Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes and the Los Angeles Rams rolled past the New Orleans Saints 34-10 on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.

Stafford, who tied his career best with five touchdown passes in a 35-7 victory over Jacksonville two weeks ago before the Rams (6-2) had their bye, completed 24 of 32 passes for 281 yards.

Tyler Shough, a rookie second-round draft choice from Louisville, made his first NFL start and completed 15 of 24 passes for 176 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Saints (1-8), who ran just 40 offensive plays compared to the Rams’ 77.

Puka Nacua exited the game in the third quarter after injuring his ribs on a hit from Saints linebacker Demario Davis. The star receiver had seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown before exiting, but after the game, head coach Sean McVay said he could have returned, but with the Rams in control, they erred on the side of caution.

Los Angeles led by 10 at halftime and then received the second-half kickoff and held the ball for nine minutes, 46 seconds. The Rams covered 80 yards on 16 plays, the last of which was a 4-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Davante Adams that increased the Rams’ lead to 27-10.

Kamren Kinchens recovered Alvin Kamara’s fumble at the Los Angeles 48-yard line. The Rams cashed in 10 plays later with a 1-yard touchdown run by Kyren Williams on fourth down to increase the lead to 24 early in the fourth quarter. Williams finished with 114 rushing yards on 25 carries.

On the Rams’ first possession of the game, Stafford drove them 88 yards in 12 plays, the last of which was a 1-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Higbee that produced a 7-0 lead, which held up through the end of the first quarter.

On the seventh play of the second quarter, Stafford threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Adams to increase the lead to 13-0.

The Saints got their first points when Blake Grupe kicked a 39-yard field goal, but on the third play after the ensuing kickoff, Stafford threw his third touchdown pass, a 39-yarder to Nacua that pushed the lead to 20-3.

Los Angeles missed an opportunity to extend the lead further when Joshua Karty’s 39-yard field-goal attempt was wide right. Shough drove New Orleans 71 yards in 47 seconds and threw his first NFL touchdown pass, an 11-yarder to Juwan Johnson with seven seconds left, to trim the deficit to 20-10.

–Field Level Media