LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams realized last month that they needed to stack up victories against a few struggling opponents before their tough final stretch of the regular season. They failed a week ago against the then-two-win Miami Dolphins, but they got it done Sunday against the three-win New England Patriots. Coach Sean McVay sees every up and down, every inconsistent effort followed by encouraging improvement, as the price of progress as he tries to fashion one of the NFL's youngest rosters into a winner.
The coaching staff’s work is looking better and better now that the Rams (5-5) have followed up their 1-4 start to the season with a 4-1 stretch to stay firmly in the postseason hunt for another week. “I’ve been pleased with our group’s ability to get themselves back into the fight,” McVay said Monday. “Winning four of five, there’s been different and unique ways that we’ve done it, but I think there is an element of learning how to be able to finish games and come away with the results you’re hunting up with the amount of youth that we have.
They’re taking these lessons in stride, and some of the veteran players have done a good job.” Chief among those veterans is Matthew Stafford, who still looks awfully sharp in his 16th NFL season. He threw four touchdown passes against the Patriots, giving him 10 in the past four weeks since Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua returned from injury.
“You’ve got to string wins together,” Stafford said..
