LONDON — Goodbye London. Hello bye week.

The Los Angeles Rams' ended an extended road trip and welcomed some time off with a 35-7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

Matthew Stafford passed for five touchdowns — three to Davante Adams and one each to rookies Konata Mumpfield and Terrance Ferguson — and edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young led a mostly suffocating defense as the Rams improved it's record to 5-2 heading into an off week.

"Man," coach Sean McVay said, "it will make for a much more enjoyable flight home."

A giddy one, even, if the Rams don't conk out en masse during the 11-plus hours in the air.

In a light rain, and without injured star receiver Puka Nacua, McVay and Stafford poured into 10 different receivers during a victory that not only made the nine-day road trip worth it, but also showed the rest of the NFL that the Rams remain a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Stafford, 37, is playing like he did in 2021, when the Rams won the Super Bowl. The defense is keeping opponents out of the end zone. And the troubled place-kicking unit played without error.

For the first time since 2021, the Rams will go into an off week with a winning record.

In 2023, the Rams were 3-6 at the bye and then won seven of eight games to finish 10-7 and make the playoffs.

Last season, the Rams were 1-4 at the bye and then won nine of 12 games to finish 10-7 and make the playoffs.

But Sunday's victory trends closer to 2017, when the Rams shut out the Cardinals, 33-0, at Twickenham Stadium in London to improve to 5-2 going into the bye. The Rams went on to win the NFC West and make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

The Rams' defeats this season by the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers — "I can't think of a time where we've had two more gut-wrenching losses," McVay said — are now behind them.

"I feel like we're right where we need to be," Verse said. "We learned the lessons we had to learn and realize what it's like when we put together four quarters."

Said Stafford: "Still a lot to be cleaned up and a lot of things we can get better at, but we've done a nice job through the first seven of finding ways to win games most of the time."

The Rams were coming off a 17-3 road victory over the Ravens. The Rams remained in Baltimore last week and practiced at Oriole Park at Camden Yards before departing for London on Friday.

The Rams arrived Saturday and played Sunday.

And Los Angeles showed no signs of jet lag.

Verse sacked Trevor Lawrence on the first play, the Rams jumped to a 21-0 halftime lead and then cruised as McVay remained unbeaten in London games.

Edge rusher Byron Young, rookie outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart, linebacker Nate Landman, lineman Larrell Murchison and safety Quentin Lake also had sacks for the Rams. Lake, who also forced a fumble, and lineman Kobie Turner batted down passes in the backfield.

In 2017, McVay's first season, the Rams routed the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham Stadium. Two years later, the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley Stadium.

Though Sunday's game was played thousands of miles from Southern California, it had something of a Rams family feel.

Jaguars coach Liam Coen was an assistant under McVay, and Jaguars first-year general manager James Gladstone worked for nine years under Rams general manager Les Snead.

But the Rams did not let up on a day when it could not lean on Nacua.

The week off should benefit the third-year pro, who did not play because of an ankle injury sustained against the Ravens. The Rams thought it best to rest Nacua and let him heal during the off week before Los Angeles plays the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 2 at SoFi Stadium.

That opened the door for Adams and others.

By the end of the first quarter, Stafford had completed passes to seven of eight different receivers targeted, including touchdowns to Mumpfield and two to Adams. Stafford connected with Ferguson and Adams for touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Stafford completed 21 of 33 passes for only 182 yards — but he made them count. The 17th-year pro has passed for 17 touchdowns, with only two interceptions.

Adams and Stafford had said in Baltimore that the Rams were still working to find timing together.

Los Angeles found it Sunday: Adams caught five passes for 35 yards, and all of his short touchdown receptions were on the kinds of red-zone plays the Rams envisioned when the Rams signed the three-time All-Pro. He was easily on his way to a 100-yard receiving effort if not for pass-interference penalties that netted the Rams huge chunks of yardage.

Adams, who played eight seasons with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, channeled his younger self.

"Similar to what Aaron used to tell me: 'We don't need any Herculean efforts. Just go out and be yourself,'" Adams said. "That's what we did today."

The Rams left the stadium and headed immediately to the airport.

After taking trips to Tennessee, Philadelphia, Baltimore and London, the Rams will leave the West Coast only twice more for a Nov. 30 game at Carolina and a Dec. 29 game at Atlanta.

The Rams had to feel good about that as the team prepared for a long flight home.

____

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.