The Rams beat the Texans at L.A. Memorial Coliseum yesterday in front of an estimated crowd of 60,000, and fans were more "excited than perhaps at any time since the Rams returned" to L.A., according to Gary Klein of the L.A. TIMES. After more than a month away from the Coliseum, first-year coach Sean McVay was "happy to give the home fans something to cheer about." McVay: "It’s good to be back." In the days leading up to yesterday's game, players said that they were "looking forward to showing the home crowd how much they had evolved." The Rams won 33-7, and QB Jared Goff said, "Hope the people liked it" (L.A. TIMES, 11/13). ESPN.com's Alden Gonzalez noted the Rams "won for the fourth consecutive time, but for only the third time" at the Coliseum since returning to L.A. for the '16 season. They sold 60,032 seats, "roughly 5,000 shy of where they decided to cap tickets" for the '17 season and about a "third of the true capacity at the Coliseum." They have "yet to experience a significant upswing in interest from the nation's second-largest media market, but more performances like these should change that soon enough" (ESPN.com, 11/12). In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes nine games into what was "supposed to be a reshaping season, the Rams are stunningly good." Midway through a season that "began with yawns and shrugs, the 60,000-or-so fans are seriously into them." The Rams are still "struggling to create buzz but, for once, they are worthy of it." Goff: "It was fun, we had a pretty good crowd, they were loud. We’re still new, we’re only two years into being in L.A., it’s still building, that fan base, but I think today may have taken that next step" (L.A. TIMES, 11/13).
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME: In San Diego, Kevin Acee notes it was a "slow build to a 33-7 victory over the injured and inept" Texans, but eventually the crowd "got rocking." The Rams are "headed in the right direction, for sure, as they build toward a move down to Inglewood" in '20. Rams COO Kevin Demoff said, "There’s no better way to do that than to be winning, and quite frankly to be doing that in an entertaining fashion." Acee notes it "takes a lot for fans to get feverish" in L.A. They "certainly are not going to get all hot a little more than halfway through a season." However, if the Rams can "continue to do what they’re doing they seem destined to dominate the quest to be the NFL’s leading men in Hollywood" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 11/13).
