Rams’ midseason additions of Beckham and Miller pay off in win vs. Ravens

The Rams added Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller in the middle of the season, and those moves paid off in Sunday’s win over the Ravens

The Rams made a big gamble mid-season when they traded second- and third-round picks to the Broncos for Von Miller. The price was obviously high even if Miller’s salary isn’t, and the fact that he’ll be a free agent in the offseason made it even riskier.

Then not long after, they signed Odell Beckham Jr. after he was released by the Browns, adding him to a receiving corps that already featured Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods.

Beckham wasn’t nearly as risky as the acquisition of Miller, but it was still a roll of the dice by expecting the talented but oft-injured receiver to contribute in a meaningful way after coming aboard in the middle of the season.

Against the Ravens on Sunday, both additions paid off. Beckham caught a fourth-down pass late in the game to pick up 5 yards and move the chains, keeping the Rams’ game-winning drive alive in the biggest moment. On the very next play, he caught a 7-yard pass to put them up 20-19.

The Ravens still had a shot with about a minute to play and one time out, only needing a field goal to win it. But on first-and-10, Miller came through with a sack for a loss of 8 yards, putting the Ravens in second-and-18 with only 3 seconds left to play.

Beckham’s touchdown was clutch, but so was Miller’s sack – his second of the day. The two midseason additions were a big reason the Rams won this one on the road.

“So proud of those guys,” McVay said of Miller and Beckham after the win. “Von to be able to make the sack that ultimately led to being the last play of the game where they’re in desperation mode. He’s done such a great job. He’s got such a great demeanor, disposition. Love Von Miller and he shined in a big way today. What an unbelievable – I don’t know how many people in the world make the catch that Odell made on the fourth down-and-5. You talk about aggressive hands, being able to catch it away from his body. Making a play when we had to absolutely have it. And then for him to have the go-ahead touchdown was a big-time play for us. I love both those guys. They’ve come in, they’ve really bought into the culture. I think their teammates love these guys. They’ve done everything that we’ve asked and I couldn’t be more pleased with those guys shining as bright as they did today in a win that we had to have.”

Miller finished with five tackles, two sacks, three QB hits and three tackles for a loss. Beckham caught five passes for 39 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.

In a game that carried so much weight in the playoff picture, Miller and Beckham couldn’t have picked a better time to step up for the Rams. Had the Rams lost, they would have been in danger of dropping to the fifth seed in the NFC West and giving the Cardinals control of the division. With the win, they’ll either be the No. 2 seed or NFC West champions by the end of the day.

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