Rams PFF grades: Best and worst performers in Week 15 win vs. Lions

The Los Angeles Ramssurvived a shootout with the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon thanks to a highly efficient offense and a defense that made the perfect adjustments at halftime. In the first half, it looked like the Lions might put up 50 on the Rams but Chris Shula got his unit back on track and held Detroit to just 10 points after halftime.

Pro Football Focus gave out a lot of positive grades on the offensive side of the ball, and there were a few bright spots on defense, too. The secondary, however, struggled badly in the win, specifically the cornerbacks.

Here are the most notable PFF grades to know (min. 10 snaps).

Top 5 offense

  • WR Puka Nacua: 95.0
  • TE Colby Parkinson: 88.9
  • RG Kevin Dotson: 80.9
  • WR Davante Adams: 79.9
  • RT Warren McClendon Jr.: 77.3

After setting a new single-game PFF record with the highest grade ever by a wide receiver last week (97.4), Nacua came back with a 95.0 grade on Sunday, the best of any wideout in the NFL. He now has the two highest game grades among qualified wide receivers in the league this season.

Parkinson had his best game as a Ram, catching five passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Dotson allowed three pressures and two sacks but still somehow had a 65.6 pass-blocking grade.

Before getting hurt, Adams caught four passes for 71 yards and was doing a ton of damage on intermediate routes.

McClendon, going up against Aidan Hutchinson for part of the game, allowed only one pressure and no QB hits.

Top 5 defense

  • OLB Josaiah Stewart: 82.6
  • LB Omar Speights: 80.8
  • DT Kobie Turner: 78.2
  • NT Poona Ford: 76.9
  • OLB Jared Verse: 73.1

Stewart only played 12 snaps and didn’t have any pressures but he finished with the highest grade of any Rams defender this week with just two tackles and no catches allowed.

Speights made three tackles and had one pressure on a blitz, but he also missed one tackle.

Turner’s grade probably should’ve been even higher for the impact he had, landing a quarterback hit and recording one sack out of his four pressures, which were second on the team.

Ford had three pressures and one stop, earning a team-best 85.0 pass-rush grade.

Verse had a team-high five pressures and finished with two tackles with one miss.

Bottom 5 offense

  • LT Alaric Jackson: 64.2
  • C Coleman Shelton: 63.5
  • TE Davis Allen: 59.3
  • TE Terrance Ferguson: 53.6
  • WR Konata Mumpfield: 52.2

Jackson gave up three pressures, which included two QB hits, but he didn’t allow a sack.

Shelton had a solid 73.7 pass-blocking grade with no pressures allowed, but his run-blocking grade of 59.4 suffered.

Allen and Ferguson each had grades on the lower end. Ferguson dropped a would-be touchdown in the end zone, while Allen had a 56.3 run-blocking grade, which weighed his overall grade down.

Mumpfield ran 19 routes but was only targeted once and didn’t catch a pass.

Bottom 5 defense

  • CB Josh Wallace: 58.1
  • DL Tyler Davis: 54.9
  • CB Cobie Durant: 52.3
  • S Jaylen McCollough: 47.3
  • CB Emmanuel Forbes Jr.: 37.5

The secondary clearly had its share of struggles against the Lions, as evidenced by these bottom-five grades. Wallace gave up six catches for 83 yards on eight targets, including one touchdown. Durant surrendered 68 yards on four catches (four targets) and two touchdowns, and Forbes allowed five catches on eight targets for 76 yards.

McCollough’s grade was brought down by his two missed tackles, and his coverage grade of 52.4 was also on the lower side.

Davis was one of many Rams defenders who missed a tackle and also had just one pressure.

Other notables

  • S Kamren Kinchens: 72.4
  • RB Kyren Williams: 72.0
  • OLB Byron Young: 69.4
  • RB Blake Corum: 68.5

Kinchens didn’t miss any tackles, had one pressure, made four tackles and didn’t allow a single reception (zero targets).

Williams and Corum were both tough to bring down, combining for 149 yards on 26 carries with three touchdowns. Williams forced one missed tackle but Corum did not.

Young tied for second on the team with four pressures and also had three tackles with no misses.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: LA Rams PFF grades: Best, worst players in Week 15 vs. Lions

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