Winners and losers from Rams thrilling win over Saints...

Winners and losers from Rams' thrilling win over Saints in NFC championship

Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

With a stunning win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams are moving on to the Super Bowl where they’ll face the New England Patriots. They got some outstanding performances from players on both sides of the ball, as well as on special teams, helping lift the Rams to victory.

There was also one disappointing performance from Todd Gurley, as well as plenty of blown calls by the officials. Here are our winners and losers from Sunday’s NFC championship game.

Winners

Greg Zuerlein

The guy who hit the game-winning field goal automatically becomes a winner. Not to mention, he also drilled a game-tying field goal from 48 yards out in regulation, sending the NFC championship to overtime.

Zuerlein came up huge for the Rams on Sunday, making three field goals in the fourth quarter and overtime alone. The last two, of course, were the biggest. His 57-yarder to punch the Rams’ ticket to the Super Bowl is tied for the longest in playoff history, making it quite the historic kick.

Ndamukong Suh

Suh came up huge for the Rams once again, making four tackles, 1.5 sacks, hitting Drew Brees twice and making a tackle for loss. He lined up all over the defensive line, wreaking havoc on the Saints both as a pass rusher and a run stopper. Los Angeles gave him $14 million to play games just like this one and he’s a big reason the Saints’ two-headed monster of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram only rushed for 46 yards on 17 carries.

His biggest plays came on consecutive snaps with less than four minutes left in the second quarter, killing the Saints’ drive with 1.5 sacks on those two plays.

Jared Goff

Everyone wants to talk about the officials, but Goff is a big reason the Rams won the NFC championship game. His numbers weren’t spectacular – 25-for-40, 297 yards, one touchdown and an interception – but he was instrumental in the victory, especially late in the game. His two throws to Tyler Higbee in overtime weren’t for big gains, but they were under duress and kept the drive alive, setting up Zuerlein’s game-winning kick.

One of his best plays came in the fourth quarter, too, as he scrambled to his right and hit Gerald Everett on the run for a 39-yard gain on third-and-3. The Rams would tie the game at 20 on that same drive, but if Goff doesn’t make that play, they may not win the game.

Brandin Cooks

Talk about sweet, sweet revenge. Cooks, formerly of the Saints, not only beat his former team on Sunday, but he caught seven passes for 107 yards, including a key 36-yarder to set up Todd Gurley’s touchdown run. He made several tough catches, both going over the middle and along the sideline.

Josh Reynolds also had a nice game with four catches for 74 yards, but Cooks’ speed made a big difference in this game.

Dante Fowler Jr.

Arguably the biggest play in the game came in overtime on Drew Brees’ interception. That interception, however, doesn’t happen if not for Fowler’s pressure and hit on Brees. It caused the pass to flutter into the waiting arms of John Johnson, lifting the Rams to victory.

Fowler also had another quarterback hit, five tackles, a half-sack and a tackle for loss, so it wasn’t just that single play. He had an outstanding performance in the biggest game of his life.

Rams CBs

All week, people were talking about whether the Rams could contain Michael Thomas. Aqib Talib’s availability after missing Week 9 was sure to make a difference, and it did. Thomas was targeted seven times but only caught four passes for 36 yards – 19 of which came on one play with Marcus Peters in man coverage. Other than that, Thomas got very little.

Talib and Peters did a great job outside on the Saints’ receivers with Ted Ginn leading all wideouts with 58 yards, 43 coming on a deep pass that should’ve been knocked down by Lamarcus Joyner.

Nickell Robey-Coleman made a handful of great plays despite everyone remembering his pass interference no-call, breaking up two passes in the game.


Losers

Todd Gurley

What in the world is wrong with Gurley? He said after the game that he isn’t hurt, he just played “sorry as hell.” He played five fewer snaps than C.J. Anderson, and when he was on the field, he did very little to help the Rams. His five total touches went for 13 yards and a touchdown, while also dropping two passes on third-down plays.

Gurley didn’t appear to be injured in any way and wasn’t on the report all week, so that’s not to blame for his dubious performance. He simply wasn’t effective and those two drops clearly impacted his and Sean McVay’s confidence. Hopefully he gets things right for the Super Bowl where the Rams will undoubtedly need him against the Patriots.

Officials

It was a rough outing for the officials on Sunday in New Orleans. Not only did they blow the no-call on Robey-Coleman, but they also missed two facemask penalties against the Saints, one of which would’ve given the Rams a first down inside the 2-yard line. Instead, they had to settle for a field goal.

Robey-Coleman also could’ve been called for pass interference earlier in the game on third down, grabbing the receiver before the ball got there. The Rams benefited from swallowed whistles, but so did the Saints. The calls went both ways in what was a poorly officiated game.