Recap – Washington Commanders at Los Angeles Rams – Week 15

December 18, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Rams Hold Off Comeback Attempt by Commanders for 28-20 Win

First Quarter

The Rams won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Commanders opened on offense. Curtis Samuel gained six yards on first down with a shovel pass from Sam Howell. That was followed by two incompletions and a Tress Way punt.

After a false start on first down by Tyler Higbee, Puka Nacua caught a short pass for 6 yards. On second down Kyren Williams was stopped for no gain. On third and nine, Matthew Stafford hit Demarcus Robinson for a 21 yard gain for a first down. Williams then ran for 21 yards and Stafford hit Nacua for 13 yards. Williams followed that with runs of 9 and 6 yards down to the Washington 10 yard line. At that point the Washington defense stepped it up, tackling Cooper Kupp for a 3 yard loss on a screen. After a short gain on second down, Daron Payne sacked Stafford on third down to force a Lucas Havrisik 22 yard field goal. Rams 3, Commanders 0

The Commanders’ second drive was better than the first one. Howell threw to Antonio Gibson for 8 yards on first down and 3 yards on second down to get the first down. Chris Rodriguez picked up 5 yards on two runs and Howell scrambled for 6 yards on third down. Charles Leno was called for holding on a 13 yard completion to Terry McLaurin, putting Washington into a first and 20 situation. Byron Pringle caught a 5 yard pass on the next play. After an incompletion, Howell scrambled for 13 yards putting the Commanders in a fourth and two. McLaurin then caught his first official catch for 24 yards down to Rams 21 yard line. After picking up 9 yards on three plays, Washington went for it again on fourth down. Howell’s pass was batted away at the line of scrimmage and never made it to a wide-open Logan Thomas.

Second Quarter

After a turnover on downs by Washington, the Rams offense went back to work. K.J. Henry tackled Williams for a 3 yard loss on first down. Higbee caught a 7 yard pass on second down. Then, Washington gave up another big play on third down, allowing Kupp to gain 17 yards. That trend continued – after being sacked on second down, Stafford hit Higbee for 14 yards. Williams was involved in 5 of the next 6 plays, either running or catching the ball for 31 yards. Unfortunately for the Rams he fumbled the ball inside Washington’s 30 yard line, which Kendall Fuller recovered.

Washington could not move the ball, gaining 6 yards on two Gibson carries and an incompletion on third down to force another Way punt.

The Commanders defense could not stop the Rams on third downs. Kupp gained a first down on an 8 yard catch. Robinson then gained 23 yards on an end around. Stafford hit Kupp for 9 yards on another third down at the Washington 11 yard line to put the ball on the two. Williams ran it for the touchdown on third down. The extra point was good. Rams 10, Commanders 0

Pringle returned the kickoff for 28 yards. John Bates dropped a pass about 20 yards up field. Ron Rivera challenged an incomplete pass call on Gibson which was overturned on review. But a third down incompletion on a late throw by Howell doomed the drive.

After another Way punt, the Rams got the ball back with less than two minutes to go in the half. Higbee caught a 9 yard pass an Williams had a 12 yard run. Higbee made a 6 yard reception on first down. Williams caught a screen with blocker in front of him was making good progress downfield when Benjamin St-Juste stripped the ball away and Kamren Curl recovered it.

Washington’s offense completed a pass for no gain, an incompletion and Howell was sacked on third down. Add injury to insult, another poor snap by Cameron Cheeseman, led to Way falling on the ball and a Ram player fell on Way, injuring him.

Starting at the Washington 15 yard line, Stafford threw two incompletions, but on third down, Payne was called for roughing the passer, giving the Rams additional chances to score a touchdown. After a two-yard run by Williams, Jonathan Allen tackled Williams for a 4 yard loss on a shovel pass. St-Juste had good coverage and the ball was overthrown. Havrisik converted the 27 yard field goal. Rams 13, Commanders 0.

