PFF grades: Nate Landman stands out in Week 14 blowout win

There wasn’t much to dislike in the Los Angeles Rams’ 45-17 blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams moved to 10-3 on the season to keep pace with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West and climbed back to first place in the NFC conference.

The next two weeks bring difficult challenges in the Detroit Lions and Seahawks. Before we turn the page, let’s visit the Pro Football Focus (PFF) game data from Week 14:

Top five grades on offense

1 – Puka Nacua, WR: 97.4

What is there left to say about Puka Nacua? He hadn’t been filling up the stat sheet as much as we are accustomed to in recent weeks, but he blew the lid off this game and was clearly the best player on the field. He finished with seven receptions on 10 targets for 167 yards and two scores. Just 32 yards came after the catch, which is somewhat unusual for him.

He made catches on four different Cardinals defenders, burning them all for more than 20 yards:

Jalen Thompson, FS: 1/2 for 20 yards
Will Johnson, CB: 3/4 for 69 yards, 2 TDs
Denzel Burke, CB: 2/2 for 46 yards
Budda Baker, SS: 1/1 for 32 yards

2 – Matthew Stafford, QB: 93.9

The offensive line allowed just two pressures on the day and provided time for Matthew Stafford to find his targets downfield. This was the most vertical as we’ve seen of the connection between Stafford and Nacua.

Stafford tossed a season-high six big-time throws without a single turnover-worthy play. He finished with 22 completions on 31 attempts (71.0%) for 281 yards and three scores.

3 – Alaric Jackson, LT: 92.1

Jackson was basically perfect in this game. He earned an impressive run blocking grade of 94.5 and drew a pass blocking grade of 86.8 without a pressure. Jackson was flagged once for a penalty.

4 – Blake Corum, RB: 91.9

5 – Kyren Williams, RB: 83.4

Let’s take Corum and Williams together.

Williams: 13 rushes for 84 yards (6.5 avg), 1 TD
Corum: 12 rushes for 128 yards (10.7 avg), 2 TDs

Corum had 45 yards after contact (3.75 avg) while Williams gained 64 (4.92 avg). Williams forced more missed tackles at five (Corum four). Corum finished with four runs over 10 yards and three over 15 yards while Williams had two and one, respectively.

Other notes on offense

While he didn’t finish with a reception with only a single target, Terrance Ferguson still made an impact on this game with his run blocking. He earned a grade of 82.0 which finished behind only Jackson and Kevin Dotson. The Rams are running out of excuses to not grow the rookie’s role in the offense.