The Rams were blown out in every phase of the game Monday night, losing 45-6 to the Baltimore Ravens. It was their worst loss in franchise history, and the most uninspiring performance under Sean McVay.
Nothing went right for them on either side of the ball, dropping their fifth game of the season with yet another touchdown-less 60 minutes of football. As hard as it is to believe, there were a few decent performances from a group of players, but there were far more who really struggled.
Here are our studs and duds from Week 12.
Studs
OLB Samson Ebukam
Ebukam was one of the few bright spots for the Rams, actually getting the start over Dante Fowler Jr. despite playing fewer snaps than him in the game. He had 1.5 sacks, three QB hits and one tackle for loss, doing a good job of keeping Lamar Jackson in the pocket by setting the edge. His speed was evident, too, showing excellent burst and explosion when chasing down Jackson.
DE Michael Brockers
Brockers continues to have a great season for the Rams. although it’s hard to call any defensive lineman a “stud” when the opponent rushes for 285 yards, but the majority of the Ravens’ biggest runs went away from Brockers. He made eight tackles, had one sack and a tackle for a loss, getting good penetration against the right side of the Ravens’ offensive line.
Offensive line
Surprisingly, the offensive line was a positive against Baltimore. The Ravens blitz more than any team in the NFL and the Rams’ offensive line did a good job against it. The two sacks Jared Goff took were on a corner blitz and a play where Gerald Everett was blocking Matt Judon. Outside of those two plays, Goff was only hit four times on 37 pass attempts. There wasn’t a whole lot of running room, but the Rams also only ran the ball seven times with running backs.
Duds
Rams’ safeties
The safeties were going to have to play a big role in this game, knowing how often Jackson targets his tight ends. The Ravens’ tight ends only had three catches for 52 yards, but that doesn’t excuse the play of Los Angeles’ safeties. Eric Weddle missed a few tackles, Marqui Christian was in coverage on two of Jackson’s touchdown passes and Taylor Rapp did very little against the run. Weddle also appeared to blow his coverage on Jackson’s first touchdown to Marquise Brown.
OLB Clay Matthews
This was a game to forget for Matthews. He was only in on two tackles, but his inability to get off blocks and set an edge on the strong side was even worse and impossible to ignore. Most of the Ravens’ biggest runs went right at Matthews on the left side of the defense, and that’s not a coincidence. He did very little as a pass rusher, either.
DT Aaron Donald
Donald was almost shut out of this game, making just one assisted tackle. He was being double-teamed throughout the game and rarely had any opportunities to rush the passer, but it was hardly a good performance by the two-time Defensive Player of the Year. The Ravens had a game plan for neutralizing Donald and it worked to perfection. He was a non-factor.
WR Cooper Kupp
Kupp continues to struggle, partly because of Jared Goff’s trouble at quarterback, too. He was targeted a game-high 10 times, but he caught just six passes for 35 yards. His longest catch went for 9 yards and he dropped a pass that led to an interception on the Rams’ final drive. His impact was minimal in this one, as has been the case the previous two weeks.
Sean McVay and Wade Phillips
Much of this game falls on the coaching staff. McVay was conservative with his play calling, running the ball on third-and-13 early in the game and punting the ball on fourth-and-2 from his own 33-yard line.
Phillips did not have his defense ready for the Ravens, and it showed with Baltimore’s ability to march down the field drive after drive. The tackling was poor, the coverage was lacking and the Rams’ discipline up front against the run was concerning.
Losses like this fall on the entire team, but the coaching staff did almost nothing to set the players up for success.
