Rams beat Ravens in a thriller, get closer to division title

This was not the way the Rams planned the party.

It was almost spoiled when two Rams got into an altercation in the game’s first few minutes. It was almost soured when Matthew Stafford and the offense were late showing up. It could have ended early when the Ravens led by nine points in the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

But Matthew Stafford shook off three turnovers, Cooper Kupp made it another record day, and midseason acquisitions Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller made big plays to pull out a 20-19 victory.

Beckham’s catch, run and stretch to the right end-zone pylon for a 7-yard touchdown gave the Rams their first lead of the day with 53 seconds to play.

A sack of Tyler Huntley by Miller ended the Ravens’ chance for a winning drive.

The Ravens led 10-0 in the second quarter and 16-7 going to the fourth after a Stafford fumble led to Justin Tucker’s third field goal of the afternoon.

Stafford was already sixth in the NFL since 1960 with 33 fourth-quarter comebacks, and he went to work by looking for Kupp.

Kupp’s 21-yard catch and run to the Ravens’ 8 set up a short run by Sony Michel for a touchdown that made it a two-point game with 12:09 to play.

It also gave Kupp the Rams record for receiving yards in a season, his 1,801 surpassing Isaac Bruce’s 1,781 in 1995.

The Ravens marched right back up the field, but a sack by Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd held the Ravens to their fourth field goal of the day and made it a five-point game with 4:30 to play.

Stafford came through, and this time it was Beckham instead of Kupp making the big play. A great catch for a first down made it first down at the 7. A catch and stretch to the right pylon made it 20-19 with 53 seconds to play and the Rams missed a two-point conversion.

It set up as a day of celebration for the Rams, who could clinch their third NFC West title in Sean McVay’s five seasons if they beat the Ravens and the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Dallas Cowboys in a later game.

McVay had talked about delaying takeoff for the Rams’ charter flight home so they could watch the Cardinals game if it was going the right way.

But McVay also cautioned against the Rams getting ahead of themselves. And they spent the first half showing why.

The game was only five plays old when TV replays showed Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey shoving safety Taylor Rapp after a 13-yard pass play. Later replays showed coaches and teammates separately trying to calm Ramsey and Rapp on the sideline. It was a jarring image of a defense that had been coming together late in the season.

On offense, it was one of those days when Matthew Stafford and his receivers weren’t quite sharp. Two incompletions forced the Rams into a 56-yard field-goal attempt by Matt Gay that missed to the right. That ended Gay’s streak of 23 successful field-goal attempts.

Then it got worse.

Stafford threw another of the disastrous interceptions that have plagued his otherwise strong first season with the Rams. Trying to hit Tyler Higbee over the middle on third and 2 at the Rams’ 16, Stafford threw it to Ravens safety Chuck Clark, who ran it back for the first score of the game. It was Stafford’s fourth pick-six of the year.