Thursday night brought another loss for the Los Angeles Rams, their second straight defeat of the season. They’re now 3-2 on the year and in third place in the division, which is unfamiliar territory for this Sean McVay-led team.
Though their 30-29 loss to the Seahawks hurts, there was progress made. The offense showed more balance, Jared Goff took care of the football and the pass rush actually generated some pressure thanks to Aaron Donald’s attention-garnering play.
Here are the studs and duds from Thursday’s loss.
Studs
Aaron Donald
There have been some folks questioning Donald’s play this season because he had just one sack in four games. He didn’t have one on Thursday night, but his play in prime time should silence all the foolish critics who only look at his stats. Donald was in the backfield throughout the game, slipping by offensive linemen like he was in the Matrix.
He may not have stuffed the stat sheet, but his relentless pressure and ability to get in the backfield quickly changed how the Seahawks operated and led to tackles for loss by his teammates.
Jared Goff
Goff’s numbers don’t look as eye-popping as they did last week when he had 45 completions and 517 yards, but he played a better game. Yes, he had his share of misses and near-interceptions, but he did enough to win the game. Greg Zuerlein just couldn’t convert the 44-yarder.
He made some pretty throws down the field, like this one to Cooper Kupp…
… and this one to Brandin Cooks over the top.
Goff finished with 395 yards with one touchdown and an interception, but the turnover wasn’t his fault. It was a good pass that went off of Gerald Everett’s hands.
Gerald Everett
Speaking of Everett, his night shouldn’t be marred by the late drop that led to the interception. He broke up with a career-best game, catching seven passes for a career-high 136 yards. His 11 targets were three more than his previous career-high.
He was impossible to bring down in the open field, breaking tackles left and right throughout the game.
Here’s another example of his determination and physicality after the catch.
This was also a great grab by the young tight end to put the Rams in field goal range on their final drive of the game.
He played 18 more snaps than Tyler Higbee and appears to be TE1 on the depth chart now. This was a great performance by him, and we didn’t even mention his block on Todd Gurley’s 1-yard touchdown run.
Cooper Kupp
Kupp has been on fire lately, posting his fourth straight 100-yard game on Thursday night with nine more catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted a whopping 17 times by Goff and for good reason: He was open often.
While he didn’t have any spectacular catches, and he had one drop late in the game, his awareness is unmatched. On a route over the middle before the two-minute warning, he outran a defender to the sideline to stop the clock.
He found a hole for Goff on his touchdown, sitting down in the zone .
Duds
Marcus Peters
Peters allowed another long touchdown, just as he did last week to Mike Evans. This time, though, he didn’t make up for it with a pick-six this time around. In fact, he gave up a second touchdown after he whiffed on a tackle after a screen pass to David Moore.
Peters has struggled in coverage this season, even with the Rams going to a zone-heavier scheme. He’s quickly playing his way out of a contract extension in L.A.
Aqib Talib
It’s entirely possible Talib has hit a wall at the end of his career. He was lost in coverage against Rashaad Penny, a play in which he was called for pass interference and still allowed a completion. He also got flagged for defensive holding against a tight end, negating a holding penalty against the Seahawks.
Talib has to be better moving forward if the secondary wants to turn things around because if both he and Peters struggle, it’s going to be bad news for the Rams.
Greg Zuerlein
Zuerlein has missed two field goal attempts inside 45 yards this season, which is uncharacteristic for him after he missed two such tries in the last two years combined. None were bigger than this one, though, as he pushed a 44-yarder just wide right on a kick that would’ve won the game for Los Angeles.
Rob Havenstein
Havenstein got worked by Jadeveon Clowney on several occasions Thursday night, which is to be expected for most tackles. He nearly allowed a sack in the end zone after getting beat by Clowney, and was also flagged for another penalty – this one a false start on the Rams’ final drive of the game. His play this season has been hugely disappointing and is a big part of the offensive line’s struggles.
Brian Allen
Allen had trouble against Quinton Jefferson, Poona Ford and the Seahawks’ other interior defenders, allowing pressure on Goff and failing to make blocks on outside runs to Todd Gurley. Allen hasn’t made a smooth transition to starter this season and it’s a major concern for the Rams. Thursday’s game was an example of why the Rams should be worried about Allen’s performance.
