That was more like it.

Wire-to-wire in Las Vegas, leading with the running game, heavy doses of play action, moving the launch point, mixing in well-timed screens.

Those were the Rams on offense we have come to know and love and fully expected to see build off leading the NFL in scoring a season ago.

Now, can they stack some wins?

After dismantling a lesser opponent that struggles to stop the run, they square off against a winless Chargers bunch that suffers from many of the same deficiencies as the Raiders.

"There was no exhale after coming back from Las Vegas," Puka Nacua told reporters this week. "That one win was what we were looking for. I think it's been a mindset and a mentality that we're continuing to try to stack."

Equally important, can the Rams reset their home field advantage at SoFi Stadium? Last time they were in Inglewood, they dropped back-to-back home games consecutively for the first time in a decade under Sean McVay's leadership, each on a game-ending field goal attempt.

Sunday, a chance to lean into this rediscovered, battled-tested identity.

Get back to .500 and get on the first winning streak of 2026.

One Step Forward, More Injury Setbacks

Another week of tough injury news to overcome, though thankfully, it's not all bad.

Defensive player of the year candidate Trent McDuffie is on the mend and green-dot linebacker Nate Landman is practicing fully.

But on offense, center Coleman Shelton and tight end Colby Parkinson are integral, and as of this writing, their status is in doubt. Plus, another week goes by without Terrance Ferguson and Myles Garrett, who so much of the Rams scheme was built to showcase. Both remain on injured reserve.

Kudos to so many depth pieces who stepped into larger roles and delivered last week in Las Vegas – Ty Hamilton, Tyler Davis, Larrell Murchison, Shaun Dolac, Konata Mumpfield.

Who's next?

We discussed it all on a new Between the Horns, from SoFi Stadium, with Maurice Jones-Drew and D'Marco Farr.

The General Gets Into Specifics

Not only was Byron Young representing the Class of 2023 on this week's Mic'd Up, but classmate Davis Allen was our guest on Rams Revealed.

We covered a lot of ground with the 25-year-old tight end, including his career day in Las Vegas, his first four weeks of fatherhood, and the story behind his end zone salutes.

While you're on TheRams.com, make sure to check out both features on the fourth-year pros.

Deadline NFC

As you've surely seen, a few contenders made splashes this week, moving well ahead of the NFL trade deadline to bolster their chances.

First, division rivals raided Indianapolis, as San Francisco reunited with defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and Seattle fortified up front with guard Quenton Nelson. Then, Chicago made waves by trading multiple first round picks to Tennessee for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

It's enough to make a Rams fan envious. But don't expect LA to overreact.

"Based on our situation, the good thing for us is... hopefully some of those trades will be guys getting back from injury that haven't played for us. That's the way that we look at it," said Sean McVay, referring to the Rams standing pat (so far).

His point is that LA already made their moves in the spring, trading future capital for McDuffie and Garrett. Getting an All-Pro corner back this week, and hopefully the reigning sack king back soon, should make it feel like the Rams won the NFL trade deadline. Especially if Ferguson, Kobie Turner, and Davante Adams can make it back for a playoff push.

Notable And Quotable

If there were any nits to pick with the win in Las Vegas, they'd be a lack of explosive plays offensively and no takeaways defensively (more on this in a moment).

"I thought we did a great job of taking what the defense (gave us)," offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase reflected on Thursday. "I think there's a fine line of when you are attacking downfield, what opportunities that the defense is giving you versus what you should take to stay on track… There are some games where we have to create explosives. There are some games, like the last one, where your biggest gain is 17 yards. You felt like you were pretty efficient all day and felt like you stayed on track and stayed ahead of the sticks throughout the course of the day, so every game is a little bit different."

To that point, Matthew Stafford completed 79 percent of his throws last Sunday, his highest as a Ram. Lately, his average depth of target has been very modest. According to Next Gen Stats, he's averaging under five air yards per attempt in the two most recent contests, after he had not done so once in his prior 23 outings. Nonetheless, Stafford has completed at least 70 percent of his throws in 3 straight games, tied for the second longest streak of his career.

Meantime, the Rams finally reached double-digit sacks on the season with a couple late stops on Kirk Cousins. Still, LA ranks near the bottom of the NFL in sacks (10) and takeaways (6). Now, it's important to point out that fourth down stops are effectively takeaways, and I would argue, should be counted as such! Rams' opponents have failed on fourth down seven times already this season. That's an extra turnover per game. The Raiders went two-of-five in Week 7.

Next up, the Chargers have an NFL-worst 15 giveaways, in large part because Justin Herbert is the only quarterback with an interception in every game. In a related matter, given all their offensive line issues, it's no surprise the Chargers' 81 sacks allowed since the start of last season are tied for the most in football.

"I didn't come back to try to earn individual accolades or anything. I did that, accomplished that. It doesn't excite me," future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald said on Thursday, as he's still without a sack after five appearances (though he did have one wiped away due to a penalty against Buffalo). That's the longest streak within a season in his career. He has been double teamed at his highest rate (76 percent) since double teams were first tracked in 2017, per ESPN Analytics."The only thing that excites me is winning so I'm just playing a football game, trying to do what I can to help this team."

And we'll give the last word this week to QB1, who was asked about the cross-town rivalry.

"I think it's a big town to cross. I don't run into those guys too often, to be honest with you. I don't really want to make that drive, nobody does," Stafford said of this week's opponent… and LA traffic. "I don't think about it that way. It's just another game for us. Obviously, a big one as we're trying to continue to play as good of football as we can."