Rams week 2 report card: grading every position group vs Cards...

Rams Week 2 report card: Grading every position vs. Cardinals

Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

The Los Angeles Rams won in lopsided fashion Sunday, beating the Cardinals 34-0 at home. It was as strong a victory as we’ve seen from Sean McVay’s squad, absolutely owning Arizona in every phase of the game.

Here’s how we graded each position group from the Week 2 win, from quarterback to special teams.

Quarterback

Jared Goff was far better in Week 2 than he was in the season opener. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 354 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He made a couple of mistakes, namely the ill-advised throw that Patrick Peterson picked off, but otherwise, he was very sharp.

His connection with Brandin Cooks is growing by the day, which is bad news for opposing cornerbacks. Todd Gurley did most of the scoring with three touchdowns, but he was stymied as a runner. That led to Goff stepping up and airing it out, which is great to see from the young QB.

Grade: B+

Running back

Gurley didn’t have much room to run on Sunday, totaling just 42 yards on 19 carries. He did, however, score three touchdowns and catch three passes for 31 yards. Malcolm Brown spelled Gurley at the end of the game, rushing for 46 yards on 12 carries, including a nice 19-yard gain on a toss.

It wasn’t a great day for the Rams’ backs, but they still got the job done in pass protection, as receivers and in the red zone. Two of Gurley’s runs came from inside the 2-yard line, helping finish off drives in a way the Rams were unable to in Week 1.

Grade: B-

Wide receiver

Cooks was the star of the show on Sunday afternoon, catching seven passes for 159 yards. He still hasn’t scored a touchdown with the Rams, but he’ll find the end zone eventually. This week, he connected with Goff on a nice deep pass down the middle of the field after drawing two defensive pass interference penalties in Week 1.

Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp had strong performances, too, catching six passes each for 81 yards and 63 yards, respectively. Outside of four snaps from Josh Reynolds this season, they’re the only three wide receivers getting any playing time. With this sort of production, it’s easy to see why.

Grade: A

Tight end

It took until the third quarter of Week 2 for a tight end to be targeted as both Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett had two passes each come their way. Higbee scored a 3-yard touchdown and Everett broke loose for a 17-yard gain, but other than that, they did very little. There probably aren’t many teams in the NFL getting less production out of their tight ends than the Rams right now.

Grade: C-

Offensive line

Another week, another outstanding game from the offensive line. While it wasn’t as dominant as it was against the Raiders in the season opener, the Rams’ offensive line was still very strong against a solid defensive front for Arizona. Goff was sacked twice by Benson Mayowa, but he was only hit three other times in the game. Austin Blythe has been the star of the group, owning the right guard spot in Jamon Brown’s place.

Grade: A


Defensive line

The duo of Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald is still searching for its first sack of 2018, but that doesn’t mean the two All-Pros have been bad thus far. Donald had one quarterback hit and three hurries, while Suh was consistently one of the first players off the snap disrupting Arizona’s offense. The Cardinals only had 54 yards rushing on 15 attempts, including 48 on 13 carries for David Johnson. Once this group gets humming, the entire defense will be even better.

Grade: A-

Inside linebacker

Littleton only had three tackles this time around after leading the team a week ago, but he still played relatively well. Ramik Wilson and Marqui Christian rotated at the other linebacker spot, making nine total tackles. Christian made a nice stop on third down late in the game to force a punt, fitting well as a hybrid safety-linebacker with Mark Barron out.

Grade: B

Outside linebacker

For the second straight week, Ebukam showed flashes of being a good pass rusher for the Rams. He had one sack, nearly had a couple others and displayed good get-off from the weakside. He finished with two quarterback hits and just one tackle, but generating pressure is his top priority, even if he can’t turn it into sacks.

Dominique Easley was listed as a starter but wound up playing fewer snaps than John Franklin-Myers on the edge. Neither was particularly effective against the pass, continuing the Rams’ struggle to find a consistent starter opposite Ebukam.

Grade: B

Cornerback

If you watched Sunday’s game, you probably didn’t notice the Rams’ cornerbacks much or hear their names called very often. Believe it or not, that’s a good thing. Arizona’s wide receivers hardly challenged Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, catching 12 passes for just 70 yards. Talib batted away two of the three passes that came in his direction, while Peters was barely tested on the left side of the field.

Nickell Robey-Coleman held his own in the slot, while Sam Shields picked off a pass against Sam Bradford after undercutting the receiver’s route. This secondary is loaded with talent.

Grade: A+

Safety

John Johnson fared much better Sunday than he did in Week 1 when Jared Cook gave him a lot of trouble. He shut down Ricky Seals-Jones, who Sam Bradford constantly tried to get going in the passing game.

Lamarcus Joyner had a quiet day, but the Cardinals were unable to complete anything remotely downfield thanks to his over-the-top coverage.

Grade: A

Special teams

No Johnny Hekker? No Pharoh Cooper? No problem. Johnny Hekker made a field goal and an extra point with Cooper Kupp holding for him, JoJo Natson was outstanding on kick and punt returns and the coverage unit was great when it came to stopping Arizona in the return game.

Grade: A