Rams improve to 5-2 and the Jaguars drop to 4-3.
Matthew Stafford sets an international series record with his fifth passing score of the game. It's another one-step fade to Davante Adams, who reeled in his third touchdown of the morning. Total blowout here for the Rams.
Three penalties for Jacksonville to extend this drive. The Jaguars are now up to 13 penalties for 119 yards on the day. Yikes.
After taking a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-2, the Rams decided to run it up the middle on third-and-7 and picked it up with Kyren Williams. Now they have a chance to run even more time off the clock. This one is all but over.
It's the first career score for WR/CB Travis Hunter! Best drive of the day for the Jags, who moved quickly and efficiently down the field before Lawrence found Hunter for a 33-yard strike on a corner route. Really nice route, nice throw and a massive score that the Jaguars desperately needed. Hunter has 6 catches for 85 yards and a score. It's 28-7 after the end-zone trip.
Matthew Stafford puts the game away with a beautiful, lofted touchdown pass to Terrance Ferguson on fourth-and-1. The Rams got the Jags to jump on a hard count on fourth-and-5-plus to set up the fourth-and-short opportunity, then hit them with a double move over the top out of play action to salt the game away. It's 28-0 now.
Stop me if you've heard this before: the Jaguars set themselves back with a penalty and are now punting after a drop over the middle of the field. They have just continually shot themselves in the foot this morning.
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Rams have gone three-and-out to give the ball right back to Jacksonville. The Jaguars once again have a chance to make it a two-score game.
Three-and-out for Jacksonville on its latest drive. The Jaguars were set back by yet another penalty and then a sack. This has been an awful day for their offense.
Another stop for Jacksonville. Heavy pressure on Stafford on third down and he had to throw the ball away. If the Jaguars' offense could step up, this game might be closer as the Rams' offense has slowed considerably since the hot start.
Third time this game that Jacksonville has gone for it on fourth down and gotten stopped. This time it's a fourth-and-7 and Lawrence is under heavy pressure right away and has to try to throw the ball while being taken to the ground. No chance of a completion. The Jaguars are running out of time to make this a game, and the Rams could conceivably put it away on this next drive.
Really nice job by Lawrence to hang in against pressure and deliver the ball down the field to Dyami Brown on the crossing route. It's a big completion to move the Jags out near midfield from deep in their own territory.
Hunter didn't play any defensive snaps in the first half but got on the field for this last Rams series. Stafford tried to find Adams deep over the top over Hunter made a nice play to contest the ball and force an incomplete pass on third down. Jacksonville now once again has a chance to cut the L.A. lead to two scores.
Lawrence had Dyami Brown over the middle of the field but the ball glanced off Brown's hand and fell incomplete. The Jags put together a 10-play drive that verged into Rams territory but came up empty once again. It's been a brutal game for them so far.
Big stop for Jacksonville's defense. They nearly got an interception on third down but the ball fell to the turf. Now the Jags badly need to drive for a touchdown and make this a two-score game rather than three.
Not sure why the Rams are not even trying to score on this drive. They had plenty of time and two timeouts, and their offense has been unstoppable. Alas, they head into halftime with a three-score lead.
Nobody open for Lawrence on fourth down so he tried to scramble, and he was pretty easily run down by Jared Verse short of the first-down marker. Just a really bad sequence for Jacksonville, which leaves the Rams with 1:45 left on the clock and two timeouts to try to extend this lead even further.
Best drive of the game so far for Jacksonville, which has driven into the red zone for the first time. The Jaguars are facing third-and-7 when they return from the two-minute warning, though, after an end-around to Travis Hunter went nowhere on second down. It'll be interesting to see if they go for it on fourth down this time if they're unable to convert on third. They really need a touchdown and not a field goal here.
The rout is on, folks. The Rams quickly marched down the field after the missed field goal, going 60 yards in just five plays, ending with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Adams, the second time they've hooked up for a score today. Gorgeous throw over the top of the defender and an even better catch from Adams, who reeled it in with one hand. It's 21-0 L.A.
Jacksonville had the punt return touchdown taken off the board, but put together a nice drive into Rams territory. On third-and-12, Lawrence delivered a strike right into Brian Thomas Jr.'s hands, but Thomas dropped it just before he was hit by Kam Kinchens. Rather than go for it on fourth-and-2, Liam Coen sent the field goal team onto the field. Cam Little's 50-yard kick hooked wide to the left and the Jags didn't even get points out of the drive. Yikes. Questionable decision to kick from 50 yards out on a wet field, too.
After the Jaguars defense got its first stop of the game, Parker Washington took the punt 62 yards to the house... but it was called back thanks to an illegal block in the back penalty. Rough break for the Jags, who really needed that score. Now they'll be set back in their own territory to begin this next drive.
Jacksonville finally got a couple first downs on this latest drive, but another sack set them behind the chains and then they quickly stalled out and had to settle for another punt. This game is in danger of really getting away from them as the Rams now have a chance to make it a three-score lead.
Davante Adams gets the goal line fade route over the top of the much smaller Jourdan Lewis. Perfect throw from Stafford to the back corner of the end zone. (Lewis usually plays the slot, so isolating him on an island against Adams on the perimeter was a pretty big mismatch.) Rams lead 14-0 near the end of the first quarter.
The Rams have come out extremely pass heavy, which is interesting against a Jaguars defense that ranks fourth in EPA per play against the pass, via Tru Media. The Rams have used a lot of play action, and it's been successful despite their not running the ball very often or all that well just yet.
This time a holding penalty set the Jaguars back on first down. Lawrence's checkdown pass got batted down on second down and then he airmailed a throw on third to set up another punt. It was a great kick so the Jags at least flipped field position here, as the Rams will start with the ball around their 20-yard line.
Konata Mumpfield found himself open in the back of the end zone to give the Rams the lead on their first drive of the game. It was a VERY pass-heavy drive for the Rams, who threw the ball nine times on their 13 plays, with Matthew Stafford completing passes to five different receivers. It's the first career touchdown for Mumpfield, the rookie from Pittsburgh.
Sean McVay is usually one of the NFL's most conservative coaches when it comes to fourth-down decision making, but he just went for it on fourth-and-3 deep in Jaguars territory and the Rams converted to keep the drive alive and set up first-and-goal.
Jacksonville got set up behind the chains on its opening possession after a sack on the first play of the game. Liam Coen went with a curious second-down run up the middle that only went for a few yards and Trevor Lawrence had to force a throw into double coverage on third down, which fell incomplete. Jaguars punt and now the Rams have a chance to take an early lead.
The turnover battle will be a huge key to this game. The Rams have turned the ball over at least once in every game so far this season, with seven total giveaways. The Jaguars have forced an incredible 14 turnovers this year, including at least three in each of their first four games. They didn't force one last week, though, in their loss to Seattle.
Hunter is one of the rarest prospects to enter the NFL in years. As we know, he's playing on both sides of the ball. Here's the snap breakdown to date:
