Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans saints in Week 9 34-10. LA advanced to 6-2 on the season.
The Rams have mostly set the cruise control to “victory mode” and rode to two wins that seemed relatively effortless. They face two important NFC West opponents over the next couple of weeks that will help set the pecking order within the division.
Before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look at the Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades and top performers from the win.
Nacua played only 39 of 80 offensive snaps as the Rams leaned into 13 personnel (45% of plays) and before the star receiver left the game with a chest injury. He caught all seven of his targets for 95 yards and a touchdown in addition to converting a fourth and short scenario with his legs.
Most important is Nacua’s health into Week 10 when the Rams travel to take on the San Francisco 49ers.
While we did not see much of Ferguson in the early going, he’s demonstrated that he’s a formidable vertical threat with strong run after the catch ability. The more we see of Ferguson, the more there is seemingly to like.
The rookie caught two of three targets for 54 yards with 18 coming after the catch point. He was utilized as a run blocker (58%) more often than as a pass catcher, which is noteworthy moving forward.
The last two weeks are some of the best performances we’ve seen from Matthew Stafford as a Ram. In this game he was credited with two big-time throws and kept the ball out of harm’s way without a turnover-worthy play. It will be difficult to edge out Sam Darnold for PFF’s number one quarterback on the season, though he and Stafford are currently neck and neck.
Allen earned an elite passing grade of 90.5 and drew positive marks as a run blocker (73.7). The Rams are leaning into their usage of heavy personnel, and it works because Allen is both a useful player as a receiver and as a blocker. 33 of Allen’s 37 receiving yards came after the catch and he displayed an impressive physicality as a runner.
In a reverse from what we saw from Adams early in the season, he’s catching nearly everything thrown in his direction these days.
Adams hauled in five of seven targets for 60 yards and two scores. He’s the Rams’ go to receiving threat in the end zone and his connection with Stafford on the fade is a thing of beauty. We can debate whether this is a wise and/or efficient football play; however, we cannot deny that some players—Adams included—are simply better at this route and at the catchpoint than others.
!["[Davante Adams] is an unbelievable teammate" 🤝 #nfl #rams #shorts](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EnhF-5hsqXI/mqdefault.jpg)