Third Quarter

After the touchback, Williams ran for 13 yards. Washingto n’s defense decided to cover one player, with three players leaving Kupp unguarded, which resulted in an easy 62 yard touchdown that he walked in. The extra point was good. Rams 20, Commanders 0.

Washington was able to pick up a couple of first downs behind the 26 yards on three runs by Chris Rodriguez. The drive fell apart at the Rams 44 yard line when Howell nearly threw an interception on third down, but the ball was dropped.

Next, Washington had its best defensive series, holding the Rams to a 3 and out, with negative three yards gained.  After Jamison Crowder returned the Rams punt 15 yards, McLaurin caught a 7 yard pass on first down. After a no gain run and incompletion, Washington went for it on fourth down, with McLaurin catching a 17 yard completion. Rodriguez gained 5 yards on second down after an incompletion on first down. On third down and five, Howell hit Samuel on a deep out route in the end zone for a 19 yard touchdown. Joey Slye converted the extra point after a low snap by Cheeseman. Rams 20, Commanders 7.

The Rams had a short drive of 33 yards that died out at midfield, forcing a punt that was downed at Washington’s 9 yard line. Washington went 3 and out, but McLaurin almost made a 40+ catch one-handed. The ball touched the ground when he rolled over, negating the catch. It also appeared that he was interfered with on the play, but no penalty was called.

Fourth Quarter

After Tress Way‘s punt, Nacua caught two straight passes from Stafford for 9 and 18 yards. Then, Nacua ran the ball on a jet sweep for 1 yard, putting the ball at the Washington 23 yard line. Two plays later Stafford hit Robinson for a 23 yard touchdown. The Rams went for the two-point attempt and converted it. Rams 28, Commanders 7.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Howell threw a high pass to McLaurin on a scramble and the tipped ball was intercepted. Williams ran for 7 yards and the 11 yards, but on the second run Alaric Jackson was called for unnecessary roughness, which gave the Rams a first and ten at Washington’s 42 yard line. Two plays later Williams ran for 12 yards and another first down for the Rams. After gaining 4 yards, Nacua dropped a third down pass. Havrisik missed a 43 yard field goal attempt wide right.

Jacoby Brissett came in for Howell on the next drive and ran for 14 yards on his first play at quarterback. He then connected on four straight passes, including 3 yards to Gibson, 12 yards to Jahan Dotson, 9 yards to Samuel, and lastly a 29 yard touchdown strike to McLaurin. Rams 28, Commanders 14.

Following the kickoff, the Rams went three and out with an 8 yard sack by Daron Payne on third down. After the fair catch by Crowder of the Rams punt, Brissett threw a 16 yard completion to McLaurin. McLaurin was held badly on the next play but still caught a 48 yard completion down to the Rams 1 yard line. The Rams stopped the Commanders on consecutive running plays and Logan Thomas was called for offensive pass interference on a third down touchdown catch. The Commanders now hard third and goal from the 11 yard line and Samuel caught a 4 yard pass from Brissett. On fourth down, Derion Kendrick was called for defensive pass interference against McLaurin, which gave Washington a first and goal at the one yard line again. The problem was that almost two minutes had been run off the clock. After Rodriguez was stuffed again at the goal line the two-minute warning was called. Finally, on fourth down Samuel caught a touchdown pass but the extra point was blocked on another low snap. Rams 28, Commanders 20

After the failed onside kick, which Kupp smartly batted out of bounds, Williams ran for 8 yards on first down and four yards on second down. Williams carried two more times for 8 yards taking the clock down to 41 seconds. The Rams needed to only run one more play to let the clock run out on the Commanders comeback.

Thoughts

Camaron Cheeseman has played himself out of a job because of all his bad snaps.

Should Washington start Jacoby Brissett in the remaining games since he may give the team a better chance of winning but could mess up the shot at the fourth pick overall?

Ron Rivera’s legacy is going to be twofold: a failure to create a decent offensive line; a defense that regressed tremendously and failed to communicate when it needed to, especially in the secondary.