Sean McVay is happy to have Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp back out on the field and "expects it to stay that way".

The Rams caused an upset on Thursday, beating the Minnesota Vikings 30-20 as they were boosted by the returns of Kupp and Puka Nacua, playing together for the first time since their opener.

It is the first time the Rams have recorded back-to-back wins this season, and scored a season-high 30 points, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive games with fewer than 30.

Kupp recovered from a left ankle sprain he suffered in week two to play the Vikings, and had five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.

In the build-up to the game, there was trade speculation over the 31-year-old, with LA reportedly approaching teams about him before the November 5 deadline, but McVay was quick to shut down the idea.

"I'm really glad to have Cooper Kupp back with us and I expect it to stay that way," McVay said.

"Teams reached out," he added when asked about the trade speculation. "Some of the things that I've seen out there, they're just not true.

"We've addressed that with those individuals. Teams have called about him, and we let him know what the dialogue was there. And then there's a lot of stuff out there where there's not a lot of accountability to the reports. And that's unfortunate."

Nacua, meanwhile, was only activated to play on Thursday, having recovered sooner than expected from a posterior cruciate ligament in week one.

He led the team with seven catches for 106 yards on nine targets, making it his eighth career game (out of 19 played) with 100 receiving yards.

Overall, McVay was pleased with the spark that the pair's return provided to the team.

"There's a confidence, there's a comfort, there's a rapport that's been established with Matthew [Stafford] and Cooper over the years and then Puka and Matthew last year and then leading into this season," McVay added.

"And so, these guys are ballers. Matthew brought out the best in everybody. But I thought Puka and Cooper were ready to go. They made an impact."

Cooper Kupp caught a touchdown pass and Puka Nacua had 106 yards receiving in their returns from lengthy injury absences, and Matthew Stafford passed for 279 yards and four TDs in the Los Angeles Rams ' 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.

Demarcus Robinson caught two TD passes from Stafford as the Rams (3-4) won back-to-back games for the first time this season with 386 yards from an offence that looked exponentially more dangerous with its top two receivers back in uniform.

After missing the previous five games, Nacua had seven catches while posting the eighth 100-yard game of his short career. Kupp returned from a four-game absence with five catches for 51 yards, including a 27-yard grab for a key first down late in the fourth quarter.

Kyren Williams rushed for 97 yards and caught an early TD pass for the Rams. Robinson caught a 25-yard TD pass late in the third quarter to put Los Angeles ahead, and he caught a 10-yard TD throw with 6:17 to play for a 28-20 lead.

Sam Darnold passed for 240 yards for the Vikings (5-2), who followed up their first loss of the season with an ineffective defensive performance.

Justin Jefferson had eight receptions for 115 yards, while Josh Oliver and Trent Sherfield caught TD passes from Darnold. Minnesota was held to two field goals in the final three quarters.

Brock Purdy insisted the San Francisco 49ers' stellar 2023 season "means nothing" after they went down 27-24 to their NFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, on Sunday. 

The Rams trailed 21-7 late in the third quarter and 24-14 in the fourth before scoring 13 points to deal a depleted 49ers team a second defeat of the campaign. 

San Francisco were without three of their offensive stars, with Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve and both wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle also missing out. 

But the Rams were also missing some of their key men, with their top two receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, sidelined due to injury.

After starting last season 5-0 on their way to the NFC Championship, San Francisco have failed to build on their Week 1 triumph against the New York Jets this year.

At 1-2, the Niners are well aware that there is plenty of the season left, but they also know missing opportunities like Sunday's may come back to haunt them.

"That's just part of the NFL and being a professional in a professional sport, everybody's really good," Purdy said. "Last year means absolutely nothing.

"And every time you show up on Sunday, you're going to get everybody's best shot. It's the NFL, and we all have to be real with that.

"We have to have the mindset of going and taking it every Sunday and nothing's ever going to be given to us."

The Niners still had the chance to win the encounter, with wide receiver Jauan Jennings delivering a career-best 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. 

