In a Monday Night Football game where Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw three interceptions and the Falcons rushed for 229 yards, Los Angeles still had a chance in the final minutes. A game-altering special teams play by outside linebacker Jared Verse and a second-half run on offense tied the game at 24 with under three minutes remaining, but the Rams ultimately came up short.
Here are five interesting stats from the Rams' 27-24 loss to the Falcons on Monday Night Football.
Jared Verse hit 20.21 miles per hour on his blocked field goal return for a TD, the fastest ball-carrier speed by a defender weighing 260-plus pounds in the Next Gen Stats Era (since 2016)
In last season's wild card round, Verse hit 19.88 miles per hour on a fumble returned for a touchdown against the Vikings. He beat that on Monday, but not his top speed overall in the NFL. Last season, Verse surpassed 21 miles per hour twice trying to chase down Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, once in Week 12 and again in the divisional round.
The Rams' first field goal block returned for a touchdown since 1986 raised their win probability from 7% to 22%, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Rams' special teams expected points added (EPA) against the Falcons (6.18) doubled their previous season-high, according to Pro Football Reference
That means the Rams' special teams added 6.18 expected points to the Rams' score compared to what the average team would achieve in similar contexts. Their previous season-high was 3.09 EPA on special teams against Jacksonville in Week 7. Verse's big play combined with a few good returns by Xavier Smith and Jordan Whittington and no missed kicks for the Rams constituted their best special teams performance of the season.
After the game, head coach Sean McVay said special teams took "a major step in the right direction" under newly promoted coordinator Ben Kotwica and his new assistant, Matt Harper.
Running back Kyren Williams' 8.1 yards per touch was his best mark of the season
The game script didn't allow for much volume, but Williams was very efficient when he did get the ball. He ran for 92 yards on 13 carries (7.1-yard average) and caught all three of his targets for 38 receiving yards. Running back Blake Corum exited the game with an ankle injury in the first half and did not return, but Williams' uptick in snaps didn't hinder his efficiency.
The Rams pressured the quarterback on a season-high 55% of dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was pressured on 11 of his 20 dropbacks and threw for just 126 yards. Outside linebacker Byron Young led the way with four pressures, while four others tied with two (including Verse) and three more registered one. Cousins completed six of 11 passes under pressure for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Stafford was pressured on just 10 of his 38 dropbacks (24.4%) despite the Rams missing three starting offensive linemen, and he registered his best EPA per dropback performance against pressure this season
He may have been sacked three times, but Stafford completed six of seven passes for 83 yards against pressure when he did get the ball out. That resulted in a season-high 0.49 EPA per dropback, meaning each time he was pressured, it added nearly half an expected point to the Rams' score, his best of the season by 0.19. After the game, Stafford said he didn't feel an "overwhelming" amount of pressure without most of the starting offensive line, and the numbers support that.
