Rams 20, Commanders 13: Nacua and Garrett Finish a Road Win
The Los Angeles Rams beat the Washington Commanders 20–13 at Northwest Stadium on Sunday, November 8, moving to 5–4 with a third straight victory. Washington fell to 2–5–1. The game was tied at 13 early in the fourth quarter before Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua created the only touchdown of the final period, and the Los Angeles defense closed the door on Washington’s last two possessions.
Nacua was the central offensive answer. He caught 14 of 19 targets for 150 yards, then added 20 yards on two rushing attempts. His seven yard touchdown with 12:51 remaining gave Los Angeles the final margin. Myles Garrett supplied the defensive pressure with three sacks and a forced fumble, while safety Jaylen McCollough forced the game sealing fumble that Byron Young recovered with 30 seconds left.
The score alone makes this look like a controlled Rams win. It was not. Washington led 10–6 at halftime, Los Angeles went 3 for 14 on third down, and each team committed two turnovers. The Rams won because their best receiver repeatedly solved leverage on important downs, their defense created negative plays without giving up a fourth quarter touchdown, and Sean McVay trusted fourth down aggression when the ordinary down to down efficiency was not there.
The decisive sequence
Washington tied the game at 13 on a field goal after Blake Corum’s one yard touchdown had briefly put the Rams ahead. Los Angeles answered with a 12 play, 70 yard drive that consumed more than seven minutes. The critical snap came on third and 11, when Stafford found Nacua for 19 yards to the Washington 17. That conversion changed the drive from a likely long field goal decision into a red zone possession.
Four plays later, Stafford hit Nacua for a seven yard touchdown. The play was the cleanest example of the matchup advantage Los Angeles had been building all afternoon: Nacua created space quickly enough for Stafford to release before Washington’s pressure could alter the throw. Garrett’s late sack damaged Washington’s next possession. On the final drive McCollough knocked the ball free from Rachaad White after a short catch, and Young recovered to end the game.
How the Rams survived an uneven offensive day
Stafford finished 26 of 43 for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception. That is a modest line for a quarterback who threw 43 passes, and his 72.6 passer rating reflects the difficulty of the afternoon. Los Angeles kept moving because Nacua carried an extraordinary share of the passing game and Corum added 58 rushing yards on 11 carries. The Rams finished with 343 total yards, including 124 on the ground.
The most important situational number was not third down. It was fourth down. Los Angeles converted all three fourth down attempts, while Washington failed on its only try. Those choices preserved possessions that otherwise would have ended before the Rams could exploit Nacua’s matchup. Los Angeles also held the ball for 31:52, a narrow advantage that mattered late because the defense did not have to defend a long series of short fields.
Washington produced 313 yards and was more efficient through the air than the final score suggests. Jayden Daniels completed 24 of 35 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Van Jefferson caught five passes for 58 yards and Washington’s only touchdown. The problem was finishing drives. The Commanders were 3 for 12 on third down, 0 for 1 on fourth down and reached the end zone on only one of their two red zone trips.
Defense decided the fourth quarter
The Rams recorded four sacks to Washington’s one, with Garrett responsible for three. His pressure changed more than the sack total. Washington’s late dropbacks had to account for him with limited time and little margin for a negative play. That let the rest of the coverage play the sticks and rally to catches. McCollough’s final forced fumble was the payoff: the defense made Washington complete underneath, then attacked the ball.
Los Angeles also limited Washington to 60 rushing yards. That imbalance forced Daniels to carry the offense through the passing game and made the fourth quarter predictable. A predictable pass situation is where Garrett’s edge pressure has its greatest value. The Rams did not need a blitz fueled finish on every snap; they needed their front to win enough isolated rushes to keep Washington behind schedule.
The official Rams account later highlighted postgame discussion of Aaron Donald’s impact in the same defensive context. The embedded post is relevant team supplied context, not the source for the final score or statistics. Those facts were verified against the NFL gamebook and official team reports.
Direct status URL verified November 11 at 7:28 a.m. Central: https://x.com/RamsNFL/status/2120245861431341141
Injuries and immediate consequence
Left guard Steve Avila left with a hamstring injury, and Nacua had a knee issue on the Rams’ final offensive play. McVay said additional evaluation was planned, so any recovery timetable remains uncertain. Tight end Terrance Ferguson was unavailable before the game because of a hamstring issue. The next checkpoint is the Rams’ first practice participation report; the result should not be converted into a diagnosis before the team provides one.
The win lifted Los Angeles above .500 and extended its winning streak to three, keeping the Rams in the middle of the NFC playoff race rather than forcing them to chase from below the cut line. Washington’s 2–5–1 record makes every remaining conference game more expensive. The Commanders also face a short turnaround against the Giants, which increases the value of monitoring player availability and snap management rather than treating Sunday’s workload as automatically repeatable.
Related: Commanders at Giants Week 10 preview for the short week availability and matchup checkpoints.
Fantasy football consequence
In common full PPR scoring, Nacua’s volume was the headline. Nineteen targets and two carries made him the clear engine of the offense, and the touchdown turned an already dominant reception line into a week winning result. The counterweight is health: managers should monitor the knee evaluation before assuming another full workload. Stafford’s real football performance was enough to win, but 228 yards and one touchdown offered only a modest fantasy ceiling.
Corum’s 11 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown created useful production, but the score came from one yard and should not be treated as proof of a permanent goal line monopoly. Daniels supplied 274 passing yards and a touchdown, yet Washington’s poor third down and red zone results capped the scoring environment. Jefferson’s five catches, 58 yards and touchdown make him a short term volume watch, while White’s seven carries for 28 yards were partly rescued by a 45 yard reception.
The strongest counterargument
The strongest case against reading this as a major Rams breakthrough is that Los Angeles still went 3 for 14 on third down, committed two turnovers and needed all three fourth down conversions to sustain drives. Stafford’s efficiency was ordinary, and Washington entered the fourth quarter tied despite being badly outgained on the ground. Against a cleaner opponent, the same offensive mistakes could have produced a loss.
The answer is that good teams can win an uneven game by identifying the matchup that works and protecting the lead once they have it. Los Angeles did that through Nacua and its defensive front. The next test is whether the Rams can create easier early down offense so that fourth down aggression remains a weapon rather than a necessity.
Source record and comparison period
Facts were checked November 11, 2026 between 7:24 and 7:36 a.m. Central. Final score, quarter scoring, team totals, leaders, turnovers, red zone, third down, fourth down, sacks and possession were compared against the official NFL Week 9 schedule, NFL gamebook and official Rams and Commanders reports. The comparison period is the completed Week 9 game on November 8, not a projection or live estimate.
Official sources: https://www.nfl.com/schedules/2026/REG9 ; https://static.www.nfl.com/gamecenter/b07f9fbe-b9bf-11f0-a8e2-45345c0cec47.pdf ; https://www.therams.com/news/game-recap-rams-defeat-commanders-20-13-week-9-2026 ; https://www.commanders.com/news/five-takeaways-from-the-commanders-20-13-loss-to-the-rams
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