Puka Nacua Caught The Game-Winner In Overtime For The Rams In Indianapolis

The Los Angeles Rams looked like they were headed for a blowout win in Indianapolis after running out to a 23-0 first lead early in the third quarter, but Anthony Richardson and the Colts had other ideas as they stormed back to tie the game in the closing minutes and force overtime.

The Rams won the coin toss, but needed to suddenly find some life offensively after stalling out for most of the second half, and were able to do so behind Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, and one of the breakout stars of the early season, Puka Nacua. Stafford found Williams on a few checkdowns to early in the drive to move it downfield into Indianapolis territory. Once there, the Rams faced a 3rd and 4 from just outside the red zone and Stafford found his favorite target of the first quarter of the season when Nacua got free on a coverage bust by the Colts against a bunched formation and strolled into the end zone for the game-winner.

There was clearly a miscommunication in the Colts secondary on who was going to carry the middle and who would jump to the flat, and both defenders jumped outside leaving the man who has 39 catches in his first four games in the NFL wide open in the middle of the field.

It’s the first touchdown of Nacua’s career, as he’s quickly established himself as a threat in the middle of the field and, in this instance, got some help from a bust and made the most of it by ending the game and avoiding a disastrous collapse on the road. It’s a tough way for the Colts to drop the game given their second half performance on both sides of the ball, but there still has to be some optimism in Indy, particularly with the way their rookie quarterback keeps making plays in big moments.