PFF grades Rams vs Bucs

[Elmgrovegnome]

Rams PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. Buccaneers in Week 9

Troy Hill and Cooper Kupp were two standouts for the Rams, but there were too many offensive players who struggled against the Bucs

sports.yahoo.com

There wasn’t much to like about the Rams’ performance against the Buccaneers on Sunday, particularly when it comes to the offense. They gained just 206 yards and had nine first downs, one of the worst showings of the Sean McVay era.

Pro Football Focus’ grades reflected the Rams’ poor play, with very few players on offense earning high marks.


Here’s a look at the top performers on offense and defense from Week 9.

Top 5 offense

• WR Cooper Kupp: 72.7
• RG Chandler Brewer: 70.8
• WR Allen Robinson: 68.8
• LT Alaric Jackson: 66.9
• RB Darrell Henderson Jr.: 65.5

It’s telling that the Rams’ highest-graded player on offense was Kupp at 72.7, which is well below his season average and his second-worst grade of the season.

Brewer played relatively well in place of Oday Aboushi at right guard, allowing only one pressure and zero QB hits. Jackson was solid, too, earning the highest pass-blocking grade (85.6) on the team.

Henderson was the highest-graded running back on the Rams this week, rushing for 56 yards on 12 attempts.

Top 5 defense

• CB Troy Hill: 90.4
• LB Bobby Wagner: 82.8
• DT Aaron Donald: 78.6
• LB Ernest Jones: 77.4
• CB Jalen Ramsey: 73.1

Troy Hill was limited in his first game back against the 49ers but the Rams unleashed him Sunday and he excelled. He allowed four catches on eight targets, only giving up 13 yards and breaking up two passes – one of which was nearly picked.

Wagner and Jones stood out at linebacker, helping shut down the Buccaneers’ running game. Donald and Ramsey did their usual work, with Donald recording one sack and Ramsey breaking up two passes, including the fourth-down pass in the end zone intended for Mike Evans.

Bottom 5 offense

• TE Brycen Hopkins: 53.9
• QB Matthew Stafford: 49.9
• TE Tyler Higbee: 45.5
• WR Van Jefferson: 42.4
• LG Bobby Evans: 35.4

There was nothing positive from this group, and four of them are starters. Stafford struggled in this one, getting very few opportunities to throw the ball because of the offense’s inefficiency – which was partly his fault.

Higbee was targeted only once and didn’t catch the pass, so it was another quiet week for him. Jefferson saw five passes thrown his way and dropped one of them, a deep crosser where he was wide open.

Evans put together another abysmal showing at left guard, finishing with a pass-blocking grade of 13.6 – lower than last week’s 15.5 grade and his third game with a mark under 20.

Bottom 5 defense

• OLB Leonard Floyd: 60.0
• S Nick Scott: 59.1
• NT Greg Gaines: 57.3
• CB Derion Kendrick: 48.8
• OLB Terrell Lewis: 42.4

Floyd and Lewis combined for three total pressures, though it seemed like Lewis was having a decent game with one tackle for a loss and a near-interception on a screen pass that he cut in front of.

Scott missed three tackles, which weighed down his grade, while Kendrick missed two tackles of his own and allowed 71 yards in coverage on 10 targets. He was also called for two pass interference penalties.

Other notables

• CB David Long Jr.: 70.0
• S Taylor Rapp: 63.6
• RT Rob Havenstein: 60.8
• C Brian Allen: 57.7
• RB Cam Akers: 54.2

Akers earned a grade of just 54.2 in his return, carrying it five times for just 3 yards. Allen allowed one sack and two total pressures, struggling against Vita Vea like Evans did.

Havenstein gave up two pressures, too. Rapp and Long gave up 39 yards combined in coverage; Long also missed one tackle..

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Chandler Brewer played a good game.

Troy Hill did too. He fits this defense well. I wish they had JJ back too.

 

[Merlin]

Rams may need to bench Stafford. Might preserve him for when they get this line unfucked.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I was really surprised when they pulled Aboushi from RG this week, thought they'd keep him there and have Brewer playing LG in place of Evans. jmo.

 

[Merlin]

The problem with backup linemen is that they'll play good one week when the matchup isn't so bad, then get fucking terrorized the next. Unless you're Evans of course. In which case you get terrorized by everyone.

 

[Riverumbbq]

The problem with backup linemen is that they'll play good one week when the matchup isn't so bad, then get fucking terrorized the next. Unless you're Evans of course. In which case you get terrorized by everyone.

Although Aboushi was much improved in the second half of the Panther game and scored relatively close to Brewer in the 49'er game according to PFF. He was showing week to week improvement. It was Evans who showed so little. jmo.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Right now Havenstein is #73 in blocking among offensive linemen. He’s our top rated guy. Alaric Jackson is rated #115.

Chandler Brewer hasn’t played much, but he’d be around #49 if he kept it up.

I see Austin Corbett is #32 right now.

 

[AvengerRam]

Bobby Evans got a 35.4?

I guess you get 30 points for writing your name.

