By Jourdan Rodrigue, Zack Rosenblatt and Zach Powell
The Los Angeles Rams did just enough to stay atop the NFC West on Sunday, scoring 13 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the New York Jets 19-9 after a slow-moving first half.
Trailing by three points at the half, the Rams tied the game in the fourth quarter thanks to a 38-yard field goal by Joshua Karty, and then later took their first lead as Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford found tight end Tyler Higbee for an 11-yard touchdown. Karty tacked on one more field goal later to give the Rams a double-digit lead.
The Jets started strong as Aaron Rodgers, who finished 28 of 42 for 256 yards, connected with wide receiver Davante Adams to give the Jets their first and only TD of the game in the first quarter. Rams running back Kyren Williams, who finished with 122 rushing yards, scored Los Angeles’ lone first-half touchdown.
The Rams (9-6) will close their year with key divisional home games against the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks in Weeks 17 and 18. The 4-11 Jets will travel to Buffalo to face the AFC East-leading Bills next week.
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The Rams ran the ball well — with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter as the Rams took possession following a Jets turnover on downs, Kyren Williams had 108 yards and averaged six yards per carry. Otherwise, a game that moved the clock fast but didn’t have much action picked up in the fourth quarter.
Safety Kam Curl’s strip-sack of Rodgers was recovered by Jared Verse. Stafford and head coach Sean McVay had a play drawn up for Higbee on the following possession, and Higbee rumbled into the end zone on an 11-yard catch-and-run exactly 11 months after Kerby Joseph’s low hit in the wild-card loss in Detroit tore Higbee’s ACL and MCL. The go-ahead score gave the Rams a 16-9 lead with 10:17 to play. — Jourdan Rodrigue, Rams beat writer
The veteran cornerback tandem of Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon once again made plays when it counted. After a standout performance 10 days ago in San Francisco, both Witherspoon and Williams each made a pass breakup of significant consequence against the Jets on Sunday. Each came on fourth down: Witherspoon broke up a Rodgers pass in the third quarter to Adams that prevented a touchdown. Williams broke up a Rodgers pass to Tyler Conklin in the fourth quarter that gave the Rams offense the ball back at the Jets’ 46-yard line.
They scored a field goal on the possession to go up 19-9 with 5:17 to play.
Slow starts continue to hold the Rams’ offense back from its potential with all key players back and healthy. Sunday, they were held without a touchdown in the first quarter for a 12th game this season. — Rodrigue
In the first half, Rodgers considered his recent hot streak and it felt like the Jets offense was going to continue firing on all cylinders. Rodgers was 15 of 20 for 149 yards and a touchdown in the first half, and two of those incompletions were bad Allen Lazard drops. But Rodgers cooled off in the second half, force-feeding his friend Adams a little too much, the Jets offense faltered and they wound up losing another game they probably should’ve won.
There was some curious decision-making — especially a decision to go for it on fourth down in the second quarter from their own 33-yard-line. It didn’t work and the Rams quickly turned around and scored. The other Rams touchdown drive started when Rodgers held onto the ball too long, was sacked and lost the ball, which the Rams recovered. Rodgers in total didn’t wind up having a great game even if it started that way. — Zack Rosenblatt, Jets beat writer
The bigger news, even bigger than the loss, was the loss of promising rookie left tackle Olu Fashanu. The first-round pick hurt his foot in the fourth quarter and was quickly ruled out, which is never a good sign. He had trouble putting weight on his left foot on the way off the field and if it’s a significant injury, that’s an unfortunate development for a player that was showing signs that the Jets finally found their long-term left tackle.
The offensive line has been at its best since Fashanu replaced veteran Tyron Smith a few weeks ago, and an injury this late in the season — if serious — could impact the Jets in 2025. — Rosenblatt
(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
