Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Matthew Stafford threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns and the Los Angeles Rams withstood a late rally by the Atlanta Falcons for a 31-27 victory on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.

Cooper Kupp had 11 receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns for the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Rams (1-1) led 28-3 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter before the Falcons later scored 22 points in span of 13:23 to pull to within 31-25 after Lorenzo Carter returned a blocked punt 26 yards for a touchdown with 4:57 left in the game.

The Falcons (0-2) got the ball back after Darren Hall forced and recovered Cooper Kupp's fumble on the Rams' 37-yard line with 3:22 remaining. But Jalen Ramsey intercepted Marcus Mariota in the end zone with just over a minute remaining.

The Rams took an intentional safety with six seconds left and punted the ball out of bounds, giving the Falcons the ball at the 50-yard line.

However, Mariota was sacked and fumbled, with Aaron Donald making the recovery as time expired.

Stafford 27-for-36 passing with two interceptions, while Tyler Higbee recorded seven catches for 71 yards and Allen Robinson finished with four catches for 53 yards and a score.

Marcus Mariota went 17-for-26 passing for 196 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Falcons.

Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 41 yards on 10 carries, while rookie first-round pick Drake London had eight receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown.

After taking a 7-0 lead on Stafford's 1-yard touchdown toss to Robinson with 1:44 left in the first quarter, the Rams scored two touchdowns in the second quarter.

Darrell Henderson extended the lead to 14-0 with an 8-yard run before Younghoe Koo's 26-yard field goal cut the lead to 14-3 with 2:44 left in the half. The Rams, however, pushed the advantage to 21-3 with 14 seconds left on Stafford's 3-yard toss to Kupp.

The Rams increased their lead to 25 when Stafford capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Kupp with 9:22 left in the third quarter.

Mariota's 4-yard touchdown pass to Drake made it 28-10 with 3:20 left in the third quarter before Matt Gay's 20-yard field goal extended the Rams' lead to 31-10 with 12:13 left in the game.

Mariota pulled the Falcons to within 31-17 with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus with 8:14.

Troy Andersen blocked Riley Dixon's punt, with Carter returning it for a touchdown to make it 31-25 after Mariota hit London for the two-point conversion with 4:57 left.

More must-reads:

TODAY'S BEST
Suns to hire ex-NBA champion as new head coach
MVP Jokic, Nuggets blow out Timberwolves on road in Game 3
Panthers dominate Bruins again to take 2-1 series lead
ESPN has big plans for Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut
Angels superstar explains why he chose not to play through knee injury
Bears make big, but not surprising Caleb Williams announcement
Cardinals to sign WR who commanded extensive interest
Jayson Tatum refutes narrative that Celtics are a 'superteam'
Watch: Kyle Busch crashes in Truck Series race at Darlington
Oilers work overtime to tie Canucks at 1-1
Broncos release former Super Bowl champion WR
Former NBA big man sentenced to 40 months in prison
Peyton Manning reveals Bill Belichick's role on 'ManningCast' for this season
NBA Hall of Famer questions Knicks longevity in face of high playoff workloads
Falcons rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. details first interaction with Kirk Cousins
Insider reveals Mike Budenholzer's humongous contract figures to be Suns HC
Watch: Novak Djokovic accidentally struck, knocked down by metal water bottle
Legendary Cowboys HC clarifies misunderstanding regarding HOFer's death with same name
Raiders HC names leader in Aidan O'Connell, Gardner Minshew competition
Former MLB infielder Sean Burroughs dies at 43 years old