In doing so, Jennings became the fourth player in franchise history to have 175 receiving yards and three scores in the same game.

Purdy, meanwhile, didn't miss a beat without his usual weapons, finishing 22-of-30 for 292 passing yards and three touchdowns with a 137.1 passer rating. 

However, Purdy didn't get much help from his targets, most notably Ronnie Bell, who dropped a catch in the final quarter to spurn a golden game-winning opportunity.

The loss made Purdy the third 49ers signal caller (alongside Joe Montana and Steve Young) to lose a game in which he completed at least 70% of his passes and threw for three or more touchdowns.

It also dropped the Niners below the .500 mark for the first time with Purdy as their starter, with head coach Kyle Shanahan left furious at the conclusion of proceedings. 

"You've got to take their hope away," Shanahan said.

"You give [Rams quarterback Matthew] Stafford too much hope [and] you put a ball in his hands at the end, it's not a situation you want to be in."

The Los Angeles Rams placed star wide receiver Puka Nacua on injured reserve Monday after he re-aggravated a right knee injury in Sunday night’s season opener.

Nacua will miss a minimum of four games. With the Rams’ bye Week falling in Week 6, the earliest Nacua could be back on the field is Oct. 20.

Nacua missed most of training camp due to a PCL sprain in his right knee. He re-injured the knee in the second quarter of Los Angeles’ Week 1 overtime loss against the Detroit Lions.

“It’s unfortunate for him, and I’m bummed out for the person,” Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters on Monday.

With Nacua missing the entire second half Sunday, Cooper Kupp was targeted 21 times and made 14 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Johnson finished second on the team in receiving with five receptions for 79 yards.

Johnson will be among the receivers asked to step up in Nacua’s absence, along with DeMarcus Robinson and rookie Jordan Whittington.

Nacua will miss division games against the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers, as well as dates against the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.

A fifth-round pick out of BYU last year, Nacua had arguably the best rookie receiving season in NFL history. Nacua set rookie records with 105 receptions for 1,486 yards in 2023.

Allen Robinson is on the move again, reportedly being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers from the Los Angeles Rams.

The 29-year-old wide receiver is travelling to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for a physical, according to reports, and the trade will be completed if he passes.

There is no word on what the Rams are getting in return.

Robinson requested a trade out of Los Angeles last month and a move to Pittsburgh would mark a third team in as many seasons for the former Pro Bowler.

Robinson signed a three-year, $46.5million contract with the Rams in March 2022, but he added little to the offense, finishing with 33 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games last season as Los Angeles endured a dismal defence of their Super Bowl title.

He spent the previous four years with the Chicago Bears after playing his first four professional seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft.

A nine-year veteran, Robinson has three 1,000-yard receiving seasons – most recently with the Bears in 2020, when he had a career-high 102 receptions for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns.

In the two seasons since then, however, he’s caught just 71 passes for 749 yards and four TDs in 22 games.

His most receiving yards came during his Pro Bowl season of 2015, when his 1,400 receiving yards ranked sixth in the league.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is itching to get into the 2023 season after an injury-riddled campaign as reigning Super Bowl champion.

After winning it all in Super Bowl LVI, Stafford went into his offseason program dealing with a lingering elbow issue that would not allow him to throw. He ended up being held out from throwing altogether in the offseason program and was still limited during training camp.

Stafford's spotty preparation led to one of the worst statistical seasons of his career. In his nine starts before a season-ending spinal cord contusion, Stafford led the Rams to a 3-6 record with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

His 10 touchdowns were the fewest in any of his 13 seasons where he has made at least eight starts, while his 10.1 yards per completion was also a career low, and his 231.9 yards per game were the fewest since his rookie year back in 2009.

After two concussions and his spinal cord injury, while also playing on a Rams team seemingly trending in the wrong direction looking forward, there was plenty of speculation if Stafford would play on in 2023, but he told reporters on Monday that he is raring to go.

