{"id":85803,"date":"2025-12-08T05:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T05:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/85803\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T05:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T05:15:11","slug":"matthew-stafford-and-rams-reclaim-top-playoff-seed-in-the-nfc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/85803\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford and Rams reclaim top playoff seed in the NFC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GLENDALE, Ariz.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0There was no time for players and fans to send Rams<\/a> coach Sean McVay<\/a> get-well-soon cards.<\/p>\n

A day after deciding not to travel with the team for fear of spreading stomach-flu symptoms, McVay arrived Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

McVay fist-bumped players during warmups at State Farm Stadium, his trademark gelled hair spikes in full effect. And he looked none the worse for the wear while roaming the sideline sockless and calling plays against the Arizona Cardinals.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in a 45-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.<\/p>\n

McVay and his players were feeling good after the Rams routed the Cardinals, 45-17<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matthew Stafford<\/a> passed for three touchdowns, Puka Nacua<\/a> caught two touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career, and Blake Corum<\/a> rushed for a career-high 128 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams bounced back from a loss to the Carolina Panthers and improved to 10-3, reclaiming the top spot in the NFC.<\/p>\n

It was a good tonic for McVay, who said he became ill after it ran through his family, from his young son to his wife before it finally hit him Friday night. McVay was not at the team walkthrough in Woodland Hills on Saturday, and the Rams did not have a team meeting Saturday night in Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling better,\u201d McVay, with a scratchy voice, said after the game, adding that he attempted to take precautions to avoid spreading the bug to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust wanted to be smart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But McVay apparently could not help celebrating with players, fist-bumping and handing out game balls in the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou realize how out of norm it is for me \u2014 I\u2019m a big hugger,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so hopefully I\u2019ll feel better and get back to being normal with these guys, because I don\u2019t like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the field there wasn\u2019t a lot for McVay not to enjoy in a victory that, combined with the Chicago Bears\u2019 loss to the Green Bay Packers, once again elevated the Rams to the No. 1 seed in the NFC.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams coach Sean McVay, center, celebrates with linebacker Troy Reeder in the final seconds of a 45-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Ross D. Franklin \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Stafford bounced back from a three-turnover game against the Panthers and regained the MVP-caliber form that earned him NFC offensive player of the month for November. Stafford completed 22 of 31 passes for 281 yards, increasing his league-leading touchdown-pass total to 35 before Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a> replaced him early in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Chants of \u201cM-V-P!\u201d boomed from the locker room.<\/p>\n

That was \u201cfun,\u201d Stafford said, adding that teammates were responsible for his success. Stafford also praised offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and the entire staff for helping fill some of the void left by McVay\u2019s absence during the week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cool, with our head guy down just a little bit, watching everybody kind of rally and do their part, and do it a little bit better,\u201d Stafford said.<\/p>\n

Nacua was among those who stepped up their game. Nacua, who had taken a lower-profile role behind Davante Adams<\/a>, broke out with seven catches for 167 yards, including touchdowns of 28 and 31 yards, and moved into a tie with Arizona\u2019s Trey McBride for the league lead in receptions (93).<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally you don\u2019t come in with too many touchdown celebrations,\u201d Nacua said, laughing, \u201cso I\u2019m going to have to start coming with a little bit more in my pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

The passing attack benefited from Corum\u2019s and Kyren Williams<\/a>\u2019 rushing performances. Corum scored on a two-yard run in the first quarter and on a 48-yard run early in the fourth to cement the rout. Williams gained 84 yards in 13 carries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to break a long run sooner than later,\u201d Corum said, adding, \u201cMan, it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linebacker Nate Landman<\/a> intercepted a pass and Byron Young, Kobie Turner<\/a> and Kam Curl had sacks for a defense that gave up an opening-drive touchdown but thereafter clamped down as the Rams built a 35-point lead.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, center, celebrates with fans as he leaves the field at State Farm Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Rick Scuteri \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the loss to the Panthers, \u201cthe urgency ticked up a little bit more,\u201d Turner said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to look to continue to carry throughout the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was an important victory for a Rams team regarded as a Super Bowl contender as it heads into the toughest stretch of its schedule.<\/p>\n

Next Sunday the Rams play Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions (8-5) at SoFi Stadium. Four days later they will play the Seahawks (10-3) in a key NFC West game in Seattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good step in the right direction,\u201d McVay said of Sunday\u2019s victory. \u201cAnd now we\u2019ve got to continue to build on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a healthy way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0There was no time for players and fans to send Rams coach Sean McVay get-well-soon cards. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6439,44089,47802,18620,48,52,51,3376,47,50,49,771,48273,772,10948,11706,10947,43889,780,8934,1539],"class_list":["post-85803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-blake-corum","tag-cardinals","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-season","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-next-sunday","tag-pass","tag-puka-nacua","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-touchdown","tag-victory","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}