The Rams returned to the Coliseum after a month long hiatus to rout the Texans 33-7. After a slow start from the offense, Los Angeles settled into a rhythm in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points. With the commanding win, L.A. improves to 7-2 overall. Check out seven of the most eye-opening stats from the team's impressive performance on Sunday.
1. The first four game win streak in more than a decade:
With the 33-7 victory over Houston, Los Angeles has now won each of its last four games — the first time the franchise has done so since 2003. The impressive streak includes wins over the Jaguars, Cardinals, Giants, and Texans. Sunday's victory also improves the Rams to 3-0 against AFC South opponents in 2017. The last time L.A. went 3-0 against an AFC division was also in 2003 when the team swept the AFC North and finished the season 12-4.
2. Woods has a historic homecoming to the Coliseum:
Wide receiver Robert Woods had a career day with eight catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns. During the contest, he hauled in the third-longest reception in franchise history with a 94-yard touchdown from Goff. He also collected a second touchdown on a 12-yard reception at the end of the third quarter. This marks the second time in Woods' career that he has scored a touchdown in consecutive games. It is also the first time in his career that he's had multi-touchdown games in consecutive weeks.
3. Goff posts career-high 355 yards:
Quarterback Jared Goff threw for a career-best 355 yards, completing 25-of-37 passes and no interceptions for a 125.4 passer rating. With the performance Goff becomes one of just three quarterbacks — including the Chiefs' Alex Smith and the Patriots' Tom Brady — with multiple games passing for at least 300 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions in 2017. He also becomes the only quarterback in franchise history to pass for 300 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in consecutive games.
4. Gurley joins impressive company:
It was another 100-plus day for running back Todd Gurley. The Georgia product collected 17 touches on the day for 136 yards from scrimmage, including a 43-yard reception from Goff. That was the third reception of at least 40 yards in Gurley's career. He joins Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk, Steven Jackson, and Amp Lee as the only running backs in franchise history with at least three receptions of 40-plus yards. With Sunday's performance, Gurley now leads the league in number of rushing touchdowns (10) and yards from scrimmage (1160).
5. Donald wreaks havoc in back-to-back games:
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald did not waste any time impacting Sunday's contest. On the Texans' first possession, Donald sacked quarterback Tom Savage and forced a fumble. With that play, Donald became the first Ram to force a fumble during the opening drive of the game in back-to-back contests. In all, the defensive tackle leads the team with 5.0 sacks this season and has recorded a sack in each of his last four contests.
6. Zuerlein cements his status as NFL's leading scorer:
Kicker Greg Zuerlein converted all four of his field-goals attempts from 27, 33, 50, and 33 yards. He is now 28-of-29 on field goals this season, and has converted all 30 extra points. Zuerlein is the NFL's leading scorer with 114 points — more than 20 points ahead of Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski at No. 2 with 91. Overall, Zuerlein has single-handedly outscored the Rams' opponents 54-41 over the last four games.
7. Takeaways galore:
Donald's sack and forced fumble marked the Rams first defensive turnover of the contest. But over 60 minutes L.A. would add three more to its stat sheet. Linebacker Mark Barron intercepted Savage in the red zone and returned it 15 yards for his third interception of the season — which is a new career high. In the second-half, rookie outside linebacker Samson Ebukam earned his first career sack on Savage, also forcing a fumble on the play. And cornerback Blake Countess recorded his first career interception, picking off Savage in the fourth quarter.
*Extra point:
In the last five games, the Rams defensive unit has given up an average of 8.0 points per game and recorded at least 2.0 sacks in each contest, in addition to at least one interception. The unit now ranks No. 4 in the NFL in points allowed per game with an average of 18.0 overall and No. 5 in sacks per game with 3.1.
