Well, so much for that Los Angeles sweep...
After a dominating 45-0 victory over the Chargers last Sunday, the New England Patriots failed to get anything going in Thursday night's showdown vs. the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Their only highlights of the night? An interception by undrafted rookie Myles Bryant and a Nick Folk field goal. Other than that, it was all L.A. Rookie running back Cam Akers torched the Patriots defense for 171 yards on 29 carries, linebacker Kenny Young returned a Cam Newton interception for a touchdown, and the Rams D tallied six sacks.
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Newton was completely ineffective in the loss, completing 9 of 16 passes for 119 yards with zero touchdowns and the pick-six. Stidham took over in the fourth quarter and completed 5 of 7 passes for 27 yards.
Perhaps we'll see some Jarrett Stidham going forward, especially with the Patriots' playoff chances now slim to none.
FINAL SCORE: Rams 24, Patriots 3
New England Patriots
PATRIOTS RECORD: 6-7
HIGHLIGHTS
Rookie running back Cam Akers set the Rams up with a 35-yard run on L.A.'s first drive.
Jared Goff finished the drive off by leaping over the Patriots defense and into the end zone, giving the Rams an early 7-0 lead.
Undrafted rookie defensive back Myles Bryant took one away from Rams wideout Robert Woods for the interception.
Cam Newton began the second quarter with a pick-six returned by Kenny Young, and the Patriots go down 17-0.
The Patriots had a chance to finally get on the board in the second, but the Rams came up with the goal line stand and stuffed Newton on 4th down.
Jared Goff and Cooper Kupp extended the Rams' lead to 21 points with a touchdown pass late in the 3rd quarter.
UP NEXT
Sunday, Dec. 20: at Dolphins, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Monday, Dec. 28: vs. Bills, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, Jan. 3: vs. Jets, 1 p.m. (CBS)