{"id":209149,"date":"2025-09-08T02:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T02:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/209149\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T02:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T02:51:14","slug":"with-one-big-punch-nate-landman-knocks-out-texans-in-rams-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/209149\/","title":{"rendered":"With one big punch, Nate Landman knocks out Texans in Rams’ win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nate Landman<\/a> punched in as a Ram on Sunday.<\/p>\n

And the team\u2019s new linebacker and team captain punched out the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n

With the Texans threatening to score in the final minutes of the opener, Landman showed an artisan\u2019s touch by separating the ball from a Texan running back\u2019s grip and forcing a fumble that was recovered by lineman Braden Fiske<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The play all but sealed the Rams\u2019 14-9<\/a> season-opening victory before 71,346 at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means so much,\u201d said Landman, who played three seasons for the Atlanta Falcons before signing a one-year contract with the Rams<\/a>. \u201cYou work, you work, you work, for that moment to happen there, and for that moment to come to fruition and expose itself is really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landman was one of several key players for a defense that limited the Texans to three field goals.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Cobie Durant<\/a> intercepted a pass, edge rusher Byron Young, lineman Tyler Davis<\/a> and safety Jaylen McCollough<\/a> recorded sacks and Fiske made a spectacular play to recover Dare Ogunbowale\u2019s fumble after Landman punched it out.<\/p>\n

Those efforts made it easier for an offense that will need some fine-tuning to live up to its hype.<\/p>\n

\u201cLandman making that punch out was so cool,\u201d quarterback Matthew Stafford said.<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

3 <\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

4 <\/p>\n

\"Quarterback <\/p>\n

5 <\/p>\n

\"Houston <\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Rams tight end Davis Allen (87) celebrates with teammates after making a touchdown catch. 2.<\/strong> Rams safety Jaylen McCollough celebrates during the first half. 3.<\/strong> Rams running back Kyren Williams tries to evade Houston Texans defenders. 4.<\/strong> Quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrates the Rams\u2019 win. 5.<\/strong> Houston cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. pushes Rams wide receiver Jordan Whittington out of bounds in the second quarter. (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

Stafford, in his 17th NFL season, did not commit a turnover while etching his name deeper into the NFL record book. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown, and became only the 10th player to pass for more than 60,000 yards.<\/p>\n

After sitting out all of training camp and several weeks of preseason practices because of a back issue, his ability to start and finish the game was a victory unto itself.<\/p>\n

Receiver Puka Nacua<\/a> also showed characteristic grit and toughness. Despite suffering an injury that required stitches in his head, Nacua caught 10 passes for 130 yards. Receiver Davante Adams caught four passes for 51 yards in his Rams debut.<\/p>\n

Running back Kyren Williams rushed for a touchdown and tight end Davis Allen caught a touchdown pass as the Rams improved to 7-2 in openers under ninth-year coach Sean McVay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur guys found a way,\u201d McVay said of his team\u2019s overall effort, \u201cand that\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s game marked the start of the Rams\u2019 10th season in Los Angeles since returning from St. Louis.<\/p>\n

And the defense\u2019s performance, save for an untimely penalty or two, rated a near 10.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams coach Sean McVay shares a hand slap with wide receiver Puka Nacua during the Rams\u2019 season-opening win.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 offense managed only Williams\u2019 touchdown in the first half. Meanwhile, Ka\u2019imi Fairbairn kicked three field goals to give the Texans a 9-7 lead.<\/p>\n

But the Rams appeared to come out with a different attitude in the second half.<\/p>\n

Stafford\u2019s passes to Adams and Xavier Smith set up Allen\u2019s touchdown catch that gave the Rams the lead, and they appeared on their way to increasing their advantage when they drove to the Texans\u2019 12-yard line with just over four minutes left.<\/p>\n

But tight end Colby Parkinson fumbled after a short reception, putting the onus on the Rams defense.<\/p>\n

When quarterback C.J. Stroud\u2019s third-down pass fell incomplete, the Rams looked like they were on the verge of victory. But a roughing-the-passer penalty against lineman Kobie Turner kept the drive alive.<\/p>\n

Stroud completed a pass to Ogunbowale, and on the next play they connected for another. But this time Landman punched the ball out of Ogunbowale\u2019s grip.<\/p>\n

McVay was not surprised.<\/p>\n

Landman, who forced three fumbles in each of the previous two seasons, has had more punchouts in practice than any other player,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has just a great feel for it,\u201d McVay said, \u201cso he\u2019s intentional, and I think it\u2019s rubbed off on the rest of the group. And he got it at a critical time. You talk about competitive greatness \u2014 that was on display.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford\u2019s 24-yard pass to Nacua in the final minute sealed the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s complementary football, right?\u201d Stafford said. \u201cThat\u2019s, \u2018Hey, we make a mistake, defense comes out and makes a play for us. Hey, you know what, we aren\u2019t going to put you back out on the field defense, we\u2019re going to close this thing out taking a knee.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are things you can build on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams play the Tennessee Titans and the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles on the road the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sky\u2019s the limit for this defense,\u201d Landman said. \u201cYou see the guys we have up front, the pressure we\u2019re able to create on the quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you pair that with the coverage behind it \u2014 it\u2019s a lot to look forward to this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nate Landman punched in as a Ram on Sunday. And the team\u2019s new linebacker and team captain punched…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":209150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[5714,20698,1582,276,114845,114844,1910,2961,224,5337,56082,11148,114843,7138,103594,1404,26570,62842,3355,80883],"class_list":{"0":"post-209149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-adams","9":"tag-ball","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-cornerback-cobie-durant","13":"tag-fumble","14":"tag-game","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-matthew-stafford","19":"tag-minute","20":"tag-nacua","21":"tag-rams","22":"tag-season-opener","23":"tag-sunday","24":"tag-texans","25":"tag-touchdown-pass","26":"tag-victory","27":"tag-yard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115166411982871709","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}