"I'm not 25, but I definitely feel good," Stafford said after turning 35 in February. "It's fun to be as refreshed as I am coming back into this building.

"I'm in a good head space as far as how I'm feeling [and] what I'm able to accomplish while I'm here, and that puts me in a good mood.

"It gets me excited to be here and kind of helps me make sure that my attitude, my energy level, is at the correct place every single time I come in here – and I feel like it's there right now."

While admitting he is not able to throw every day with reckless abandon like he once could, Stafford said he is "ready to go [and] ready to play".

"It's kind of nice that I'll be able to go out there and have a much more normal offseason experience and be able to be out there and do what I love to do," he said.

"I'm probably not a human Jugs machine like I used to be, [but I] can still get it out there and throw it around a bunch.

"So, it'll be a process as it always is to try and stay as healthy as you possibly can at all times. But I definitely feel like I can go out there and compete and do everything I want to do, which is fun and exciting for me."

The next time star cornerback Jalen Ramsey suits up in the NFL it will be for the Miami Dolphins.

The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to trade Ramsey to the Dolphins in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2023 draft, as well as tight end Hunter Long.

The trade was agreed to on Sunday but cannot be made official until the new league year begins on Wednesday.

As part of the deal, Ramsey's salary will be guaranteed at $36.9million over the next two seasons.

The 28-year-old just completed his seventh season in the NFL and is still considered one of the top cornerbacks in the league.

The fifth overall pick of the 2016 draft, Ramsey was named to his sixth Pro Bowl in 2022 as he compiled four interceptions, two sacks, three forced fumbles and 18 passes defensed while playing in all 17 games.

An instrumental part to the Rams' Super Bowl championship in 2021, Ramsey now joins a Dolphins team who went 9-8 to make the playoffs last season but had the sixth-worst passing defense, yielding an average of 234.8 pass yards per game.

In his career, the three-time All-Pro has 19 interceptions, seven forced fumbles and 92 passes defensed.

Bobby Wagner has agreed an imminent departure from the Los Angeles Rams after only a single season on the team.

Reports revealed Wagner had come to an agreement with the Rams on Thursday, meaning he will return to free agency ahead of the 2023 season.

The linebacker spent the first 10 years of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, winning Super Bowl XLVIII and earning six First-team All-Pro selections.

Wagner then entered free agency for the first time last year and joined the Rams, then the defending Super Bowl champions.

A dismal season saw the Rams finish with a 5-12 record and miss the playoffs, although Wagner – having signed a five-year, $50million deal with $20m in guarantees – was a Second-team All-Pro for the third time.

With the Rams $13.7m above the salary cap approaching the new league year, they have saved $5m in space by releasing Wagner.

He will be free to join a new team as soon as the agreement is made official.

Super Bowl champion head coach Sean McVay has informed the Los Angeles Rams he will return for the 2023 season, the team announced on Friday.

McVay had been pondering his future following the conclusion of a difficult 2022 campaign that ended with Sunday's overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 

The 2017 NFL Coach of the Year confirmed he was weighing up his options when speaking at Monday's end-of-the-season press conference.

The Rams dropped nine of their final 11 games to finish 5-12, the highest loss total in a season for any team defending a Super Bowl title, amid a mounting swarm of injuries to several key players that included quarterback Matthew Stafford, 2021 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp and three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.

"I think what I liked to do is be able to take the appropriate time," McVay said on Monday. "I've never gone through anything like this, but you want to make sure that you're considerate of the people that are affected.

"That's the most important thing and you want to be able to have the consistent conversations and dialogues that have existed with the people that I love and really care about.

"But that doesn't mean it takes away the empathy, the level of responsibility that I do feel for the people that would be affected as it relates to my decision moving forward, and so those are the things that you don’t take lightly.

"You want to be able to make sure that you're intentional about taking the appropriate time, while also making a decision in a manner that's considerate of those people that would be affected."

