Rams PFF grades: Best and worst performers in Week 9 loss to Titans
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November 8, 2021 10:22 am PT
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The Rams have had weeks where they looked like the best team in football. Then, they’ve had performances where they lay an egg and cause fans to wonder if this team is any better than the Rams squads they watched in the last two years.
Sunday was one of those nights where Los Angeles looked out of sorts and completely overmatched. Tennessee cruised to a 28-16 win at SoFi Stadium, beating the Rams in their own building without Derrick Henry.
Understandably, there weren’t many banner performances for Pro Football Focus to highlight in their game grades. Below are the best and worst on offense and defense, as well as other notables.
Top 3 offense
- LT Andrew Whitworth: 82.4
- WR Robert Woods: 74.8
- RT Rob Havenstein: 71.7
Surprisingly, two of the Rams’ three highest-graded offensive players were linemen. Whitworth played well and didn’t allow a single pressure, but Rob Havenstein gave up four pressures and two sacks, so it’s shocking that he earned a respectable grade of 71.7 because Denico Autry and the Titans’ other pass rushers made it look easy against him.
Woods put together a solid game with seven catches for 98 yards, including a 22-yarder and a 6-yard rush. He was also great as a run blocker, earning a grade of 90.7 in that department.
Top 3 defense
- OLB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo: 90.8
- DE A’Shawn Robinson: 90.4
- DT Aaron Donald: 88.6
Okoronkwo continues to play at a fairly high level in a limited capacity at outside linebacker. He had three pressures, a half-sack and one stop in only 18 snaps played, 10 as a pass rusher. That was tied for the most pressures on the team Sunday night, making an impact despite not playing much.
Robinson was stout against the run, making four stops and also generating one pressure as a pass rusher. Donald was in the backfield often with three pressures and three stops, finishing with two QB hits and a tackle for a loss to go with his sack.
Bottom 3 offense
- TE Tyler Higbee: 54.7
- WR Van Jefferson: 52.1
- QB Matthew Stafford: 52.1
This was by far the worst performance of Stafford’s Rams tenure up to this point. He was the lowest-graded offensive player with at least 10 snaps. He was pinned with three turnover-worthy plays and finished with two interceptions, struggling for most of the night.
Van Jefferson had one drop on a throw that should’ve been caught deep down the middle for a huge gain, so his grade was lower as a result of that mistake. Tyler Higbee was given an unsightly 20.1 pass-blocking grade, though he only had two snaps where he was blocking in pass protection.
Bottom 3 defense
- CB Robert Rochell: 57.6
- CB Dont’e Deayon: 56.9
- CB Darious Williams: 54.9
See a common trend with these three players? Outside of Jalen Ramsey, the secondary did not play well. Deayon gave up three catches for 18 yards on five targets, which was the best of the three. Williams allowed three catches for 36 yards on three targets and missed one tackle on third down. Rochell played the least of the three and allowed just one catch for 10 yards on a single target.
The Titans didn’t throw for many yards, but there also wasn’t much resistance from the secondary when Ryan Tannehill did drop back to pass.
Other notables
- S Jordan Fuller: 87.7
- CB Jalen Ramsey: 79.9
- NT Greg Gaines: 76.6
- WR Cooper Kupp: 68.2
- RB Darrell Henderson Jr.: 66.8
- C Brian Allen: 59.7
Fuller barely missed out on a top-three defensive grade but he deserves recognition for the job he did tackling in the open field. He made three stops and a team-high seven total tackles, also breaking up one pass.
Ramsey had a terrific interception and allowed three catches for 20 yards on five targets, coming up and making two stops, as well.
Gaines was tied for the most snaps played on defense and he turned it into just one run stop and two pressures – including a half-sack. He played well in place of Sebastian Joseph-Day.
On offense, Kupp was fourth on the team but it was his second-lowest grade of the season. He finished with 11 catches for 95 yards. Henderson was running effectively with 55 yards rushing on 11 carries, earning the fifth-highest grade on offense. And as for Allen, he allowed four pressures and committed one penalty, so
