Mirjam Swanson: Rams keep feeding Puka Nacua, he keeps delivering

Mirjam Swanson, The Orange County Register on Sep 30, 2025

Published in Football

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — One of these days, I’ll come to a Rams game and write a column on a topic other than Puka Nacua.

Sunday was not that day.

The Rams’ best receiver – wait.

Hold on. Let’s try that again.

The NFL’s best receiver had himself another huge day. Another tone-setting save-the-day day. His fingerprints all over every ball Matthew Stafford threw his way – and all over the Rams’ 27-20 victory over the previously unbeaten Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams (3-1) needed two touchdowns in the final 5:38 of the game to put away the Colts (3-1), the last of which was TuTu Atwell’s one-er, a one-take piece of cinema that started with a defender clicking his ankles and falling and ended with the Rams’ speedster racing 88 yards home for what was the winning score.

The other score was Nacua’s first TD catch this season. It came on fourth-and-2, on a quick slant route against man coverage. And it put him at the goal line, where he lowered his shoulder and pummeled two defenders to pull the Rams even, 20-20.

Rams coach Sean McVay, succinctly: “He’s a stud.”

Because before then, when Stafford was struggling to connect with his other receivers in what he described as the game’s “lean” times, the veteran QB nonetheless was able to feed Nacua – the former fifth-round pick out of BYU, who dines on defenders’ angst and frustration.

Because even when Nacua is not open, he’s open.

Because although the 6-foot-2 Nacua is not the NFL’s fastest nor most purely athletic pass-catcher, that doesn’t stop him from getting over on defensive backs. Or under them, sliding for high-degree-of-difficulty, no-doubt-about-it catches like he had Sunday.

Because Nacua is neither the most polished nor smoothest receiver, and the fact that the ball is coming his way is anything but a secret – but still he’s killing opponents. Not softly, but with brute force, with grit and toughness, heart to match his hands.

With the type of willfulness that spreads among his teammates on both sides of the ball – crucial for a team with high expectations that needed a positive jolt after last week’s collapse against the Eagles in Philadelphia.

“He’s just a heck of a football player,” Stafford said. “We’re lucky to have him on our team; his play style rubs off on everybody on our team – not just offense. I think our defense looks at him like, ‘[Shoot] we’ll ride with that guy all day, and I know that’s how we feel on offense.’”

And despite banging his thumb on some of the “big humans” (his words) on the other side early in the second half, Nacua made more history Sunday when he tied the NFL record for most catches through the first four games of a season, with 42. That’s 11 more this season than the next most prolific pass-catcher, the San Fransico 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey, who’ll be in L.A. for Thursday Night Football against the Rams this week.

What’s more, Nacua’s 503 receiving yards so far this season make him the first player in NFL history to eclipse 500 yards in his team’s first four games in two different seasons.

Twenty-four years old and a Rams legend already. No one tell him consistency isn’t supposed to be flashy, that outrageous production isn’t supposed to be rote.

Nacua is “just a little bit of everything,” said Davante Adams, the decorated veteran receiver who joined the Rams this season.

“He’s consistent, you know he can get open. He’s got a lot more tools than people realize. Great, great hands and strong at the catch point. And he’s obviously really tough to bring down once he’s running with the ball. So that mixed with the way Sean can draw these plays up? That’s a little bit of it.

“But it still doesn’t tell you exactly. You gotta feel it – he’s a gamer too.”

And he’s having a good time playing his game, if you couldn’t tell.

“It feels super-fun,” said the ever-upbeat Nacua after the win. “When you go out there and you’re moving the ball forward … it feels good to be on the same page as Matthew, having an understanding of where he needs me to be.”

And let the records show, he’s still hungry, still planning to go back for seconds and thirds and …

“The opportunity to get better,” Nacua said, “is still there.”

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