McVay, who at age 36 became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with the Rams' victory over the Cincinnati Bengals last February, has four years remaining on a new contract he received prior to the start of this past season.

The Rams reached the playoffs four times in McVay's first five seasons in charge and won 55 regular-season games over that span, tying him with Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin for the third-most victories of any coach through his first five seasons in NFL history.

McVay is also the youngest head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl after guiding the Rams to the title game during the 2018 season at the age of 33.

The Rams have compiled a 60-38 record with three NFC West titles during McVay's tenure, as well as a 7-3 mark in postseason play.

The Philadelphia Eagles earned the top seed in the NFC and a first-round playoff bye after defeating the New York Giants 22-16 on Sunday.

Despite the contest finishing as a one-score game, the Eagles were comfortably in control throughout as three Jake Elliott field goals and a Boston Scott touchdown run gave Philadelphia a 16-0 lead in front of their home fans at half-time.

It was also a memorable first half for receiver A.J. Brown, who came into Week 18 needing just nine yards to break the Eagles' single-season record set by Mike Quick back in 1983 (1409 yards).

Brown got it done on his first catch, going on to finish with four receptions for 95 yards to set the new mark at 1496.

The Giants tried to make a game of things late, with a Davis Webb rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown to Kenny Golladay in the fourth period, but it was too little, too late for a New York team who already booked their ticket to the playoffs last week.

With the win, Philadelphia joined the Kansas City Chiefs as the only teams in the league to win 14 games, with those two teams earning the right to host all of their playoff games leading up to a potential Super Bowl.

Seahawks keep playoff hopes alive

The Seattle Seahawks will be eagerly awaiting the final result of the regular season after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 19-16 in overtime to hold up their end of the bargain.

Seattle came into the final week needing to beat the Rams, as well as needing the Detroit Lions to beat the Green Bay Packers in the night game to sneak into the playoffs.

The Seahawks almost blew it, hitting the upright with a potential game-winning field goal in regulation, but secured an interception in overtime to set up Jason Myers for redemption, nailing a 32-yarder to finish it.

In the process, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith threw for 213 yards, bringing his season total to a new franchise-record of 4282.

The NFL has been in shock this week, following the terrible scenes in Monday's game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills.

Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest on the field has sent shockwaves through the sport, though it appears the 24-year-old is making progress in his recovery.

While Hamlin's health remains the league's priority over the rescheduling of that game from Week 17, there is also focus on the final round of fixtures.

There's plenty still be decided in Week 18, and Stats Perform has used Opta data to preview some of the key matchups.

SATURDAY (all times EST)

Chiefs (13-3) at Raiders (6-10) - 4:30pm

With the Bills and the Bengals having yet to finish the game that was rightly suspended on Monday, the AFC picture is not entirely clear. As things stand, a Kansas City Chiefs win in Las Vegas would mean they remain in with a chance of claiming the top seed, pending a decision on the Bengals-Bills game and the outcome of Buffalo's Week 18 clash against the New England Patriots.

The Chiefs have scored 28 or more points in nine consecutive games against the Raiders. The only longer streak of such games against a single opponent in NFL history is 10 by the Los Angeles Rams against the Green Bay Packers, and that came way back in 1949 to 1953. 

Jerick McKinnon caught two touchdowns in Kansas City's 27-24 win over the Denver Broncos and has seven touchdown catches in the Chiefs' last five games. That is the most receiving touchdowns by a running back over a span of five team games in the Super Bowl era. 

The Chiefs have scored 264 points on the road this season, averaging 33.0 points per game. If they hit their average on Saturday, they will finish with the third-most road points in a single season in NFL history, behind only the 2007 New England Patriots (314) and their own effort in 2018 (306).

Patrick Mahomes has 5,000 passing yards (5,048) and 250 rushing yards (329) in a single season for the second time in his career, also doing so in 2018.

Titans (7-9) at Jaguars (8-8) - 8:15pm

It will be winner-take-all in the AFC South when the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans face off. The victor will clinch the division and become the fourth seed in the playoffs. While Jacksonville would still be able to make the postseason via a wild card should they lose, Tennessee must win if they are to avoid elimination.

