Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions was always going to be an offensive shootout. Both teams are within the top five of the NFL in terms of scoring production.
The Rams were able to withstand a fiery first half from Detroit and trailed by seven after two quarters. The defense tightened the strings and allowed only 10 fourth quarter points after the outcome felt safe. Los Angeles held on to a 41-34 victory and notched their 11th win of the year.
Matthew Stafford earned an important win over his former team. LA dealt a tough blow to Detroit, who remains outside of the NFC playoff picture and face an uphill climb to earn a postseason berth.
Who stood out on an individual level? Let’s take a look at the “winners & losers”.
Winners
Puka Nacua, WR
Has any player in the NFL had a better last two weeks than Puka Nacua? He’s amassed over 350 total yards over the last two weeks with 189 against the Lions on Sunday alone. Nacua went blow for blow with Amon-Ra St. Brown who caught 13 passes for 164 yards and two scores for the Lions, though Nacua wins the contest because his team took home the victory.
Davante Adams re-aggravated his hamstring injury in this game. The Rams have a quick turnaround and face the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday. Nacua may need to somehow carry even more of the offensive burden short-term if Adams misses time.
Colby Parkinson, TE
Up until about a month ago, Colby Parkinson was considered a failed free agent signing and someone fans wanted to include in trade packages to other teams. Parkinson has flipped the script in Tyler Higbee’s absence and is effectively LA’s third pass catching option.
Against the Lions, Parkinson caught five of seven targets for 75 yards and two scores. He’s a featured part of the offense in the red zone and in the screen game.
Parkinson’s contract runs through the 2026 season and there’s no reason at this point he shouldn’t return as the team’s TE#1.
Kobie Turner, DT
It wasn’t a great day in terms of pressure for the Rams’ talented defensive line. If there was one player who consistently made an impact, it was probably Kobie Turner.
Turner made a big hit on Goff that caused just enough disruption to spoil a long pass attempt to Jameson Williams. He also earned an important sack on Goff that put Detroit in a third and long situation and bought time for the Rams to add to their lead.
Kyren Williams & Blake Corum, RB
The Rams’ rushing attack is hitting its stride just in time for the two most important games of the final regular season stretch and into the playoffs. It’s a true shared backfield between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. Both players get touches on important third downs and red zone possessions. The coaching staff clearly has confidence that the offense can function well with either player on the field.
Here’s how they fared against the Lions:
- Williams: 15 rushes for 78 yards (5.2 avg), 2 TDs
- Corum: 11 rushes for 71 yards (6.5 avg), TD
Williams has officially crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the third consecutive season.
Fourth down aggression
It was clear early that Sean McVay was not interested in settling for field goals. The Rams even attempted a fourth-and-eight scenario where Stafford connected with Nacua to move the chains. In effect, McVay beat Dan Campbell at his own game.
If there’s one area of weakness that McVay can grow, it’s that he leaves a lot of meat on the bone in terms of his gameday management. He’s made progress over time and there is still room for improvement, though Sunday’s matchup tells us he’s still being intentional about stealing an edge with aggressiveness.
Losers
Cobie Durant, CB
By my count Cobie Durant allowed two touchdowns in coverage. The Lions were getting pretty much whatever they wanted through the air for most of this game, and Jared Goff finished with 338 yards and three scores.
It was a tough matchup for the Rams secondary. Detroit is the league’s top-scoring team for a reason, and the Rams were always going to need to keep pace with Goff and the Lions. But you can’t write off poor efforts for this reason, and it’s still cause for concern that Durant and Forbes rarely seem to perform at a high level at the same time.
Forbes wasn’t much better in this game, though he didn’t give up multiple touchdowns.
Coleman Shelton, C
There were a couple of risky moments where Coleman Shelton misplaced shotgun snaps to Stafford and the veteran quarterback had a difficult time fielding the ball. One unfortunate snap came on third and long and forced the Rams to settle for a field goal (on a day they weren’t really interested in doing so).
Shelton seemed to perform well in his blocking duties. Still, turnovers at the snap are an easy way to lose close games.
Tackling
When you face a player of Jahmyr Gibbs’ caliber, you are going to miss tackles—and a lot of them. While the Rams have performed well in this area for most of the season, this is an outing where they won’t enjoy watching the film. It could result in their highest total of missed tackles of any matchup this season, and we will get the official numbers soon.
The individuals who seemed to struggle the most with tackling were Nate Landman, Emmanuel Forbes, and Braden Fiske.
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