Rams PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. 49ers in Week 3
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Cameron DaSilva
September 23, 2024 10:40 am PT
The shorthanded Los Angeles Rams pulled off a stunning upset over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon, coming back from a 14-point deficit to win in the final seconds. The Rams wouldn’t have won the game if not for contributions from key role players who were elevated into starting roles due to the team’s various injuries.
Pro Football Focus graded the Rams well in their 27-24 win, with the offense landing five players who graded out at 69.7 or higher. The defense still has some issues to fix but overall, it was a strong performance from Sean McVay’s squad at home.
Here’s how PFF viewed the best and worst performers for the Rams.
Top 5 offense
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
- WR Tutu Atwell: 79.3
- TE Hunter Long: 79.3
- WR Jordan Whittington: 79.2
- RT Rob Havenstein: 72.7
- QB Matthew Stafford: 69.7
Atwell, Long and Whittington were at the top of the list for the Rams on offense, all for varying reasons. Atwell was excellent as a receiver, earning a grade of 79.4 in that area. Long excelled as a blocker in the run game with a grade of 85.2. Whittington was a mix of everything, finishing with grades of 88.6 as a run blocker, 70.0 as a pass blocker and 72.9 as a receiver.
Havenstein allowed just one pressure in the game, which is impressive considering the pass rushers he went up against in Leonard Floyd and Nick Bosa.
Stafford’s grade probably should’ve been even higher when you account for the playmakers he was missing and the pressure he was under. He made one big-time throw and had zero turnover-worthy plays, per PFF.
Top 5 defense
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- OLB Byron Young: 80.6
- S Jaylen McCollough: 66.4
- OLB Michael Hoecht: 65.1
- OLB Jared Verse: 63.9
- LB Troy Reeder: 63.7
There was Young and then there was everyone else. He was head-and-shoulders better than all other players on defense, recording four pressures, one sack, two tackles for a loss and a forced fumble. Notably, it was Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner who led the team with seven pressures each.
McCollough played sparingly, only 11 snaps, so his grade has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Hoecht missed one tackle and struggled against the run at times (48.6 grade) but he had two pressures and a pass-rush grade of 73.1. Verse was similarly effective as a pass rusher with four tackles, but he missed a team-high four tackles, something that’s been a slight issue for him through three games.
Reeder cut down his missed tackles to just one in the game and he was decent in coverage with a grade of 66.0, allowing only one catch for 3 yards.
Bottom 5 offense
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- WR Demarcus Robinson: 63.2
- LG Logan Bruss: 61.4
- WR Tyler Johnson: 55.7
- LT Alaric Jackson: 47.4
- RG Kevin Dotson: 41.6
It was a quiet day for Robinson and Johnson, which is reflected in their PFF grades – which still aren’t all that bad. Robinson caught one pass for 32 yards and Johnson had three receptions for 20 yards.
Bruss allowed two pressures, including a sack to Javon Hargrave, but his run-blocking grade of 68.8 was a positive. Jackson surrendered three pressures and one sack and had sub-60 grades in both pass protection and run blocking. Dotson allowed a team-high five pressures and one sack and finished with a team-worst 48.3 run-blocking grade.
Bottom 5 defense
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- DT Braden Fiske: 54.9
- DT Kobie Turner: 50.9
- S Kamren Curl: 49.1
- CB Cobie Durant: 44.6
- DB Quentin Lake: 44.0
Fiske shined as a pass rusher with seven total pressures but PFF dinged him as a run defender by grading him at 40.1, the lowest on the team.
It was a similar story for Turner, who also had seven pressures but missed one tackle and had a run-defense grade of 43.3.
Curl has gotten off to a slow start this season and while his 49.1 overall grade is nothing to write home about, he did have the highest tackling grade on the team (86.0).
Durant and Lake were the weak links in coverage, finishing with the two lowest grades in that category. Durant gave up five catches (seven targets) for 54 yards, while Lake allowed a team-high 109 yards on six catches (eight targets) in the win.
Other notables
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- RB Kyren Williams: 69.1
- TE Colby Parkinson: 64.9
- S Kamren Kinchens: 63.3
- CB Tre’Davious White: 61.5
Williams was a do-it-all player once again, going over 100 scrimmage yards with three touchdowns and excellent pass protection for Stafford when picking up the blitz.
Parkinson was up-and-down, dropping a pass and running a poor route in the red zone, while also stepping up in a big way as a blocker with grades of 73.7 in pass protection and 76.0 in the run game.
Kinchens was thrust into a bigger role at safety and though he got beat for a 31-yard touchdown, that was the only reception he allowed and he didn’t miss a tackle.
White was in coverage on Jauan Jennings’ 13-yard touchdown early in the game and he was also flagged for defensive holding, but his grade wasn’t as bad as expected.
