Nacua and Adams driving force behind NFL’s top offense

The temperature at Soldier Field last Sunday sat somewhere between cruel and unforgiving.

Minutes before kickoff, with the wind howling off Lake Michigan, Puka Nacua turned to Davante Adams and delivered a line that felt less like a pregame talk and more like a thesis statement. 

“It’s been an honor, bro,” Nacua said in the now viral clip. “You set a standard of greatness, and we’ve been chasing that every single day and it’s led us to this moment right here.”

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 07: Puka Nacua #12 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates with teammate Davante Adams #17 after scoring a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second quarter at State Farm Stadium on December 07, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) Getty Images

It wasn’t rehearsed. It wasn’t for cameras. It was one great receiver acknowledging another — player to player. In that moment, you understood why the Rams have become the NFL’s most dangerous offense and why Nacua and Adams have become the best wide receiver duo in football.

Nacua finished the 2025 season leading the NFL in receptions, and second in receiving yards. He’s the league’s ultimate chain-mover. Adams led the NFL in receiving touchdowns. Together, they combined for 189 catches, 2,504 yards, and 24 touchdowns. Different roles. Same obsession. Shared standard of greatness.

The Rams’ decision to release Cooper Kupp last offseason felt seismic at the time.

Kupp was a Super Bowl MVP, and a franchise icon. But Sean McVay wasn’t chasing sentiment. He was chasing fit. With Nacua’s ascension into a high-volume possession receiver, McVay didn’t need two Kupps on his roster. He needed an X. He needed a predator on the perimeter. He needed Adams.

“It wasn’t necessarily like a Cooper for Davante,” McVay explained. “It was another great player… We wanted to be aggressive.”

Adams arrived with Hall of Fame credentials and zero ego. McVay calls it the stuff that doesn’t show up in box scores: pass interference penalties, safety rotations, defenders cheating early. Adams elicits attention. Nacua exploits it.

“I think we’re a lot different as receivers,” Adams said. “We accomplish the same things, but the way we get things done is different.”

That difference is the point.

Nacua lines up everywhere — slot, boundary, motion — he even takes handoffs. He’s a relentless presence who treats five-yard gains like personal victories. Adams is more surgical, more patient. One moves the chains. The other ends drives. Together, they suffocate defenses.

Their bond didn’t happen overnight, but it formed organically. Nacua, already a star in his own right, made it clear early he wanted Adams to lead. Adams, cautious not to overstep, eased into mentorship the same way he runs routes — deliberately.

“It’s been a dream situation,” Adams said. “It just makes me want to pour more into him.”

Nov 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams (17) celebrate after a touchdown during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

McVay has noticed it too. 

“I think there’s a tremendous amount of respect. You can see how much Puka reveres Davante and how willing he is to share and how much love Davante has for him. It’s a special relationship.”

Earlier this season, during a one-on-one interview, I asked Nacua to blind-rank the greatest receivers of all time. Without hesitation, he put Adams at No. 1.

When I told Adams about it, he laughed — then got reflective.

“For him to say that, I’m not surprised. That’s just the type of dude that he is,” Adams said. “He talks to me like that too, which is flattering, but having a dude that can come in and have the type of year that he has and still have the humility to be as humble as what he is and continues to be. Like I said, it’s a dream, and I’m blessed to have Puka as a young player in my room.”

It wasn’t flattery that stuck with Adams. It was responsibility.

That responsibility showed itself in Chicago in overtime on the season’s most critical drive when Adams hauled in the game’s biggest catch.

Nacua followed with his own tough catches across the middle. The Rams kicked the walk-off field goal and walked out of the blistering cold with a 20–17 win and a ticket to the NFC Championship Game.

“Big players come up in big-time games,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “And this moment won’t be too big for either of them.”

For Adams, this will be his fifth NFC Championship Game. For Nacua, his first. Neither has ever played in a Super Bowl. That truth hangs heavier for Adams, a 12-year veteran whose career has brushed greatness but not immortality.

“It feels almost mythical,” Adams admitted of playing in the Super Bowl. “We’re close. We just have to finish it.”

The Rams now head north for a rare NFC West title fight against the Seattle Seahawks — with Kupp waiting on the other sideline. But the Rams aren’t looking backward. They’re looking at the two receivers who reshaped their ceiling.

“They’ve made each other better, and that’s competitive greatness,”  McVay said of his receiving duo. “I love watching those guys flex when they do their celebrations. It’s a really cool relationship that you’re watching organically develop with two guys that love football.”

That fits.

Because what Nacua and Adams have built isn’t transactional. It’s relational. In a league obsessed with individuality, the Rams’ most lethal weapon is a budding bromance and a mutual partnership.