Puka Nacua Coasting to Record Season in Rams Win Over Saints
INGLEWOOD, Calif — There weren’t many people out there left for rookie receiver Puka Nacua to surprise, but he blew the doors off his prime-time moment anyway.
Nacua, who finished the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-22 win Thursday night against the New Orleans Saints with a career-high 164 receiving yards (180 total scrimmage yards), is now just 146 yards away from matching Bill Groman’s all-time rookie receiving record (1,473 yards). Nacua is squarely in the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation, or he should and likely will be because any pundit with a pulse was watching him jet-sweep around defensive linemen and shake off defensive backs and stretch for catches and block down on safeties in the run game all night.
Memorable moments for Nacua on Thursday night included a 17-yard catch on third-and-6 on the Rams’ 14-play, 95-yard opening drive. He added a 28-yard catch in the second quarter, 10 yards of which came after the catch, and a 41-yarder in the third. Nacua accounted for six of the Rams’ 10 most productive plays.
He is also growing in the little details each week. He went from the zone-beating first read of Matthew Stafford in an historically productive start to the season (filling in for longtime star Cooper Kupp) to a receiver who has moves — like, NFL moves such as long speed on vertical routes or the little shoulder shakes and ankle-breaking pivots that help shake and spin around defenders for more yards after the catch. A third-and-1 that gained 29 yards down the sideline, 19 of which were with the ball in Nacua’s hands, showed how far he has come in just a short time (and from an already impressive start).
The Rams have a 72 percent shot at the playoffs now, according to the New York Times tracker. Nacua is a huge reason for that, but not just because of his production. He also embodies an energy so many Rams players on this roster also carry, young or old. They are present. They are too focused on the work at hand.
There are still a few key matters to clean up, that have almost — almost, but not quite — done the Rams in over the last few weeks and even throughout the season.
Kicker Lucas Havrisik keeps missing field goals. Another special teams gaffe set up another all-too-easy score that made the game a little too close for comfort. The Rams had some breakdowns in late moments, something that McVay acknowledged must be rectified before playoffs.
But Nacua — along with a cast that included Stafford and Kupp, who are always cool at the right moment, and Kyren Williams — took matters into his own hands to ice out the victory with the kind of decisiveness usually more present in players with much more experience.
Nacua, the fifth-round rookie receiver who doesn’t play like a rookie, is coasting toward a record season with the Rams. “He’s outstanding,” coach Sean McVay said after the game. “I could not be more grateful for the contributions.” Nacua’s performance and the Rams’ win have positioned the team for a strong playoff run.