Myles Garrett's strip-sack and Puka Nacua's 150 yards carry the Rams past Washington

The deciding stretch

Myles Garrett's strip-sack of J.Daniels at the Washington 44 with 2:20 left in the second quarter flipped the game. O.Speights recovered at the Washington 46. Los Angeles had lost its own fumble at 2:46, when Puka Nacua caught a short left pass from M.Stafford for no gain and K.Chaisson knocked it loose. N.Cross picked it up and returned it 15 yards to the Rams 40.

The Rams took the ball back and went to the same receiver. At 1:33, Stafford threw short right to Nacua out of a no-huddle shotgun look for 15 yards to the Washington 23. That play moved the Rams' win probability by 12 percentage points, the largest swing of the night for either side.

The quarter still ended with Los Angeles behind, 10-6, after Washington scored seven in the second. The Rams scored seven in each half's closing stretch and did not trail after the third quarter.

The swing

The third-quarter drive finished what the second-quarter stretch began. With 0:19 left in the third, Stafford went deep right to Nacua for 19 yards to the Washington 17, another 9-point win probability swing. Los Angeles scored seven points in the third and seven in the fourth. Washington scored three in the third and none in the fourth.

The Rams did it without winning third down. They converted 3 of 14, against Washington's 3 of 11. Fourth down made up the difference: Los Angeles went 3 for 3, and Washington's only attempt failed.

The run game gave Stafford a floor. The Rams rushed for 124 yards at 4.3 a carry. Washington managed 60 yards at 3.2, and its 1 rushing first down trailed the Rams' 7.

Who moved the needle

Nacua caught 14 passes on 19 targets for 150 yards and a touchdown. Those 19 targets came against 43 Stafford attempts. His 6.8 total EPA, which measures points added over what an average team would expect from the same down and distance, led the team by a wide margin. Konata Mumpfield was next at 1.7 on two plays, with two catches for 20 yards.

Stafford finished 26 of 43 for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception, a 72.6 rating at 5.3 yards per attempt. The Rams averaged 5.0 yards per pass play against Washington's 6.2, and Washington held the edge in net passing yards, 237 to 219.

Blake Corum ran 11 times for 58 yards and a touchdown, a 5.3 average. Kyren Williams carried 15 times for 45 yards at 3.0.

Not every target paid off. Tyler Higbee posted minus-2.9 EPA on five plays. Tutu Atwell caught two of his five targets for 16 yards and finished at minus-1.8.

On defense, Garrett recorded three sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. Braden Fiske added half a sack. Kam Curl led the unit with eight tackles and Nate Landman had seven and a pass defensed. Washington lost 21 yards on four sacks, while the Rams gave up 9 on one.

Overall the Rams finished at 0.002 EPA per play with a 43 percent success rate. Washington came in at minus-0.177 and 39 percent. The gap was widest on the ground, where the Rams posted 0.048 per rush and Washington minus-0.33.

Where it leaves them

Los Angeles is 5-4 with a three-game winning streak, 3-1 on the road and 2-3 at home. Its point differential is plus-33, on 214 points for and 181 against. The Rams sit second in the NFC West behind the 49ers at 6-1, with Seattle at 4-4 and Arizona at 3-5. They hold the eighth spot in the conference.

Next up is the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10, on the road. Kickoff is Sunday, Nov. 15, at 4:05 PM ET on CBS.