RamsWire: Studs and duds from Rams' 23-20 win over Broncos

Studs and duds from Rams' 23-20 win over Broncos
By: Cameron DaSilva | 1 minute ago

The Denver Broncos took the Los Angeles Rams down to the wire on Sunday afternoon, nearly pulling off the upset. However, The Rams were just too much for Denver to handle as Los Angeles squeaked out a 23-20 victory on the road.

The Rams are now 10-1 away from home since Sean McVay took over last season and have now won six straight games to start the year. As always, there were standout players for both good and bad reasons, which we call studs and duds.

Here are three from each side of the coin.

Studs

Todd Gurley

There wasn’t a better player on the field Sunday than Gurley. With the Broncos ranking 30th against the run this season and having just allowed a 200-yard rusher, Sean McVay set his sights on the rush defense and took advantage. Gurley carried it 28 times for 208 yards with two touchdowns, adding another 17 yards receiving on two catches.

This was the “Gurley game” we’ve been waiting for as he went off with big run after big run. He was especially good late in the game, picking up key third-down conversions to help milk the clock. With 11 total touchdowns through six games, the MVP campaign is gaining steam.

Aaron Donald

Shocker. Gurley, followed by Donald on the list of studs. It may seem repetitive, but you can’t keep arguably the best defensive player in the NFL off this list each week. He was a monster against the Broncos, recording a sack for a 14-yard loss, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss.

He finished with three total tackles, but he also drew a holding penalty and was consistently in the Broncos’ backfield. Even when he’s not stuffing the stat sheet, he’s having a big impact.

Cory Littleton

Littleton has turned into a really good player for the Rams. He may not be the biggest or the most physically imposing linebacker, in the league, but he fights through traffic and is able to slip blockers with his elusiveness in the middle of the field. He did just that on Sunday, while also making a few plays against the pass.

He broke up a seam pass in the second half, which was intercepted by John Johnson. On the Broncos’ final drive of the game, he provided great coverage on the running back and was able to get his hand in the running lane to cause the incompletion. Littleton had five tackles and two pass deflections on the day.

Duds

Troy Hill

Fans seem enamored by Hill’s play, partly because of his eye-popping PFF numbers in the Rams’ playoff loss last year, but he simply hasn’t been good this season. Hill struggled mightily on Sunday, giving up two big plays to both Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, the first of which appeared to be a touchdown before further review.

He’s been filling in for Aqib Talib, but the Rams should consider giving Sam Shields more time on the outside in the meantime.

Andrew Whitworth

Whitworth was his usual self on the running and screen games, getting big blocks down the field, but he had some trouble in pass protection. Bradley Chubb had three sacks in this one, at least two of which you could pin on Whitworth.

He’s still one of the best left tackles in the league and it’s not as if this is the “beginning of the end,” it was just an off day for the All-Pro.

Jared Goff

Since his 465-yard game against the Vikings, Goff has gone a bit cold. He has just one touchdown and three interceptions in his last two starts, fumbling it twice in that span, as well. On Sunday, he had one interception that went off of the cornerback’s hand, into Josh Reynolds’ facemask and plopped into Darian Stewart’s waiting arms.

Goff was just 14-for-28 with 201 yards and an interception, posting a passer rating of 58.8 on the day. The stats weren’t pretty, and it wasn’t his best showing, but he simply wasn’t very sharp in the cold Denver air.

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

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