The Jaguars are looking to sweep the season series with the Titans for the first time since 2005. The only other NFL teams that have gone that long since they last swept a current divisional opponent are the Cleveland Browns, who last swept the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1988, and New York Jets, who last swept the Patriots in 2000 (the Browns also have a chance to end their drought this week).

Jacksonville could become the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs immediately following back-to-back 14-loss seasons.

Meanwhile, the Titans are looking to avoid joining the 1994 Eagles as the only teams in league history to have at least seven wins before ending the season on a seven-game game losing streak.

SUNDAY

Giants (9-6-1) at Eagles (13-3) - 4:25pm

The Philadelphia Eagles have been the team to beat in the NFC all season, yet after successive defeats in the absence of Jalen Hurts, they now need a win to clinch the top seed.

Should they lose to the New York Giants, both the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers will have to suffer defeats in order for the Eagles to be guaranteed home advantage in the playoffs.

The omens are good for the Eagles, who have won eight straight home games against the Giants, tied for the second-longest home win streak against a single opponent in team history. It trails only their active 10-game home win streak against the Steelers that started in 1966. 

A win against the Eagles would give the Giants 10 wins after having just four last season. It would be the first time New York earned double-digit wins in a season after having four or fewer wins since doing so in 1933 (11 wins after a 4-6 record in 1932).

Lions (8-8) @ Packers (8-8) - 8.20pm

Given the NFC East will get two of the conference's three wild cards, matters are relatively simple for the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. A Packers victory sends them through to the playoffs, while Detroit need to win and hope the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Seattle Seahawks.

The Packers are coming off a 41-17 win over the Vikings in which they had four takeaways and no giveaways. Green Bay are now 50-0-1 in the Super Bowl era (including playoffs) with a turnover margin of +4 or better in a game.

Green Bay's record at home against the Lions is 61-27-4, the most home wins by any team against a single opponent.

With another win, Aaron Rodgers would be the first QB in NFL history to have two seasons where his team was multiple games under .500 immediately before going on a five-or-greater game winning streak to end the regular season. 

But the Lions have scored at least 20 points while throwing no interceptions in eight straight games, tied for the longest streak in NFL history (regular season) with the 2005 Broncos, 2010 Patriots and 2018-19 Ravens.

Elsewhere...

New England will clinch a playoff spot should they defeat the Bills, who are of course recovering from that incident involving Hamlin. The Bills have won their last two games against the Patriots and are looking for three straight wins in the series for the first time since 1999-2000.

The Miami Dolphins have lost five in a row but can make the playoffs should they beat the Jets. The matchup is perfectly balanced all-time at 56 wins apiece with one tie entering this game. 

A run of five wins from six games has put the Steelers in playoff contention. They will have to beat the Browns and need results elsewhere go their way. Cleveland won against the Steelers in Week 3 this season. The Browns have not won multiple games against Pittsburgh in a season since the 1988 season.

The 49ers can still claim the top seed in the NFC by beating the Arizona Cardinals. San Francisco beat Las Vegas in Week 17, 37-34, despite trailing by 10 points in the third quarter. It was the Niners' second-largest comeback victory in the second half under Kyle Shanahan.

It has been a terrible season for the Rams (5-11), but they are 7-3 in their last 10 games against Seattle. The Seahawks got a 27-23 win in Inglewood in Week 13, the closest game between these teams since a 30-29 Seahawks win in Week 5, 2019. 

Joey Bosa has been activated from the injured reserve list ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers' clash with the Los Angeles Rams on New Year's Day.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection has not played since Week 3 after undergoing groin surgery, but he returned to practice on Thursday.

Outside linebacker Bosa is in line to return in the Week 17 encounter at SoFi Stadium after he came off IR on the eve of the game.

Bosa had been designated to return, opening up a 21-day window for the playoffs-bound Chargers to decide whether to activate him.

