Rams Position Grades: Defense Earns High Marks, Special Teams Fails Again

The Los Angeles Rams beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and certainly didn’t make it easy for themselves. For much of the afternoon, it looked like the Rams were on their way to 1-3. However, in the fourth quarter, the Rams erased a 10-point deficit to win 24-20. Here are position grades from the Rams’ win over the Eagles.

Matthew Stafford: C

There are two ways to look at Matthew Stafford’s game. In the first three quarters, Stafford had an adjusted EPA per play of -0.12. That ranked 23rd among quarterbacks in Week 4 through Sunday’s games. In the fourth quarter, his adjusted EPA per play jumped to 0.39. That’s a 0.51 increase. For as good as Stafford’s fourth quarter was, the first three quarters still happened. Stafford’s first-half interceptions both led to 10 Eagles points. He did well to bounce back, but he has to be better going forward.

PFF Grade: 63.6

Running Backs: A

Blake Corum only had five carries for 14 yards, but Kyren Williams completely took over the second half. Williams scored both fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the eventual game-winner. Williams also hauled in 10 receptions as the Rams needed a third option in the passing game. Overall, Williams was fantastic in this one. His 79.8 rushing grade via PFF ranked fourth in the NFL in Week 4.

Kyren Williams PFF Grade: 79.8
Blake Corum PFF Grade: 55.9

Wide Receivers: B-

The Rams had been without Puka Nacua the last two weeks, and without him on Sunday, they very likely lose. Nacua had nine receptions for 125 yards in his return. However, Adams was credited with two drops and the Rams need more from Konata Mumpfield, Jordan Whittington, and Tutu Atwell. That trio combined for three receptions on six targets and none had more than 10 yards receiving.

Puka Nacua PFF Grade: 73.6
Konata Mumpfield PFF Grade: 59.9
Tutu Atwell PFF Grade: 53.7
Davante Adams PFF Grade: 47.4
Jordan Whittington PFF Grade: 45.8

Tight Ends: C-

Without Terrance Ferguson and Colby Parkinson on Sunday against the Eagles, the Rams were down both of their top tight ends. However, that still left them with three tight ends and the potential to promote a fourth. While Tyler Higbee played well, Max Klare had one snap on offense and no snaps on special teams. The Rams were forced to use 11 personnel at their highest rate since Week 5 of last year.

Tyler Higbee PFF Grade: 82.9
Davis Allen PFF Grade: 49.7

Offensive Line: B+

There were times when the offensive line struggled and the pressure got to Stafford. However, when it mattered, they played well. Kevin Dotson doesn’t look 100 percent healthy and Coleman Shelton got blown up on a 3rd-and-1 early in the game. While the offensive line is usually better in the run game, they actually held up well in pass protection, which is encouraging considering Stafford threw the ball 51 times.

Alaric Jackson PFF Grade: 75.9
Coleman Shelton PFF Grade: 70.1
Warren McClendon PFF Grade: 69.1
Kevin Dotson PFF Grade: 61.7
Steve Avila PFF Grade: 49.5

Defensive Line: A

A big reason why the Rams were so dominant on defense was because they controlled the trenches and got pressure on Jalen Hurts. They did that without Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald. While they missed a few sack opportunities, they finished with four sacks overall and didn’t give the Eagles a chance on the final drive.

Poona Ford PFF Grade: 77.3
Kobie Turner PFF Grade: 71.4
Byron Young PFF Grade: 70.5
Wesley Bailey PFF Grade: 66.4
Josaiah Stewart PFF Grade: 54.8
Tyler Davis PFF Grade: 54.1
Braden Fiske PFF Grade: 42.8

Linebackers: B

The Eagles didn’t have the personnel to attack the Rams’ linebackers. Without Saquon Barkley, they also didn’t have an elusive running back. The Rams’ linebackers were quiet, and that’s a good thing.

Nate Landman PFF Grade: 78.1
Omar Speights PFF Grade: 63.8

Defensive Backs: A

There were two big mistakes from the secondary during the game. Quentin Lake mistimed his jump, allowing Darius Cooper to score a touchdown when it could have been an interception. Additionally, they left Cooper open in the end zone late in the first half for another touchdown. However, Jalen Hurts was held to 93 yards passing. That’s a pretty good day for the secondary without Jaylen Watson.

Josh Wallace PFF Grade: 82.0
Emmanuel Forbes PFF Grade: 74.3
Kam Curl PFF Grade: 67.6
Quentin Lake PFF Grade: 60.3
Trent McDuffie PFF Grade: 58.9
Kam Kinchens PFF Grade: 52.3

Special Teams: F

It’s another week of special teams failures. They allowed Britain Covey to return a punt 41 yards after a poor Alex Bachman return set up the offense deep in its own territory. Harrison Mevis missed a 48-yard field goal and then had a kickoff go out of bounds. It’s not a question of whether the Rams will make a special teams mistake, but when. With that said, the Rams have found some good special teams players on the coverage unit in Dean Connors and Maximus Pulley in recent weeks.

Dean Connors PFF Grade: 81.3
Maximus Pulley PFF Grade: 78.2
Omar Speights PFF Grade: 76.4
Ethan Evans PFF Grade: 61.4
Alex Bachman PFF Grade: 61.0
Harrison Mevis PFF Grade: 53.0

Coaches: A

McVay didn’t make any costly decisions. He made the right choice to try to be aggressive before the half to get points. He should be able to trust his quarterback to not turn the ball over in that situation. The Rams were 1-for-3 on fourth down and the decision to go for it on 4th-and-8 in the fourth quarter was the right one. He also rallied the offense to get going, and whatever he said worked. Chris Shula called a masterclass on defense as well.

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