Rams Position Grades: Matthew Stafford Shines, Special Teams Falter in Loss to Bills

The Los Angeles Rams lost to the Buffalo Bills in disappointing fashion on Monday Night Football, falling 37-34 in overtime. Let’s get to this week’s player and position grades.

Matthew Stafford: A

For the fourth time in the last two seasons, the Rams lost a game in which Matthew Stafford threw for at least 370 yards and three touchdowns. Stafford played well enough for the Rams to win, which included leading a game-tying drive at the end of regulation. He completed a career-high 40 passes on Monday night. It’s a shame that the Rams couldn’t reward his performance in what was his best game of the year.

PFF Grade: 67.9

Running Backs: B+

The Rams struggled to get much going on the ground. Kyren Williams averaged just 3.1 yards per carry and Blake Corum had five carries for 19 yards. At the same time, both running backs found the end zone and made an impact in the passing game. Corum had a career-long 34-yard reception and Williams set the Rams up to score in the final seconds of the game.

Kyren Williams PFF Grade: 61.6
Blake Corum PFF Grade: 63.3

Wide Receivers: A-

Puka Nacua carried this group with 17 receptions on 24 targets. His 17 receptions marked a career-high and his 24 targets were the most for a wide receiver since Brandon Marshall in 2009. Davante Adams added two touchdowns of his own. The Rams didn’t get much production outside of those two, but Nacua and Adams played well.

Puka Nacua PFF Grade: 83.6
Davante Adams PFF Grade: 67.9
Tutu Atwell PFF Grade: 54.6

Tight Ends: B+

Tyler Higbee has looked like his former self this season and remains a reliable option in the passing game. Without Terrance Ferguson, Higbee proved that he can still deliver in big spots, finishing with five receptions for 83 yards. Davis Allen got involved in the passing game as well. Had the Rams made the game-winning field goal, we would likely be talking about Allen’s 21-yard reception in overtime. Colby Parkinson made his impact felt in the run game as a blocker.

Davis Allen PFF Grade: 69.2
Tyler Higbee PFF Grade: 65.8
Colby Parkinson PFF Grade: 46.4 (80.6 run-blocking grade)

Offensive Line: B

The offensive line was fine, but didn’t protect well in some moments. Stafford may have had a few opportunities to go down the field in the first half, but the Bills had a great game plan defending the Rams’ play-action bootlegs. Warren McClendon allowed five pressures at right tackle.

Alaric Jackson PFF Grade: 73.2
Steve Avila PFF Grade: 71.8
Coleman Shelton PFF Grade: 63.7
Warren McClendon PFF Grade: 58.3
Kevin Dotson PFF Grade: 56.8

Defensive Line: D

Defensively, the Rams got pressure on Josh Allen, but Josaiah Stewart was the only player to finish with a sack. They weren’t disciplined in their rush lanes and consistently allowed Allen to escape. The defensive line also struggled defending the run and limiting James Cook. As a group, they missed five tackles.

Tyler Davis PFF Grade: 68.0
Poona Ford PFF Grade: 53.0
Aaron Donald PFF Grade: 49.3
Josaiah Stewart PFF Grade: 48.1
Braden Fiske PFF Grade: 46.9
Byron Young PFF Grade: 45.6
Wesley Bailey PFF Grade: 40.2
Kobie Turner PFF Grade: 34.7

Linebackers: C-

A lot of the Rams’ struggles in the run game came at the second and third levels. Nate Landman had two forced fumbles and created the turnover in overtime. However, Allen consistently made him look silly in the open field. Omar Speights got washed out in the run game too often. The Bills took advantage of the Rams’ lighter defensive fronts.

Nate Landman PFF Grade: 79.0
Omar Speights PFF Grade: 58.4

Secondary: C

From a coverage standpoint, the Rams were actually very good. The Bills were not able to attack the Rams down the field very often in the passing game. However, this group, especially the safeties, struggled in space. This was by far Quentin Lake’s worst performance. AAs a group, they missed seven tackles, with Kam Curl being credited with three. A better tackling effort from the secondary and the Rams may have won this game convincingly.

Jaylen Watson PFF Grade: 89.9
Trent McDuffie PFF Grade: 60.3
Josh Wallace PFF Grade: 47.1
Kam Kinchens PFF Grade: 42.0
Kam Curl PFF Grade: 39.4
Quentin Lake PFF Grade: 28.4

Special Teams: D-

There were plenty of negatives with this group on Monday night, but there were also some positives. Ethan Evans had a nice punt in this game. Following the 70-yard kickoff return, the coverage unit looked good after that. Additionally, Jordan Whittington had a few nice kickoff returns. With that said, all of that is overshadowed because of the missed field goal from 50 yards and the blocked kick that lost the game.

Jordan Whittington PFF Grade: 79.2
Wesley Bailey PFF Grade: 73.6
Ethan Evans: 61.2
Harrison Mevis: 61.2

Coaching: C-

Sean McVay undoubtedly played a big role in this loss. His play call on 3rd-and-5 in overtime and his management of that entire sequence weren’t good enough. He made the right decision to go for two and made some great second-half adjustments. With that said, as much as the kicking unit deserves blame for the block, McVay deserves just as much criticism for how he managed the situation.

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