Cameron DaSilva
September 8, 2024 9:15 pm PT
It came down to the wire once again when the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions played a rematch of their playoff battle on Sunday night. Sadly for the Rams, the result was the same: a narrow win by the Lions at home.
Detroit pulled off a 26-20 win in overtime, beating the Rams for the second straight time. Matthew Stafford nearly led the Rams to a miraculous comeback by erasing a 14-point third-quarter deficit, but the Lions scored the final nine points and won a nailbiter.
Sean McVay will never be satisfied with a loss, but considering how many key players the Rams were missing and the fight his team showed from start to finish, there’s plenty to be encouraged about. Here are several of the standout performers, as well as a few duds in Sunday’s loss.
Stud: Matthew Stafford
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This was a vintage performance by Stafford in the building where he first made a living in the NFL. He put the team on his back when the running game wasn’t working, and Sean McVay fully trusted him behind a makeshift offensive line that was missing three starters and its backup left tackle. Outside of a bad interception in the end zone in the first half, Stafford diced up the Lions defense.
He racked up 317 yards on 49 attempts, making outstanding throw after outstanding throw. This was all with a balky ankle, too, after he got rolled up on in the first half and had to have his ankle taped up.
It’s unfortunate he never touched the ball in overtime because there’s a good chance he would’ve led the Rams down the field for a game-winning touchdown. He was picking apart Detroit’s secondary.
Stud: Cooper Kupp
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The Rams were without Puka Nacua for most of this game, which put Kupp under an even larger spotlight. Even with the Lions focusing on the team’s best offensive player, he was able to get open early and often. Stafford looked his way on seemingly every dropback, putting full trust in No. 10 throughout the night.
He caught 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, which gave the Rams a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter. He was targeted on 21 of Stafford’s 49 pass attempts, a nearly 50% rate in the season opener. It’s safe to say he looks healthy again, which bodes well for Stafford and the offense as a whole.
Stud: John Johnson III
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Johnson came up huge for the Rams in the fourth quarter, intercepting Jared Goff on a throw over the middle as the Lions were driving with a four-point lead. He cut in front of Amon-Ra St. Brown and somehow held on as the two players collided, taking it away from Detroit at a pivotal point in the game. He also teamed up with Quentin Lake for a key tackle on third down short of the sticks, preventing a first down by Sam LaPorta.
Stud: Troy Reeder
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Reeder made a statement in this one following the trade of Ernest Jones. Everyone was worried about him being the team’s starting linebacker but he stepped up in a big way. He was all over the field, doing an excellent job roaming sideline to sideline against the Lions’ dynamic rushing attack. He even had a huge stick on the receiver on third down in the third quarter to jar the ball loose and force a punt, a key play in the game. Perhaps the Rams aren’t totally cooked with Reeder at linebacker.
Stud: Tyler Johnson
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It was supposed to be a quiet night for Johnson but it turned out to be anything but that. He had a 63-yard reception in the third quarter to set up the Rams near the red zone, his fourth catch of the night. He then hauled in a 13-yarder on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, coming up clutch with a sliding catch. Johnson finished with five catches for 79 yards on seven targets.
Dud: A.J. Arcuri
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It’s not Arcuri’s fault that he went from practice squad player to playing against Aidan Hutchinson on Sunday Night Football, but that’s exactly the situation he was put in. And he struggled. Badly.
The Lions had a target on his back from the second he stepped on the field, lining up Hutchinson against him constantly. And unsurprisingly, Hutchinson won. Constantly. The worst sequence came in the fourth quarter when Arcuri’s holding penalty negated a touchdown run by Jordan Whittington, pushing the Rams back 10 yards and eventually leading to a field goal. He was actually called for holding on third down, too, but the Lions declined it.
Dud: Kamren Kinchens
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Kinchens didn’t play much in this one but he was involved in a play that really helped the Lions on their game-tying drive. After Sam LaPorta caught a pass over the middle for an 18-yard gain, Kinchens hit him helmet-to-helmet and was called for a personal foul, tacking on another 15 yards for the Lions. The Lions went from their own 36-yard line to the Rams’ 31 in one play, in part because of his penalty.
Dud: Bobby Brown III
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The Rams didn’t have much of an answer for the Lions’ rushing attack, especially in overtime. Brown is supposed to be the big run-stuffer in the middle but he didn’t have a big impact on this one. He finished with only three total tackles and didn’t do much as a pass rusher.
Too often, the Lions were able to seal him off on the interior and create big running lanes in the middle.
