The Rams' defense drove a hard-fought victory over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. Three caused turnovers gave the Rams' offense good field position and aided in their ability to find the end zone early in the third quarter, during which they scored 14 of their 17 total points. The Rams dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, especially in the passing game.
Here are five interesting stats from the Rams' 17-3 road win over the Ravens in Week 6.
According to ESPN Research, the Rams' three points allowed were their fewest in a road game since 2014
The Rams' defense kept Baltimore out of the end zone all day long. That included three-straight run stuffs from the one-yard line to end the first half, which "kind of revived" the team, said outside linebacker Jared Verse. Inside linebacker Nate Landman contributed to two of those stops, and his 17 total tackles set a Rams franchise record.
The defense also adjusted to slow down the run more effectively in the second half by putting more (and bigger) bodies on the inside. As a result, running back Derrick Henry had just 32 yards on the ground in the second half compared to 90 in the first half. In the pass game, defensive coordinator Chris Shula brought the pressure, blitzing on 40% of Baltimore's dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Rams' three caused turnovers added a combined 30.6% to the Rams' win probability, via nflverse data
That's the 19th-most win probability added from defensive turnovers in a game this season. They also contributed 14.4 expected points added (or in this case subtracted from the offense) which is the 13th most in a game this season. The Rams are now tied for the second-most defensive takeaways in the NFL with 10.
Safety Quentin Lake's first career interception, his third-quarter fumble recovery and the fumbled handoff that defensive end Tyler Davis fell on top of all set the Rams up for success.
Matthew Stafford was pressured on just 13.8% of his dropbacks, his second-lowest pressure rate faced in a game since 2018, via Next Gen Stats
After the game, but Stafford and head coach Sean McVay praised the offensive line, and for good reason. Stafford was pressured on just four of his 29 dropbacks, which yielded his lowest pressure rate since Week 8 of last season and the fewest total pressures as a member of the Rams.
Left guard Steve Avila made an impact in his return to the starting lineup after being sidelined with an ankle injury since Week 1, and Warren McClendon Jr. filled in nicely in place of the injured Rob Havenstein for a second-straight week. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), neither allowed a quarterback pressure on Sunday.
Outside linebacker Jared Verse and Byron Young combined for 14 quarterback pressures, via PFF
Verse's eight pressures were tied for the most of the week and led to a sack and four quarterback hits. Opposite him, Young had six pressures which led to two sacks and five quarterback hits. The edges of the pocket were collapsing around the Ravens quarterbacks all game long, as Verse and Young wreaked havoc on the opposing tackles.
Young now ranks second in the NFL in sacks with 7.5 and Verse ranks third in pressures with 31 (via PFF). They are becoming quite the dynamic duo, both on and off the field.
More than half of Stafford's passing yards and his only touchdown came in the third quarter
101 of Stafford's 181 passing yards (55.8%) came in the third quarter of Sunday's game. He completed nine of his 11 attempts and the passing offense seemed much more in rhythm than it did the rest of the afternoon.
"I think just execution (clicked in the third quarter)," Stafford said. "You know what I mean? There were opportunities in the first half, I thought, where we were really pushing it, pushing it, pushing the tempo and really had some shots and just didn't hit them. And we hit them. We hit them in the third quarter and put up some points pretty quick."
