Nobody Saw This Coming: The Rams’ Most Explosive Game of the McVay Era Just Rewrote the Stats Sheet.QQ

The Rams went into Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday and slammed their foot on the gas for four-straight quarters. The Los Angeles offense scored six touchdowns, led by Matthew Stafford’s 280 passing yards and four scores along with an efficient run game. The Rams never trailed, and every time San Francisco got within striking distance, L.A. responded with a touchdown drive.

Here are five interesting stats from the Rams’ 42-26 victory over the 49ers in Week 10, all stats courtesy of Next Gen Stats unless otherwise stated.

For a third-straight game, all of Stafford’s touchdown passes came against the blitz

This stat is becoming a weekly staple of this article, as Stafford just continues to carve up the blitz and opponents seem not to learn from their mistakes. Stafford was blitzed 18 times on Sunday, tied for the third-most in a game this season, and it didn’t phase the veteran quarterback. He completed 13 passes for 161 yards, four touchdowns and an EPA of 14.4 (the second-most for a quarterback against the blitz this season).

Stafford is the only player to throw for four-or-more touchdowns against the blitz in a game this season, and he’s done it in three-straight games. Over that span, he’s completed 34 of 47 passes (72.3%) for 346 yards and 13 touchdowns vs. blitzes.

The Rams’ 75% touchdown drive rate on true drives (no kneel downs) is the highest in a game in the McVay era, according to nflverse data

Two of the Rams’ 10 drives resulted in them bleeding out clock to end the half or the game. So, really, they found the end zone on six of their eight offensive drives. Their 60% overall touchdown drive rate is also the highest in the Sean McVay era. So any way you slice it, this game is an outlier. The Rams’ offense was in complete command, punting just twice at the end of the first half. Apart from that, they scored touchdowns or lined up in victory formation every time they took possession.

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The Rams used 13 personnel on 30 of their 67 offensive plays (44.8%), the second-highest rate in a game since 2016

Sunday was a continuation of the Rams three-game streak using 13 personnel on more than 38.0% of their plays. And once again, they found success with that personnel grouping, averaging 6.7 yards per play and totaling four touchdowns to go along with a 63.3% success rate.

In the offseason, McVay discussed wanting to have a more versatile offense, and this personnel-mixing has achieved that. “I think one of the most important things I’ve heard my dad say before (is), ‘Everybody loves being a part of something bigger than themselves as long as they feel like their role contributes to where you’re trying to go,'” McVay said. And he’s now added more meaningful roles to this offense to help them find success in different ways.

Stafford became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4-plus touchdown passes and no interceptions in three straight games

The past three games have shown just how efficient Stafford can be when the offense is healthy and mixing personnels. Sunday may have been his best performance yet, as Stafford’s season-high 20.8 expected points added (EPA) is tied for the eighth-most in a game this season. That means his contributions added over three touchdowns worth of points compared to what an average quarterback would achieve in the same situations.