Matthew Stafford threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns as the Los Angeles Rams held off the New England Patriots for a 28-22 win on Sunday afternoon in Foxborough, Mass.
Los Angeles (5-5) carried a 28-13 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Patriots rattled off nine unanswered points thanks to quarterback Drake Maye’s 4-yard touchdown pass to left tackle Vederian Lowe and Joey Slye’s 42-yard field goal.
Slye had his extra point blocked following Lowe’s catch in the end zone.
With the Patriots (3-8) trying to stage a late comeback at Gillette Stadium, Maye’s pass sailed down the middle of the field and into the arms of Rams safety Kamren Kinchens.
“I’d say miscommunication and just leave it at that,” New England wide receiver Demario “Pop” Douglas said. “Just miscommunication, both of us. We’ll take it.”
“Yeah, just two-high look. Pop’s up the middle,” Maye said. “They’re pretty good up front, rushing five. I tried to put it on him and kinda hit him over the linebacker. Pop was thinking, probably, deep. But at the end of the day, just gotta get on the same page. I think Pop did the right thing. I just gotta talk through more conversations. It just goes back to me, during the week, doing more, talking through more situations, like, ‘I may just put it on you vs. let it rip.’ That’s about it.”
Maye finished with 282 yards, two TDs and the pick on 30-of-40 passing.
Stafford completed 18 of 27 passes and broke the contest open just 50 seconds into the second half, hooking up with Cooper Kupp for a 69-yard TD that gave Los Angeles a 21-10 cushion.
After Slye kicked a 25-yard field goal to trim New England’s deficit to eight, Stafford was at it again, this time hitting Colby Parkinson for a 19-yard score and the 28-13 advantage with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Puka Nacua hauled in seven catches for 123 yards and a score for the Rams, while Kupp finished with six catches for 106 yards and two TDs. Running back Kyren Williams racked up 86 yards on 15 carries.
Maye threw for 70 yards on New England’s second drive of the game, with 9 of those coming on a touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
Los Angeles drew even at 7-7 with 7:18 remaining in the second quarter when Stafford found Kupp for a 5-yard TD to cap a nine-play, 80-yard march.
Braden Fiske sacked Maye on the Patriots’ ensuing drive and forced a fumble in the process. The Rams recovered and cashed in one play later, going up 14-7 on Stafford’s 12-yard scoring strike to Nacua.
Slye booted a 32-yard field goal with 1:52 to go in the first half to get New England within 14-10, a lead Los Angeles had to settle for at the break after Joshua Karty hit the upright on a 26-yard attempt as time expired in the frame.
“I never really felt like they had control of the game,” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said after the loss. “I felt like we had control of the game.”
Field Level Media, MassLive and the Hartford Courant contributed to this story.
