Getty Darious Williams of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates his touchdown interception in the NFC Wildcard round against the Seattle Seahawks in January 2021 with fellow cornerback Jalen Ramsey and former Ram Morgan Fox.
Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys found former Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin on a 59-yard strike for the second quarter touchdown on the evening of December 15, 2019, with Darious Williams of the Rams representing the targeted cornerback.
That would be the last time any Rams cornerback surrendered a touchdown pass of beyond 20 yards to a wide receiver during the regular season.
Noted by Pro Football Focus on the morning of Wednesday, September 22, the duo of Williams and Jalen Ramsey have implemented their version of a no fly zone with this astonishing streak viewed below.
Jalen Ramsey & Darious Williams haven’t given up a 20+ yard TD since 2019
Now, the duo has a great chance this Sunday to frustrate a high-octane offense they bottled one year ago in the Sunshine State: The visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who fell to the Rams 27-24 on Monday Night Football.
Accolades Accomplished During This Streak
With Austin beating Williams on that TD strike nearly two years ago, here’s a further breakdown of the accolades both men have accomplished during this rare streak they have put together, with stats also from Pro Football Focus:
Quarters: Since that Prescott-to-Austin strike, the Ramsey and Williams duo have gone 82 consecutive quarters without surrendering a touchdown throw of more than 20 yards their side during the months of September to late December/early January.
Consistency in denying the end zone: Since his arrival to L.A. via trade, Ramsey has only surrendered three touchdowns his side in 27 total regular season games. And in the games that saw a receiver beat him for the TD, none of those games saw Ramsey give up a reception of more than 8 yards. On Williams’ end, he’s surrendered four end zone scores in his last 24 games as a Ram.
Swats: The duo have broken up a combined 26 passes (Williams has 15 pass breakups over the course of those two dozen games. Ramsey has 11).
No triple digits: Both Williams and Ramsey together have yet to allow a WR their side gain 100 yards or more on them in a game.
One Year Ago at Raymond James
Tom Brady may have thrown two touchdown passes on the Rams defense on that November 23 night in Tampa including one with Williams labeled the nearest cover corner. However, the Rams cornerback duo helped spearhead one of their better performances against the pass throughout the 2020 season…and did it against the eventual 2021 Vince Lombardi Trophy holders.
The CB pairing combined for 10 tackles, eight solo stops, only 85 combined yards allowed and walked out of the venue victorious 27-24 on the road.
One more nugget: Ramsey and Williams played on a Rams pass defense that didn’t allow a single Bucs target surpass 60 receiving yards and didn’t allow any reception become a 20-yard gain (longest reception that night was an 18-yarder by Mike Evans).
Of course, the best ballhawk that night was Jordan Fuller with his two interceptions. Fuller is better known as the Rams’ No. 199 pick 20 years after Brady was drafted at that same spot.
Can the Streak Continue?
According to Pro Football Focus Fantasy, the Buccaneer wideouts lack the matchup advantage with the Rams, as they were given a below average rating of under 38 in going against this defensive back unit.
There’s this added dilemma: On Wednesday morning, Antonio Brown got placed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. This means that “A.B.” must test negative 24 hours apart so he can be cleared to play versus the Rams.
There’s a great chance that the rare streak No. 5 and No. 11 have put together will stretch to 86 straight quarters and 651 days since their last 20-yard aerial score the Rams CB’s have given up.