INGLEWOOD, Calif. — With rookie Cam Akers running wild for the Rams and his defensive teammates thoroughly stifling the Patriots, Los Angeles got a tiny measure of payback for its Super Bowl embarrassment two years ago.
These Rams even looked good enough to contend for a chance at some actual Super Bowl redemption later this season.
Akers rushed for 171 yards in a breakout performance, Kenny Young returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown and the Rams clinched their fourth straight winning season with a 24-3 victory over the New England Patriots on Thursday night.
Jared Goff rushed for a touchdown and threw a TD pass to Cooper Kupp as the NFC West-leading Rams (9-4) rolled to a one-sided victory in a rematch of their 13-3 Super Bowl loss in February 2019.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for them, but it’s a totally different year,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with what occurred a couple of years ago.”
While the Rams’ offence looked sharp, their defence pushed the Patriots (6-7) perilously close to disarray. New England managed only 220 total yards — just 62 in the second half with a series of misbegotten drives.
Cam Newton went 9 of 16 for 119 yards and got sacked four times before the 2015 NFL MVP was replaced by Jarrett Stidham for the final three series in the fourth quarter.
“We knew exactly what they were going to do,” Newton said. “We have to be better, and it starts with me personally. I have to make more plays.”
Five days after the Patriots scored 45 points at SoFi Stadium against the Chargers, New England endangered its push for a 12th straight playoff berth with only its second loss in six games.
When asked if he expected to start next week, Newton replied: “That’s not my call.”
Bill Belichick doused the understandable speculation moments later: “Cam is our quarterback.”
The Rams got a superb game from Akers, the second-round draft pick out of Florida State who has seized a major role in their offence over the last three weeks. Akers’ yards mostly came in big chunks during the biggest rushing game by an NFL rookie this season and just the ninth 150-yard game against a Belichick-coached defence since 2000.
“It’s just (great) watching that guy really assert himself as a big-time player for us,” McVay said. “You can just see this guy is going to be a really special player for us, and this was a great night for him.”
Aaron Donald had 1 1/2 sacks to move into the overall NFL lead with 12 1/2 this season while leading another strong game from Los Angeles’ elite defence, which recorded six sacks and also scored a touchdown in its third consecutive game. The Pats’ third-ranked rushing offence managed just 3.7 yards per carry.
“We knew they had a great running game, that they outphysical-ed people, and we took that personally,” said Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers, who had two sacks. “If they were going to come in here and run the ball, we were going to stop them.”
New England again struggled to move the ball through the air, and Newton threw his first pick-six of the season to Young, who also had a sack and led the Rams with eight tackles. Stidham went 5 of 7 and got sacked twice after taking over early in the fourth quarter.
Despite their strong recent play, the Patriots have seven losses for the first time since 2002, officially ending their NFL-record streak of 17 straight seasons with at least 10 victories.
The Rams’ opening 75-yard TD drive at SoFi Stadium looked better than anything it did in the Super Bowl. Tyler Higbee and Akers had long gains before Goff leaned over the line on fourth-and-goal for his career-high fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
An intentional grounding penalty on Goff and a poorly thrown pass intercepted by New England’s Myles Bryant kept the Pats’ deficit manageable early. But Young opened the second quarter with an interception by Donald’s disruption up front, taking it all the way back for the third-year linebacker’s first NFL touchdown.
Kupp’s 2-yard TD catch late in the third quarter capped a dominant 16-play, 90-yard drive by the Rams that included two fourth-down conversions.
“It didn’t really matter anything else that happened,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. “They were able to continuously run it and get first downs. It takes you out of the play-calling. We were able to do well on third downs, but it didn’t matter because of how well they did in the run game. They took the whole third quarter with the long drive, and we can’t play that way.”
HISTORIC NIGHT
The Rams will have four consecutive winning records under McVay, something the franchise hadn’t done since 1983-86 with Eric Dickerson and coach John Robinson. Los Angeles still hasn’t clinched McVay’s third playoff spot, but his team will sit atop the division with three games to play.
Los Angeles also improved to 33-0 with a halftime lead under McVay.
INJURED
Patriots: S Adrian Phillips injured his hand at some point near halftime, but he returned in the second half. … RB Damien Harris left the field gingerly in the fourth quarter.
Rams: K Matt Gay played and didn’t miss a kick despite a shoulder injury.
UP NEXT
Patriots: Visit the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Dec. 20.
Rams: Stay home to host the New York Jets on Sunday, Dec. 20.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
