Short-handed Rams fight back valiantly, but fall to Lions in OT

DETROIT – The Rams entered Ford Field already short-handed for their playoff rematch with the Detroit Lions. Those concerns escalated quickly in the first half, as receiver Puka Nacua and offensive linemen Steve Avila and Joe Noteboom left the game with injuries, and soon the Rams found themselves down by two touchdowns.

It would take a perfect storm for the Rams to make this game competitive. A Kyren Williams touchdown, some Matthew Stafford-to-Cooper Kupp magic and a John Johnson III interception with nothing but his knuckles separating the ball from the turf was enough to get the Rams the lead back in the fourth quarter. The Rams defense even forced the Lions to punt, giving Stafford the ball back with 4:10 to play.

But a punt gave the Lions life, and an 18-yard pass to Sam LaPorta compounded by a helmet-to-helmet penalty on rookie Kamren Kinchens put the Lions in field goal range. Only an open-field tackle by Quentin Lake in the red zone forced Detroit to kick and send the game to overtime.

By that time, the Rams defense which had fought so valiantly all game was out of gas. The Lions won the toss and pushed the ball all the way down the goal line until David Montgomery ran it in from 1 yard out to deal the Rams a gutting 23-17 loss in the season opener.

Given how the game started, there was little reason to expect it would be so close.

Stafford had no time to operate on the first drive of the game, a quick three-and-out, and the Rams used Kupp as an extension of the run game on the second drive. Kupp caught five passes in the first quarter, a career-high, while Williams carried the ball just twice.

However, as the first half progressed, Stafford began going deeper into his progressions, trusting that Noteboom and Warren McClendon, starting at right tackle in place of Rob Havenstein (ankle), would give him the time he needed.

But then lightning struck twice at the end of a drive. Nacua slid for a catch and came up limping with a right knee injury. Noteboom rolled his already-taped left ankle. And, insult to injuries, Kupp dropped a tipped pass on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs.

With a 36-yard pass to Jameson Williams, the Lions moved down the field in seven plays for a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown. Meanwhile, Nacua sat in the injury tent for 10 minutes and Noteboom was carted off the sidelines and into the locker room.

Down 10-3 with 1:57 left in the first half, Nacua started the drive on the field but quickly returned to the sidelines and sat alone on the bench. A.J. Arcuri, elevated Saturday from the practice squad, took over at left tackle for Noteboom.

As the Rams went into the halftime locker room, a cart came to take Nacua, who missed much of training camp with a knee injury, off the field. When the Rams returned for the second half, they were without Avila, who played every snap for the Rams a year ago as a rookie.

This pushed Jonah Jackson back out to left guard while rookie Beaux Limmer came in at center as the Rams quietly went three-and-out with their first drive of the second half.

A 52-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams put the Lions up by two touchdowns, a seemingly insurmountable lead given the Rams’ various injuries.

It turned out the Rams had enough to make it game, but not enough to close it out.