It’s a good week to be down double-digits late in the fourth quarter. Before the New Orleans Saints gave up and lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, NFL teams were 2-551 when trailing by 13 or more points in the final four minutes of regulation. But the Saints dropped the ball against Tom Brady, improving that record to 3-551; and now it’s up to 4-551 after Baker Mayfield led the Los Angeles Rams to a fourth-quarter upset of their own on Thursday night.
Facing a 16-3 deficit and starting at their own 25-yard line, the Rams moved the length of the field while converting a single third down; penalties on the Raiders defense bailed them out of an early fourth down and a third down later in the drive, with Mayfield connecting on a 13-yard pass to Tutu Atwell inside Las Vegas territory. Cam Akers punched in a touchdown run from the 1-yard line, Matt Gay kicked the extra point, and the Rams made it a 16-10 game with 3:19 left on the clock.
Then the Rams defense went to work (without Aaron Donald, ruled out with a high ankle sprain) to force a quick three-and-out out of the Raiders offense, who punted at the two-minute warning. They had it in the bag with the Rams offense pinned at their own 2-yard line, needing to cover 98 yards without any timeouts. And they did just that, despite Mayfield taking a sack on one play and throwing an interception on the other (which was nullified by a Las Vegas penalty). He threw the game-winning touchdown pass from 23 yards out, Derek Carr’s subsequent desperation heave was picked off, and the Rams sealed the win.
Thank goodness. Now all of the NFL morning shows and podcasts have someone else to rip on than the Saints, who lost in very similar fashion earlier this week. New Orleans is on its bye week and fans can rest easy knowing the Raiders are under fire, not the Saints, after this more-recent bungled prime-time game.
