In each of the last two seasons, the Los Angeles Rams have successfully defended home turf twice in a span of five days.
In 2023, bouncing back from a gut punch in Baltimore (a game the Rams lost on special teams!), they responded with victories over Washington and New Orleans to claw back above .500 for the season on the way to the playoffs.
Then last fall, after a bye at 1-4, LA flipped its season by knocking off the Raiders and Vikings en route to an NFC West crown.
Here we go again with two massive home games in the week ahead. Only this time, the upcoming opponents are still undefeated.
First up, the Indianapolis Colts, off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2009, and to date, the most efficient offense in football.
Somewhat Sunny In Philadelphia
You don't have to search for a silver lining – the Rams are very good!
Even in defeat in Philadelphia, we saw how high this team's ceiling can be. There are 30 franchises that would love to be able to confidently say they're capable of building a three-possession lead (and should've been more) at Lincoln Financial Field.
After three weeks, the Rams are the only team in the league to rank top five in total offense (363.7 yards per game) and total defense (268.3 allowed). Everywhere I looked this week, there were undeniably encouraging notes.
But as we know, it wasn't a four-quarter performance.
On the latest Between the Horns, D'Marco Farr and Maurice Jones-Drew helped us apply the lessons from Week 3's loss to Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Teaming Up
One of the many frustrations with snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was the fact that the Rams were dominating the kicking game until those blocked field goals. The story coming home from Philadelphia could've been what a weapon Joshua Karty and the kickoff unit has become.
Instead, the Rams have special teams concerns. So even though he's not a member of the field goal unit, we enjoyed having special teams ace Xavier Smith on this week's Rams Revealed for a must-see player profile.
As you may have heard, the Colts did not punt on their first 20 possessions and have only booted it away once in three wins.
"There is really no weak link or weaknesses," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said of the Colts offense.
Here's hoping he can find a way to get Smith, who's held down the starting punt return role for a full year now, a ton of work on Sunday.
Book It
Now let's empty the notebook with some of my favorite tidbits from the week of research and game prep.
One week after bottling up Saquon Barkley and the Eagles, look who's next. Jonathan Taylor leads the NFL with 338 rushing yards, while Puka Nacua leads the NFL with 333 receiving yards in 2025. One level deeper, per NGS, Taylor leads the NFL in rush yards after contact, rush yards after forcing a missed tackle, and forced missed tackles on run plays. That's relevant to us, because after a sterling Week 2 performance in Tennessee, tackling deficiencies – specifically at cornerback – crushed the Rams late in Philadelphia.
As for Nacua, he and Colts' rookie tight end Tyler Warren are tied for the most yards after the catch among all pass-catchers. Puka's pace sets him up to potentially be the third player to lead the NFL in receiving yards in a season with Matthew Stafford as his quarterback (Cooper Kupp 2021, Calvin Johnson 2011 and 2012), per NFL Research. Nacua and Jerry Rice (1994 & 1996) are the only players in the last 40 seasons with 300 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown in the first 3 games of a season. And we have to mention that as part of his record-setting rookie season, Puka scored his first career touchdown, in overtime, the last time these franchises met.
Only one player is using play action more often than Stafford, and it's this week's opponent. 41.4 percent of Jones' pass attempts in 2025 have been off a play fake, per NGS. But it's not just a stat about the Colts offense. According to ESPN, the Indy defense has 10 interceptions off play-action throws under head coach Shane Steichen (only the Lions have more such picks since 2023), so Stafford will have to be on point. Stafford has thrown two interceptions in both career games versus Lou Anarumo, the former Bengals defensive coordinator now with the Colts.
It'll be strength against strength on Sunday, as the Colts have allowed the fewest sacks (2) while the Rams defense is tied with the Broncos for the NFL lead (12). Eight different Rams have chipped in, led by Byron Young, whose streak of five straight games with a sack going back to last season is the longest active in the NFL. Maybe this is the week 2024 sack-leader Braden Fiske gets on the board like his running mate Jared Verse did in Philadelphia last Sunday.
"They have dogs all across the O-line, but you have to know where the advantages are, where the good matchups are," the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year said, previewing the Colts. "I'm feeling pretty confident in the [opportunity] that we have to take advantage."
Something worth flagging for future examination: The Rams secret to success on defense last season was wrecking pockets with only four rushers. This season, LA's blitz rate is up, and their 10 yards per pass attempt while blitzing has been an issue.
About the only flaw to find in the Colts so far is their strength of schedule. The three teams they've defeated – Miami, Denver, and Tennessee – are 1-8, combined.
Watching the West
The Rams will get their first shot at the NFC West, and specifically the San Francisco 49ers (3-0), next Thursday.
Having lost Joey Bosa for the season, and with George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk on injured reserve, the Niners may get Brock Purdy back for their Week 4 contest at home against Jacksonville.
Thursday Night, Seattle got to 3-1 and the Cardinals fell to 2-2. The Rams won't see either of them for another couple months.
By the way, have you noticed the AFC's been little help so far? The NFC is 10-3 against the AFC going into this week. As long as the Rams go to 3-0 against the AFC South on Sunday, we'll table our objections for at least another week.
