Winners & Losers: Rams backups come up just short against Seahawks

LA falls to the fourth seed in NFC playoff picture

Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams elected to rest starters in their regular season finale against the Seattle Seahawks. Los Angeles came up just short with a final score of 25-30. They had the ball deep in Seattle territory in the game’s final moments.

While key players like Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Alaric Jackson, and Kyren Williams received valuable rest late in the year, this didn’t come without a cost: LA fell to the fourth seed in the NFC playoff picture and instead of hosting the Washington Commanders will now play either the Detroit Lions or the Minnesota Vikings. The loser of Sunday Night Football will be heading to Los Angeles for the opening round of the playoffs.

Still, it was impressive to see a team of mostly reserves take a 10-win team the distance. Who stood out on an individual level in order to keep this game close?

Winners

Josh Karty, K

Not only did Josh Karty make all four of his field goals, he made the longest kick by a Ram in SoFi Stadium at 58 yards. The rookie accounted for 13 of LA’s 25 points and this was probably his best overall outing on the year so far.

Jordan Whittington, WR

The Rams have lacked explosiveness on offense over the last month or so even with their starters. Jordan Whittington looked like the best player on the field for LA. He caught three of four targets for 86 yards (including a long of 50) and rushed twice for 12 yards.

Whittington produced early in the season while Nacua and Kupp were injured, but his contributions of late have been limited to special teams. Will this performance force the Rams’ hand in involving him on offense in the playoffs?

Demarcus Robinson, WR

Jimmy Garoppolo and Robinson had chemistry, which was evident early. The veteran caught three of his six targets for 72 yards, including a long of 31. Even though the Rams were playing mostly backups, the Seahawks played their starters on defense. The damage Robinson did on Sunday was real, even if he’s been an inconsistent producer this year.

Cobie Durant, CB

Geno Smith managed only 223 passing yards though he did throw four touchdowns. Durant did allow a touchdown against Jake Bobo, but he was in good position and had tight coverage. The rest of his game was strong overall. This was the first time we’ve seen Durant for an extended time since he suffered a lung contusion, and he made a positive impression.

Jake Hummel, MLB

Hummel has been a standout in the preseason in recent years. He didn’t get much of a shot at off-ball linebacker after the team traded Ernest Jones just before the start of this year’s regular season, even ceding time to undrafted rookie Omar Speights. Hummel is good athlete and a better coverage player than run stopper, and he asserted himself in this game. He finished with eight total tackles.

Desjuan Johnson, DT

The Rams defense sacked Smith twice, one by former Mr. Irrelevant Desjuan Johnson and another split between Byron Young and Braden Fiske. Johnson was disruptive and was maybe LA’s most consistent pass rusher on a day where the defensive line rotated heavily.

Losers

Blake Corum, RB

You can’t rest everyone in the regular season. Contributors had to play in this game, and there was always a realistic chance that would leave the Rams without someone for the playoffs. Corum suffered an injured forearm in this game, and according to Sean McVay, his season is now over.

Ronnie Rivers and rookie UDFA Cody Schrader handled the running back duties in Corum’s absence.

Keir Thomas, OLB

An offsides penalty against Keir Thomas wiped out a fumble recovery by Kamren Kinchens. That’s not how you leave a positive impression on a coaching staff in limited playing time.

Tutu Atwell, WR

The coaching staff doesn’t give Tutu Atwell opportunities. That isn’t always his fault, because when he’s on the field he usually finds ways to contribute.

That wasn’t the case in this game. Atwell wasn’t sure handed with multiple drops. Some of these came in contested catch situations, but Atwell usually plays better than you’d expect him based on his size in these circumstances.

Atwell finished with fives catches on eight targets for 37 yards.

Emmanuel Forbes, CB

This was the first extended look we had a Forbes, who the Rams claimed on waivers from the Commanders. While Forbes played well in coverage, he didn’t bring the physicality as a tackler that you’d expect. Ball carriers frequently ran through him and he looked more like a speed bump than a true impediment to their progress. This is a major question Forbes will need to answer if he wants to carve out a long-term career in LA.

Ahkello Witherspoon, CB

Witherspoon gave up three receptions that I recall, including one for a touchdown. The veteran seems to have leapfrogged Durant on the corner depth chart, though I continue to maintain that this is ill-advised.