PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sean McVay had seen enough of a Rams team mired in a funk. Los Angeles' coach huddled the entire offense around him as the clock ticked down toward the end of the third quarter and his team down by 10.
The rallying message, per Matthew Stafford: “Just trying to put some belief in our team.”
A week after blowing a 16-point lead in a loss at Denver, perhaps that belief in the Rams was underserving. It was instead unwavering.
Oh, and a poor fourth-down decision by the Philadelphia Eagles played a role in the rally, too.
Kyren Williams ran for two touchdowns in the final four minutes as Stafford and the Rams rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Eagles 24-20 on Sunday.
“I think a lot of teams would have folded in those situations,” McVay said. “I think our defense kept giving us a reason to believe.”
The Rams (2-2) had struggled offensively all afternoon and a win seemed out of reach until late in the fourth quarter, when Eagles coach Nick Sirianni decided against kicking a chip-shot field goal that would have made it 23-10 and instead went for it on fourth down.
The Eagles (2-2) failed to convert, giving the Rams new life.
Stafford and the Rams were aided by an unnecessary roughness penalty that helped them cap a 98-yard drive on Williams’ 1-yard TD run with 3:59 left that made it 20-17.
The Eagles — who failed to convert a single third down on 12 tries — punted to set up Stafford for the winning drive. He connected with Puka Nacua three times and had a clutch 8-yard scramble on the 10-play, 79-yard march, and Williams finished it off when he broke a few tackles for a 7-yard touchdown with 1:10 remaining.
“Plenty of plays where we didn’t get the result we wanted,” Stafford said. “But we got the result we wanted at the end of the game.”
The Rams have seen their share of blown late leads of late under McVay, and Sirianni was 4-0 lifetime against his coaching counterpart.
Sirianni took the fall for the Eagles' failure to convert the fourth down that could have sealed the win.
“You go for it and you get it, great,” Sirianni said. “You go for it and don’t get it, that’s on the head coach.”
Once the Rams completed the comeback, McVay skipped and sprinted down the sideline in celebration and nearly leapfrogged safety Quentin Lake.
Did it all come down to the speech?
“It was just more of what is on my heart to just say, ‘Guys, we’re capable. You got to believe and we got to just string good plays together. Our defense is doing everything that they can to keep us in this game,'” McVay said.
Just don't call this one an upset. Sportsbooks had installed the Rams as road favorites.
Jalen Hurts was sacked twice on Philadelphia’s final possession and had a desperation pass knocked down. He threw two touchdown passes to Darius Cooper in the first half but finished just 12 of 27 for 93 yards.
The Eagles have been outscored 31-0 in the second half of their last two games, both losses. They had only 68 net yards passing and a measly 172 yards of total offense.
“Poor execution,” Hurts said. “I don't think there's any other way to put it.”
Cooper, who made the game-winning TD catch in a Week 2 win at Tennessee, had touchdown catches of 10 and 18 yards.
The Eagles entered with a depleted roster that had them down six starters. That number increased to 10 as star running back Saquon Barkley was among the Eagles who got hurt as the team prepares for a trip to London next week. Offensive lineman Lane Johnson was a late scratch for personal reasons.
The Rams, coming a late pass-interference penalty that swung their loss at Denver, played without three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. He sat out with a sore back. Nacua returned after a two-game absence with injuries and had a 2-yard rushing TD in the second quarter that cut the Eagles’ lead to 13-10. He finished with nine catches for 125 yards.
Stafford, the reigning MVP, was 32 of 51 for 317 yards and two interceptions. His picks led to 10 Eagles points in the first half and Philadelphia led 20-10 at halftime.
Injuries
Rams WR Konata Mumpfield suffered a shoulder injury.
Barkley injured his right hamstring. Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell suffered a knee injury and linebacker Jonathan Greenard left with an ankle injury. Tank Bigsby, who replaced Barkley, needed help off the field after a hard tackle late in the game.
Up next
The Rams host Buffalo on Monday, Oct. 12.
The Eagles play Jacksonville next Sunday in London.
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