The Rams extended their win streak to two games with a 24-9 home victory over the Chargers on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, a performance led by running back Blake Corum's efficient, physical running, wide receiver Puka Nacua's milestone 50th career game, as timely plays by the Rams defense.
Here are five interesting stats from the contest, presented by DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports:
Corum averaged 5.8 yards after contact per carry (6.6 overall), his most this season and the second-highest average of his career (minimum five carries). (Next Gen Stats)
It likely comes as no surprise, especially given how well Corum ran on the second half-opening drive alone.
He also continued to be highly effective on man concepts (offensive linemen blocking specific defenders). Nine of of his 11 carries came on man-blocking runs, where he recorded 65 yards and his lone touchdown. Corum also generated a season-high 23 yards after forcing missed tackles.
Targeting receivers downfield on just six of 32 pass attempts, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert finished the game with a season-low 18.8% downfield pass rate. (Next Gen Stats)
Although Herbert completed a season-high 75.0% of his passes against the Rams in Week 8, including completing five of his six downfield (10+ air yards) pass attempts for 135 yards, nearly 50% of those 135 yards were from that 54-yard, hail-mary heave just before halftime.
And while Herbert completed all five of his downfield pass attempts in the first half, his lone downfield attempt in the second half resulted in an interception (Trent McDuffie's).
In other words, don't let that one deep completion distort how well Los Angeles' secondary played yesterday, especially with preventing deep completions.
Matthew Stafford averaged a time to throw of 2.38 seconds in the Rams' Week 8 victory over the Chargers, his third-quickest in a game since joining the Rams in 2021. (Next Gen Stats)
Next Gen Stats categorizes a quick pass as a time to throw of under 2.5 seconds. Despite having to get the ball out that quickly, Stafford was still efficient: 13 for 14 on those specific passes for 94 yards and a touchdown (57.1% success rate, meaning 57.1% of those plays produced positive Expected Points Added).
Stafford was pressured on five of his first 11 dropbacks (45.5%) on the Rams first five drives where they failed to convert a first down, but faced just one pressure on his final 15 dropbacks (6.7%). (Next Gen Stats)
The reason for this can be explained in part by the earlier note about Corum: Getting the run game going in the second half (four straight carries for Corum on that opening drive) kept the offense on schedule, kept the Chargers' defensive front honest and helped reduced that pressure.
Nacua's 369 career receptions are 23 more than any other player through 50 games in NFL history. (NFL Research)
Nacua surpassed Hall of Famer Lance Alworth for second-most receiving yards through 50 career games with 4,756; only Justin Jefferson has had more in that span with 4,825.