 

[Tano]

Bobby Evans got a 35.4?

I guess you get 30 points for writing your name.

He is a below average run blocker which actually improves his grade to a 35.4

His pass blocking is absolutely abysmal.

13.4?

I wouldn't have graded him that high.

He should have gotten a 0 that game. That's about how much time he gave Stafford

 

[OnceARam]

Rams may need to bench Stafford. Might preserve him for when they get this line unfucked.

Maybe we should trade him to BUF as Allen is hurt. Kidding. Not kidding.

 

[OntarioRam]

I definitely noticed Tory Hill flying around out there. Glad to have him back in the lineup and I hope he keeps it up. He's always been a bit up and down / inconsistent, but you just have to accept him for what he is because at this point in his career what you see is what you will get. He's a useful player to have on balance. In a salary cap world, you're never going to field a team full of all-stars.

 

[Kupped]

Alaric Jackson continuing to play relatively well is a huge, huge plus for this team.

 

[snackdaddy]

Their best line would be from left to right Nsekhe/Jackson/Allen/Brewer/Havenstein. When Shelton comes he plays RG. Another possibility would be Brewer at LG and Jackson at LT when Shelton returns. Either way Evans should never see the field again. I'll take practice squad players over him.

 

[fearsomefour]

Chandler Brewer played a good game.

Troy Hill did too. He fits this defense well. I wish they had JJ back too.

I would fully expect McVay to replace Brewer with Shelton and keep Evans in.....
Joking aside, if Shelton can't go we better see Aboushi and Brewer at G this week.....or......bad words.

 

[fearsomefour]

Their best line would be from left to right Nsekhe/Jackson/Allen/Brewer/Havenstein. When Shelton comes he plays RG. Another possibility would be Brewer at LG and Jackson at LT when Shelton returns. Either way Evans should never see the field again. I'll take practice squad players over him.

In reality, he is a practice squad player.

 

[Tano]

I would fully expect McVay to replace Brewer with Shelton and keep Evans in.....
Joking aside, if Shelton can't go we better see Aboushi and Brewer at G this week.....or......bad words.

My wife will hear me cuss again if Evans is in the starting line-up this Sunday

 

[RamDino]

Rams may need to bench Stafford. Might preserve him for when they get this line unfucked.

Merlin, I mentioned this a couple of times already but I would like to hear your opinion. Obviously benching Stafford is not what the Rams need right now. But how about playing Perkins once in a while to avoid the pass rush and hopefully gaining some yards running, ala Lamar Jackson? Or how about trying the wildcat as a change of pace. Put Akers back there and let's see what he can do on his own with an additional blocker. Then when Stafford comes back in, the Rams can use play action to fool the defense. The point is that McVay has to try something new to OPEN UP THE RUN GAME, and I'm not sure what options he has right now. 12 personnel has not done much in the past, nor has changing up the linemen.

 

[Corbin]

I understand and expected Lewis to be shit this year but wtf is up with Floyd? Seriously?

It’s very concerning… i see them chipping him a lot but fuck the dude seemed absent and out of it the first 5 games. He’ll surface then completely disappear again? IDK.

 

[Merlin]

Merlin, I mentioned this a couple of times already but I would like to hear your opinion. Obviously benching Stafford is not what the Rams need right now. But how about playing Perkins once in a while to avoid the pass rush and hopefully gaining some yards running, ala Lamar Jackson? Or how about trying the wildcat as a change of pace. Put Akers back there and let's see what he can do on his own with an additional blocker. Then when Stafford comes back in, the Rams can use play action to fool the defense. The point is that McVay has to try something new to OPEN UP THE RUN GAME, and I'm not sure what options he has right now. 12 personnel has not done much in the past, nor has changing up the linemen.

I don't think that is a bad suggestion given how poorly the OL has played. But I also think McVay is quite stubborn in what he wants. He traded Goff because he didn't want to live in a safe world of checkdowns. I think that demonstrated that he will go down in flames in doing it his way if necessary, and before he would entertain any radical change in approach.

This is why I think they should have made a move for a RB. Because even though right now the OL is not opening holes well enough to matter they may be doing that in a few games but we will be stuck with the same set of backs that has failed to get the job done in the past. Do we have enough there to get the ground game and thus the offense going? It just feels bad to me but we'll see.

Brewer maybe factoring in at guard could be a big deal. They just have to get the guard spots settled. Running the ball would help but if not they are going to need to get a ton better at pass pro. Because Stafford reverts immediately to bad habits when protections degrade past a certain point.

 

[Merlin]

I understand and expected Lewis to be shit this year but wtf is up with Floyd? Seriously?

It’s very concerning… i see them chipping him a lot but fuck the dude seemed absent and out of it the first 5 games. He’ll surface then completely disappear again? IDK.

Yeah he's going to find himself moved to some backwater team if he doesn't pick his game up. Rams require production from the guys who get paid. I suspect he's been hurt but in the end it still comes down to what extent he can live up to his contract. Whether you're hurt or not can you perform to the required level so he needs to do better.