This was a tale of two receivers – one with plenty to prove, one trying to prove he still has plenty to offer.
In the end, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ rookie Travis Hunter – with his first NFL score – and the LA Rams’ wideout Davante Adams – with a hat-trick of touchdowns – will both fly back to the US with reputations enhanced.
But the bigger picture is the result, and this 35-7 victory for the Rams was a horribly one-sided Wembley affair that will have Adams wondering if he might be able to cap his career with a Super Bowl ring – just when many were wondering if his time was done.
In truth, such is the quality of Adams that the yards have never dried up. Even after ending his prolific partnership with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay he has remained a 1,000-yard receiver – including a mightily impressive 1,500 yard season (with 14 touchdowns) in Las Vegas in 2022 as he made the watching world question the Packers’ wisdom in letting him walk.
But there is only one thing worse than declining numbers for a superstar wideout – and that is declining relevance.
In his two years with the Raiders they finished 6-11 and 8-9. The playoffs were an even more distant dream when he and Rodgers got the band back together in New York as the Jets stumbled to a 5-12 record in 2024.
Davante Adams celebrates one of his THREE touchdowns on a big day at Wembley Stadium
Adams endured a tough season with the Jets and Raiders but has found form with the Rams
But at the age of 32 he would have felt he still had plenty to offer. Fortunately the LA Rams thought so too. And so he headed back West, though in the knowledge that he would be playing second fiddle to Puka Nacua.
Nacua, who has 616 receiving yards this season, did not did not suit up in London to face the Jaguars, sensibly opting not to risk aggravating a knee injury with a bye week next up. In truth, they did not need him as Adams rolled back the years.
The combined yardage of his two first-half touchdowns was three, the Jaguars seemingly oblivious to his threat from such goal-line situations. Twice he was left one on one, twice Stafford connected with him in the endzone. In the fourth quarter the Rams had first and goal on the one-yard line. The result was a foregone conclusion.
Sean McVay had tried to minimize the disruption to his team, spending the week before the game in Baltimore and flying into the UK on Saturday morning. His reasoning was that it would be a similar routine to a normal east coast road game.
Matthew Stafford threw for five touchdowns as the Rams broke many records in London
Stafford is 37 but showing no signs of slowing down as he hunts for a second Super Bowl ring
In truth they could have flown in on the red-eye on Sunday morning and headed back across the Atlantic with the win, such was the limited fight put up by the Jaguars at their second home.
The teams came into the game with the same record, but gave a 60-minute lesson in why not all 4-2 teams are created equal.
And the difference was most stark in the quarterback-receiver connections. While Trevor Lawrence regressed to some of the bad habits, and just downright bad play, that have marked his time in the NFL, Matt Stafford defied his years and the rain to put on a highly efficient display to put his team at 5-2.
Travis Hunter scored his first NFL touchdown but it was a chastening day for Jacksonville
Adams played for the Jets last season but he is performing better with his current veteran QB
But what most allowed him to do that was Adams – the epitome of efficiency, who in the first half had four catches for 34 yards and those two touchdowns. His only touch in the second half was that third touchdown grab.
Another player who had a second-half touchdown – and saw plenty of the ball after half-time was Hunter.
After six weeks in the NFL, many were questioning the wisdom of the Jaguars trading up so aggressively to get the Heisman Trophy winner as the second overall pick in the 2025 Draft. At half-time here those questions were growing louder.
But he silenced the doubters with a breakout performance in the second half, going for 101 yards and a score. Hunter’s NFL journey has begun in earnest; Adams’s, too, is far from done.
