Lions lead Rams 21-17 at halftime
The Rams and Lions are going back and forth in their Sunday night wild card matchup, with Detroit taking a 21-17 lead into halftime.
Both offenses were hot in the first half. Detroit scored touchdowns on each of its first three drives. Los Angeles got a field goal to cap its first possession but then scored two touchdowns.
But things stalled at the end of the half for Detroit — and not without controversy. The Lions had lined up to go for it on fourth-and-5, but were flagged for a false start when it appeared as if the Rams had jumped offside. That was a significant call, as Detroit instead punted it back to L.A.
Los Angeles ran a couple of plays before taking it into the locker room for halftime.
After Sam LaPorta caught a 2-yard touchdown to make the score 21-10, Lions, the Rams scored again with a 38-yard touchdown from Matthew Stafford to receiver Tutu Atwell. The Rams had just converted fourth-and-5 with a 6-yard pass to Cooper Kupp — his first reception of the game.
Stafford ended the half 12-of-16 for 196 yards with two touchdowns, good for a 155.2 passer rating. Stafford suffered a cut on his right hand after banging it on a Detroit helmet at the end of the first quarter. But it didn’t seem to affect him much for the rest of the second period.
Puka Nacua had five catches for 106 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown.
The Rams have 209 total yards and are averaging 8.7 yards per play.
On the other side, the Lions didn’t even face a third down until their third possession. Detroit has 18 first downs and 248 total yards while averaging 7.5 yards per play.
Facing his former team, quarterback Jared Goff was hot in the first half, completing 16-of-18 passes for 194 yards with a TD. Though he did have a fumble on the fourth possession, the Lions were able to recover it and then still converted a third-and-long.
Josh Reynolds, a fellow former Ram, leads with five catches for 80 yards.
The Rams will receive the second-half kickoff with a chance to take their first lead of the game.
