Steelers vs. Rams: What they're saying in Los Angeles after loss

Not sure if Aaron Donald will continue to be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan after his hometown team rallied to beat his Los Angles Rams on their home turf.

Before the game on Thursday Donald said, “We all grew up big Steelers fans. I still consider myself a Steelers fan, obviously, until we got to play them.”

He continued, “I still look to see if they’re doing good. I’m still a Steelers fan myself until we got to suit up and play against them. So whole family is still Steelers fans, but now more Rams fans but it’s pretty cool.”

His family may have felt all the emotions rooting for the Steelers or the Rams, as Rams looked like they were going to hold on and grab a win. Until the fourth quarter when the Steelers put up two touchdowns to get the victory.

The Steelers walked out of SoFi Stadium (in front of 73,471 in attendance) with a 24-17 win and improved to 4-2.

The Rams fell to 3-4 on the season and have no momentum. According to the LA Times, the Rams have not won two games in a row since early in the 2022 season.

“Receiver Puka Nacua had a big day, but the Rams fell to 3-4 because they could not overcome a costly Matthew Stafford interception and the struggles of kicker Brett Maher, who missed two field-goal attempts and an extra-point attempt,” Gary Klein wrote for the Los Angeles Times.

In his post-game comments, Rams coach Sean McVay said that despite the loss he was more encouraged than he was at the start of the season.

“I see enough good stuff that I know a lot of the stuff that went down today, we’ve done it at a better level,” McVay said. “It’s just how do we figure out a way to be able to reach our guys, how do we make better decisions in these critical moments, and how do we be able to play off of one another. It’s all you can do, and that’s all I know how to do.”

Learn from it and keep building. pic.twitter.com/Y8atLtX2FK

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 22, 2023

McVay didn’t say much about the fourth-down play near the two-minute warning at the end of the game, he had no time-outs and couldn’t challenge it, but felt the game shouldn’t have come down to one play.

“Those plays shouldn’t of come down to that if we executed the way we’re capable of. You guys saw the same stuff that I did, but it doesn’t do any good. That was what was called, and that’s what we have to be able to live with.”

Rams Fan Nation wrote that the heartbreaking loss may have come down to that spot — a bad spot by the referees in their words.

“The referees ultimately gave the Steelers a generous spot, resulting in a first down.” And ultimately that was the game.

SBNation’s Turf Show Times wrote “the weakest element for LA was their special teams unit. Brett Maher missed two field goals and an extra point. That’s not a recipe for success, and it wasn’t.”

Though none of the units did enough according to the site.

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CBS Sports wrote that the Rams have a growing special teams problem to blame for the loss. Veteran kicker Brett Maher missed multiple field goal tries for the third time this season, according to the site, dropping his conversion percentage to one of the lowest in the league.

One bright spot for the Rams was rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua.

The Rams Wire wrote that “it may not have been a career-best performance statistically, but Nacua played better than he has all season, and that’s saying something.”

Nacua caught eight of his 12 targets for 154 yards. Cooper Kupp on the other hand was only 2 catches for 29 yards.

PFF also highlighted Nacua’s day, “Nacua was far and away the team leader in all three receiving categories as the rest of the team struggled to produce.”

Puka Nacua - absolute BALLER pic.twitter.com/983c0SQLYm

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 22, 2023

The Rams face the Dallas Cowboys (4-2) next week. The Steelers host the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2) at Acrisure Stadium at 1 p.m. Sunday.