Stafford’s Rams start strong, hold off Saints
Matthew Stafford passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Puka Nacua had nine catches for a career-high 164 yards and a score, and the host Los Angeles Rams surged forward in the NFC playoff race with a 30-22 victory against the New Orleans Saints (7-8) on Thursday night.
Kyren Williams rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown, and Demarcus Robinson added 82 yards receiving and another score in the fifth victory in six games for the Rams (8-7), who are above .500 for the first time since Week 1.
With its second win in five days during a self-described remodeling season, Los Angeles also jumped past Minnesota (7-7) and moved into the sixth spot in the NFC standings in its bid to secure a wild-card playoff spot — and an increasingly possible opening- round showdown with the Detroit Lions, Stafford’s team for 12 seasons.
Media
Saturday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers already carried significance as the first NFL game to be exclusively streamed on Peacock.
The matchup will also feature another milestone as NBC and the NFL announced that the fourth quarter will be commercial free for the first time.
NBCUniversal says there will be a 40% reduction in the standard ad time for an NFL game which should result in at least 12 additional minutes of game-related content.
Rob Hyland, the coordinating producer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” said there have been discussions about this game since June about how to make it unique and distinct from a regular NBC broadcast.
During one of the two breaks of 2 minutes, 20 seconds, in the fourth quarter, the announce team of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark will delve more into some of the game’s storylines. The other will go to the “Football Night in America” studio team for their thoughts on the game as well as the upcoming slate of games for the remainder of Week 16.
The commercial- free quarter will be sponsored by Capital One, Hyundai and Walmart.
Vikings
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority approved a $1.3 million project for new artificial turf at U.S. Bank Stadium before the 2024 season, putting the Vikings on track to play on a surface the NFL has assessed as less of an injury risk than the venue’s current field.
Chargers
NFL receptions leader Keenan Allen will miss his second straight game due to a heel injury.
The Chargers declared Allen out for their Saturday night home game against the Bills. Allen leads the league with 108 catches, a Chargers single-season record, and is fourth in yardage (1,243).
Pro Bowl
The NFL is adding tug-ofwar to its Pro Bowl skills competitions in February.
The league announced what those selected for the Pro Bowl will compete in, including dodgeball, precision passing, a closest-to-the-pin golf challenge and a Madden gaming event. The games will take place at Central Florida and finish with a seven-on-seven flag football game between the AFC and NFC on Feb. 4.