The 27-year-old has played 82 games and made 77 starts for the Chargers, making 59.5 sacks and 218 solo tackles.

He has also forced 14 fumbles and three recoveries and will strengthen the 9-6 team as they prepare for the postseason.

The Chargers also announced they have waived running back Sony Michel, while they elevated defensive lineman David Moa and running back Larry Rountree III from the practice squad for their first game of 2023.

Russell Wilson conceded his inaugural season with the Denver Broncos has not been what he hoped for, though he made it clear that the necessary team improvements start with himself.

The quarterback threw three interceptions as the Los Angeles Rams ran out 51-14 victors on Christmas Day, leaving the Broncos 4-11 this year – the joint-third worst record across the NFL.

Wilson has struggled to perform following his mega trade from the Seattle Seahawks, with a pass completion of 60.1 per cent standing as the lowest-ever mark of his career.

Meanwhile, he has thrown a touchdown in just 2.9 per cent of his throws – again the worst record of his career.

Though the 34-year-old is not the only player to have disappointed this season, Wilson has vowed to "keep fighting" and remains confident of better displays in future campaigns.

"A lot needs to happen. I have to play to the standards that I know how to play to," he said, via Mike Klis of KUSA. "And I've been playing to my whole career. I'll never let a moment like tonight define me.

"We're at a low moment right now. I don't fear low moments because I know every time, I've always come out the other side. All I know how to do is keep fighting, keep battling.

"The reality is, it's been a storm. It's been a storm all year. It's not what we hoped for, not what we dreamed for. But it doesn't mean it's going to end that way for years to come. We got to change it, and it starts with me."

The Broncos travel to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, before concluding their season at home to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Los Angeles Rams enjoyed their most dominant win of the season on Sunday as they pummelled the Denver Broncos 51-14.

It was a miserable game from beginning to end for the Broncos, conceding a field goal on the opening drive before quarterback Russell Wilson threw an interception from their third play, gifting the Rams the field position to score again and take a 10-0 lead.

Things went from bad to worse when the Broncos' second drive also ended in a Wilson interception, with Rams running back Cam Akers delivering a second touchdown in the first quarter to jump ahead by three scores.

The Rams went on to score touchdowns on both of their next two drives, with Akers and Tyler Higbee both collecting two by half-time to blow out the margin.

Akers put the exclamation point on the drubbing with his third touchdown run of the game to open the fourth quarter, before Wilson finally found a consolation score, firing a touchdown pass to Greg Dulcich.

Mayfield, in his third start since being picked up off the waiver wire, completed a superb 24 of his 28 passes for 230 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. Higbee was his top receiver, catching nine passes for 94 yards and both of Mayfield's touchdowns.

Wilson was 15-of-27 for 214 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, although Jerry Jeudy was excellent, bringing in six catches for 117 yards. For Wilson, it was his first game with three interceptions since October 2020.

Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald will likely miss the rest of the season due to injury, coach Sean McVay revealed on Friday.

The star defensive tackle has been absent for the Rams' last two NFL games after sustaining an ankle injury in the 26-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on November 27.

McVay's men are already out of postseason contention at 4-10 following injury problems surrounding Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp and a host of other players.

Donald will remain sidelined along with that pair for Sunday's clash with the visiting Denver Broncos and McVay does not expect the 31-year-old to feature again this season for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

"Probably not," McVay responded when asked if Donald would feature again with three games left of the Rams' campaign.

"I just think, 'Will he be fully cleared to be Aaron Donald?'. And if he is, talk to him and see. But if not, we'll err on the side of being smart with him.

"But obviously, he's a guy that has certainly earned the right where you talk to him. But he's not cleared yet and I don't know that I see that changing in the next couple of weeks."

If Donald does not return, he will end 2022 with 49 tackles, five sacks, 10 tackles for loss and one forced fumble from his 11 games.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year was named to a ninth straight Pro Bowl on Monday.