Sports
Rams take big step toward playoffs by winning field-goal battle and sweeping 49ers
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It’s happening.
Again.
The Rams rebounded from a dismal first half of the season and they are making a run for the playoffs.
Again.
Despite a nebulous performance on offense against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Sean McVay’s team is now the one nobody in the NFL wants to play.
Again.
On Thursday night, the Rams defeated the 49ers 12-6 at Levi’s Stadium.
Joshua Karty kicked four field goals, Kyren Williams rushed for 108 yards, and cornerback Darious Williams intercepted a fourth-quarter pass as the Rams improved to 8-6.
The Rams’ Kyren Williams (23) finds running room against the 49ers.
(Jed Jacobsohn / Associated Press)
While it might have been painful to watch, it left the Rams feeling great.
“No style points,” McVay said, “We’ll take it. Proud of this group.”
With good reason. The Rams have won three games in a row for the first time in a season that began with a 1-4 start. They also swept the defending NFC champion 49ers for the first time since 2018, when McVay led the Rams to Super Bowl LIII in his second season.
“Being able to do that, knowing how good of a team they are and knowing the history with the two organizations, it’s huge,” Kyren Williams said, “and it shows that we’re the big brothers now.”
In September, the Rams needed a patented Matthew Stafford fourth-quarter comeback and a last-second field goal by Karty to beat the 49ers 27-24 at SoFi Stadium.
Rams safety Kamren Kinchens knocks away a pass intended for 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel.
(Jed Jacobsohn / Associated Press)
Stafford mostly struggled Thursday — he completed 16 of 27 passes for 160 yards — but Karty was perfect, making a kick from 48 yards in the second quarter and kicks from 23, 27 and 29 yards in the fourth.
“It’s funny because there may or may not be evidence of me saying they were my favorite team like a year ago,” Karty, who played at Stanford, said of the 49ers. “But not anymore. So it’s great to beat them and it’s huge for the team.”
The Rams were coming off Sunday’s 44-42 victory over the powerful Buffalo Bills, a win that showcased a seemingly consistent offense along with a defense that struggled in matchups against powerful offenses such as the Philadelphia Eagles and the Bills.
It rained for much of the game Thursday, and the Rams did not score a touchdown. Still, they won for the seventh time in their last nine games.
“Our team showed we can win football games kind of any way you want in about a four-day span,” Stafford said.
The Rams remain in second place in the NFC West. The Seattle Seahawks (8-5) are in first place, the Arizona Cardinals (6-7) in third, and the defending NFC-champion 49ers (6-8) are probably out of the playoff hunt.
With the victory, the Rams have a mini-bye of sorts this weekend before traveling to play the New York Jets the following Sunday. The Rams will finish with home games against the Cardinals and the Seahawks.
“You can just feel the momentum,” said tight end Colby Parkinson, who had a key third-down reception during the Rams’ final drive. “You can feel the team coming together each and every week a little bit more and we’re peaking at the right time.
“It’s exactly what we want.”
The Rams are getting almost all they need from an offensive line that cleared the way for Williams, who matched the career high he established against the Bills by carrying the ball 29 times. For the second game in a row, Stafford was not sacked.
Receiver Puka Nacua caught seven passes for 97 yards, including a 51-yard reception that set up Karty’s third field goal.
Rams defensive tackle Kobie Turner records one of his two sacks of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13).
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
A defense led by lineman Kobie Turner also got a good performance from cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who started in place of injured Cobie Durant.
So Stafford was not sweating the lack of production in a game that qualified as a must-win.
“You score 44 four nights ago or whatever it was and come out here and score 12,” Stafford said. “They both count for one.”
For the first time in five games Stafford did not throw a touchdown pass, but the 16th-year pro extended his streak of games without an interception to a career-best five.
Stafford’s 11-yard scramble was the Rams’ longest of the game. He also sneaked for first downs and in the fourth quarter kept the ball on a read-option play from the four-yard line.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is tackled by 49ers linebacker Fred Warner in the second half.
(Jed Jacobsohn / Associated Press)
“At any point we get down that close, man, I’m doing anything we can to try and score,” said Stafford, who was stopped short on a play nullified by a holding penalty. “And if that means surprising everybody in the stadium that I’m still holding on to it, trying to get in, I’m all for it.”
The score was tied 3-3 at halftime as both offenses struggled to execute in rain that soaked the gray hoodies worn by McVay and his assistants.
The skies cleared after halftime, but the Rams’ offense remained in a fog.
The 49ers led 6-3 in the third quarter before Stafford directed a 17-play drive that consumed nearly 10 minutes. The Rams got to the four-yard line, but penalties killed the threat and forced them to settle for a field goal early in the fourth quarter.
After forcing the 49ers to punt, the Rams finally cut loose.
Sort of.
Stafford connected with Nacua for the 51-yard play, but the drive stalled and the Rams settled for Karty’s third field goal.
Rams cornerback Darious Williams (24) intercepts a pass intended for 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings (15) in the fourth quarter.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
The 49ers then drove to the Rams’ 34-yard line, but Williams’ interception in the end zone quelled the threat.
The Rams got the ball with a little more than five minutes left and used nearly all of it during a drive that ended with Karty’s final field goal with 18 seconds left.
Not the most impressive showcase, but McVay was not complaining.
“It serves us well that there’s different ways we can win a football game,” he said. “Now we’d like to be able put it all together, but to be able to do that, that’s a real strength.”
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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