Studs and Duds from Rams 30-16 win over Lions...

Studs and duds from Rams' 30-16 win over the Lions

Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

The Detroit Lions hung tough with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, but they simply couldn’t keep up with Sean McVay’s offense. It wasn’t the easiest win of the year for the Rams despite the score indicating it was a lopsided win, but it was a victory, nonetheless.

The Rams won 30-16 behind great games from Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald, among others, clinching the NFC West title and winning their 11th game of the season.


Here are our studs and duds from Sunday’s division-clinching win.

Studs

Dante Fowler Jr.

The Rams acquired Fowler from the Jaguars with the hope that he would provide a spark at outside linebacker, both against the pass and the run. Well, he had a huge game on Sunday against the Lions, showing exactly why the Rams traded for him before the deadline.

Fowler finished the day with five tackles, one sack, one quarterback hit and three tackles for loss, including a key third-down stop to hold the Lions to a field goal. He was around the ball all game long, putting pressure on Matthew Stafford in the pocket. He’s proved to be a great addition to the defense.

Aaron Donald

Another week, another “stud” nomination for Donald. He was a wrecking ball against Detroit and once again showed that no matter how many offensive linemen you commit to stopping him, it’s nearly impossible to shut him down. He racked up two sacks, five tackles, four quarterback hits, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Additionally, he drew three holding penalties in the game, which obviously set the Lions offense back each time. Donald absolutely deserves to be in the MVP conversation with his teammates Jared Goff and Todd Gurley and he has a legitimate chance to set the single-season sacks record this year.

Todd Gurley

So much for that ankle injury, huh? Two weeks after hurting his ankle, Gurley ripped off 23 runs for 132 yards and two touchdowns, adding three receptions for 33 yards. He showed no lingering issues from that injury and proved to be the same player he’s been all season.

Entering this game, the Lions had allowed just 148 rushing yards in the past three weeks. Gurley nearly surpassed that total himself on Sunday, which just goes to show how good he was. On a day where Goff was inaccurate and not sharp, Gurley took over.

Duds


Jared Goff

Goff came out of the bye a little bit rusty. After lighting up the box score the previous five games with 14 touchdowns and one interception, Goff struggled against an average Lions defense. He completed just 17 of 33 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing an ugly interception on a forced pass to Brandin Cooks.

Additionally, Goff coughed up a fumble on a sack, which was recovered by the Lions. He missed a wide-open Gurley for a likely touchdown, overthrew Gerald Everett badly on a couple of passes and wasn’t putting the ball in good spots on fairly easy throws.

Mark Barron and Cory Littleton

We’ll group these two together because they were equally responsible for the Rams’ inability to stop the run. Barron missed several tackles and was out of position on inside runs, allowing the Lions to gain chunk yards repeatedly up the middle.

Littleton also struggled against the run, but Matthew Stafford also picked on him in the passing game. Levine Toilolo had a big game with four catches for 90 yards, a lot of that yardage coming over the top of Littleton in coverage. The Rams may need to make a change at inside linebacker because the run defense is not good.