Texans come up short against the Rams, fall 14-9, at SoFi Stadium

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Matthew Stafford threw for 245 yards and a touchdown while becoming the 10th quarterback in NFL history with 60,000 yards in the air, and Braden Fiske recovered a fumble forced by Nate Landman with 1:43 to play in the Los Angeles Rams’ 14-9 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Puka Nacua had 10 catches for 130 yards for the Rams, who went ahead on Davis Allen’s TD catch on the opening drive of the third quarter. Neither team scored again in a choppy season opener.

Landman, the Rams’ new starting linebacker, punched the ball away from Dare Ogunbowale after C.J. Stroud drove the Texans inside the Los Angeles 20. Stafford then hit Nacua for a 24-yard gain on third-and-long to seal the Rams’ seventh victory in nine openers under coach Sean McVay.

Stroud passed for 188 yards with several sharp throws in his first pro game in his native Southern California despite playing behind a struggling offensive line.

But the Texans couldn’t score in the second half after Ka’imi Fairbairn made three field goals in the first half, and they were whistled for 11 penalties for 80 yards.

Davante Adams had four catches for 51 yards in the star receiver’s debut with the Rams, while Kyren Williams rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Los Angeles was in position to seal a win before Azeez Al-Shaair forced a fumble by tight end Colby Parkinson on a catch at the Houston 12 with 4:09 to play.

Stroud engineered a final drive that benefitted from a roughing-the-passer call against Kobie Turner on a third-and-long incompletion, but new Rams linebacker Landman alertly punched the ball out of Ogunbowale’s hands inside the Los Angeles 20.

Houston drove for three field goals in the first half, with Stroud moving the ball despite his patchwork offensive line’s obvious limitations.

The Rams’ offense started disjointedly in Stafford’s first live snaps after missing nearly a month of training camp with a back injury, but Los Angeles finally scored on Williams’ fourth-down TD run 53 seconds before halftime.

Stafford engineered another TD drive to start the second half, with Adams and Xavier Smith making big catches before Allen scored his second career TD on a superb pass.

Stafford topped 60,000 career yards on a short pass to Nacua in the fourth quarter, becoming the 10th quarterback overall and the second-fastest to reach the mark.

Texans RG Ed Ingram was a late scratch with an abdominal injury, and C Jake Adams injured his ankle in the second half.

Rams: Nacua was evaluated for a concussion after he took a penalized hit from Henry To’oTo’o on the final snap of the first quarter. He returned in the second quarter. … LG Steve Avila went out in the first half, but returned in the second half when RG Kevin Dotson left with an ankle injury.

How many games will the Houston Texans win this season? What should fans expect from the rebuilt offensive line by Week 9? And who’s the toughest test in the AFC South? KHOU 11’s Jason Bristol is joined by Zack Tawatari and Luis Ortiz, along with former Texan Seth Payne of SportRadio610, to break down the 2025 season from every angle.  Watch the full program below or on KHOU 11+.

Four-time Pro Bowl RB Nick Chubb will be tasked with leading Houston’s rushing attack early this season with starter Joe Mixon out for at least the first four games with a foot injury he suffered this offseason. Chubb looks to return to form in his first season with the Texans after playing just 10 games combined in the past two seasons while dealing with various injuries. Before his injuries, Chubb had four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons for the Browns, capped by a career-high 1,525 yards in the 2022 season.

QB Matthew Stafford missed most of the preseason because of a sore back, but the Super Bowl winner is ready to start his 17th season in the NFL and fifth with the Rams. He threw for 3,762 yards and 20 touchdowns against eight touchdowns in helping Los Angeles win the NFC West in 2024 before adding 533 yards and four scores without a pick in the playoffs, coming up short in a 28-22 NFC divisional round loss to the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Texans LT Aireontae Ersery vs. Rams OLB Jared Verse. Ersery will start as a rookie after being drafted in the second round, and the Minnesota product will be immediately tested against one of the top young pass rushers in the NFL. Verse had 77 pressures and 56 hurries to earn AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, but there is still plenty of room for improvement after finishing with 4 1/2 sacks.

Texans S C.J. Gardner-Johnson is expected to play Sunday after recovering from a knee injury he sustained Aug. 7. … T Cam Robinson is good to go after missing practice Wednesday with an illness. … WRs Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios both have been ruled out this week with hamstring injuries. … Rams LT Alaric Jackson is on track to start after a recurrence of blood clots kept him out of practice for all of training camp and much of the preseason. Jackson, who signed a three-year, $57 million contract in February, missed the last nine games of the 2022 season because of blood clots.

Los Angeles has scored at least 33 points in each of its four wins over Houston. … The Rams have won three straight against the Texans, including both meetings since moving back to Los Angeles in 2016. … This will be Houston’s first visit to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. They lost 33-7 to the Rams in the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium in 2017 and beat the Chargers 27-20 in Carson, California, in 2019.

Houston QB C.J. Stroud had 3,727 yards passing with 20 TD passes last season to become one of seven QBs in NFL history with at least 3,500 yards passing and 20 TD passes in each of his first two seasons. … RB Dameon Pierce had a career-high 176 yards rushing in Houston’s regular-season finale last season. … WR Nico Collins had 68 receptions for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns last season despite missing five games with injuries. He had 55 yards receiving in his previous game against the Rams. … TE Dalton Schultz had 53 catches for 532 yards last season and joins Travis Kelce as the only tight ends with at least 50 catches and 500 yards receiving in each of the past five seasons. … DE Danielle Hunter lad the Texans with 12 sacks and 17 tackles for losses last season. It was his fifth season with at least 12 sacks. … DE Will Anderson Jr. had 11 sacks and 16 tackles for losses — both career highs — last season. He and Hunter were one of two pairs of teammates to each have at least 11 sacks last season. … DT Tim Settle had a career-high 10 tackles for losses with five sacks last year. … LB Henry To’oTo’o led the team with a career-best 104 tackles in 2024. … CB Derek Stingley ranked second in the NFL with a career-high 18 passes defensed and had five interceptions last season. … S C.J. Gardner-Johnson is set to make his Houston debut after grabbing six interceptions for the Eagles last season. … S Calen Bullock led all rookies with five interceptions last season. … Matthew Stafford needs 191 yards passing to become the 10th quarterback in NFL history with 60,000 yards. If he reaches the milestone against the Texans, Stafford would tie Matt Ryan (223) as needing the second-fewest games to do so. Drew Brees got there in 215 games. … The other members of the 60,000-yard club are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and Dan Marino. … WR Davante Adams will make his Rams debut after signing a two-year, $44 million contract in March. He has had at least 1,000 yards receiving and eight touchdown catches in each of the past five seasons. … WR Puka Nacua averaged 90 yards receiving per game last season, which was third in the NFL behind Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase (100.5) and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson (90.2). However, Nacua came up 10 yards short of a second straight 1,000-yard season after missing five games because of a knee injury and sitting out a meaningless Week 18 game. … RT Rob Havenstein will make his 142nd start, breaking a tie with WR Henry Ellard for ninth most in Rams history. … RB Kyren Williams has 26 rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns over the past two seasons, tying Detroit RB Jahmyr Gibbs for most scores from scrimmage in that span.

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