Matthew Stafford won’t get knighted for his record-setting performance at Wembley Stadium, but he wondered if he still gets a prize.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Rams quarterback threw five touchdown passes in a 35-7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. <\/p>\n
That’s a first for an NFL international game.<\/p>\n
“Do I get a sword or something?” a smiling Stafford asked.<\/p>\n
No, but Stafford and the Rams do get to fly home with a 5-2 record \u2014 their best start since their Super Bowl-winning season in 2021.<\/p>\n
The most recent time he threw five touchdowns in a game was on Thanksgiving in 2015 in Detroit’s 45-14 win over the Eagles.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, he had little trouble with Jacksonville’s defense by connecting with Davante Adams for three scores at the iconic home of English soccer.<\/p>\n
Stafford, who has thrown 12 touchdowns with no interceptions in his past four games, also connected with rookie receiver Konata Mumpfield and rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson in the London rout.<\/p>\n
Stafford and Adams found the right time to connect because Puka Nacua missed the game with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n
“We saw a few opportune moments to go and take advantage of some 1-on-1s,” said Adams, who noted that he and Stafford had been exchanging extra text messages in recent weeks and “talking through certain things.”<\/p>\n
Adams became the second player to score three touchdowns in an international game. The NFL said the first was Marcedes Lewis, who had three in Jacksonville’s 44-7 win over the Ravens at Wembley in 2017.<\/p>\n
Adams, who caught two touchdown passes in the first half, then added a third on a 1-yard jump ball that sent Jags fans to the exits.<\/p>\n
Stafford completed 21 of 33 passes for 182 yards. Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence finished 23 of 48 for 296 yards and the touchdown pass to Hunter.<\/p>\n
In 2014, Stafford engineered Detroit’s 22-21 comeback win over the Falcons after trailing 21-0 at halftime.<\/p>\n
“It’s a blast. Sometimes travel is tough, but once you get out here, the fans are great, people are great,” the 37-year-old quarterback said.<\/p>\n
The Jaguars allowed seven sacks and committed 13 penalties for 119 yards.<\/p>\n
“I’m not going to stand up here and blame these players, it starts with me,” Jags coach Liam Coen said. “You wouldn’t have guessed that we were here for a week, prepared, ready to go play in this atmosphere by looking at it in terms of the way we started the game.”<\/p>\n
Hunter gets first TD<\/p>\n
The only highlight for the Jaguars (4-3) was rookie two-way star Travis Hunter getting his first NFL touchdown. It made the score 28-7 in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Hunter had his best day as a pro, catching eight passes for 101 yards and the score.<\/p>\n
Siu party at Wembley<\/p>\n
Despite arriving in London on Saturday morning, the Rams looked plenty fresh by scoring three first-half touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Mumpfield scored the first and Adams the next two. Both hit the “Siu” celebration made famous by Portugal soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
Mumpfield’s celebration<\/a> came after the rookie receiver scored his first NFL touchdown \u2014 on just his second career catch \u2014 a 5-yard reception at the back of the end zone to cap a 13-play, 60-yard opening drive.<\/p>\n Five different players caught passes on the Rams’ opening drive.<\/p>\n We spread the ball around a bunch today,” Stafford said.<\/p>\n On the second drive, Stafford hit Adams on a quick fade for a 2-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. The star receiver then gave his version of the siu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jags CB Jourdan Lewis was in coverage on both TDs.<\/p>\n Adams then caught a 1-yard touchdown pass before the end of the half to make it 21-0. No siu that time, though.<\/p>\n