The Los Angeles Rams came away with a win over the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon and the numbers suggest it was an unlikely victory. It would be a stretch to say the Rams were outplayed by the Patriots (because they weren’t) but New England’s stats on offense were good enough to win this game.
The Patriots had 382 yards, 26 first downs, went 6-for-14 on third down, ran 73 total plays and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and 20 seconds. The biggest difference? The Patriots settled for three field goals, two of which were 32 yards or shorter. The Rams, meanwhile, scored four touchdowns and should’ve added another three points if not for a missed 26-yard chip shot by Joshua Karty.
According to Boston Sports Info on X (formerly Twitter), the Patriots are the first team since 2004 to lose a home game in regulation where they had at least 375 yards, 37 minutes of possession and a passer rating of 100. The last team to lose such a game was the 2004 Titans against the Chiefs, a 49-38 shootout in Tennessee.
| Tot. | Tot. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | Date ▼ |
Tot | ToP | Rate | Week | Opp | Result |
| 1 | NWE | 2024-11-17 | 382 | 37:20 | 100.2 | 11 | LAR | L 22-28 |
| 2 | TEN | 2004-12-13 | 542 | 37:59 | 130.6 | 14 | KAN | L 38-49 |
| 3 | NYJ | 1991-11-10 | 436 | 37:27 | 102.7 | 11 | IND | L 27-28 |
| 4 | HOU | 1990-10-28 | 425 | 37:30 | 104.9 | 8 | NYJ | L 12-17 |
| 5 | PHI | 1990-09-30 | 409 | 38:55 | 109.2 | 4 | IND | L 23-24 |
| 6 | WAS | 1983-09-05 | 447 | 37:18 | 105.7 | 1 | DAL | L 30-31 |
Since 2005, teams had been 112-0 in those games before the Rams beat the Patriots on Sunday.
Patriots
NFL teams at home, in games that ended in regulation, since 2005, with…
Total Yds ≥ 375
Time of possession ≥ 37:00
Net passer rating ≥ 100.0The Patriots did this yesterday
There have been 113 games
Pats yesterday – (0-1)
All other teams – (112-0)damn
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) November 18, 2024
The Rams didn’t possess the ball for very long because their four drives that ended in punts were all less than 3 minutes long. And two of their touchdown drives were 4 seconds and 50 seconds long.
The Patriots, as a result, ran a lot more plays (73 to 51), but the Rams’ explosiveness on offense was the difference in the game.
There’s no question the Rams were the better team, and as ugly as the Patriots’ record is, this was a tough game for any team to win on a short week after flying across the country for an early 1 p.m. ET kickoff. The Rams deserve credit for this victory more than the Patriots deserve blame for losing it.