Studs and Duds from Rams Week 10 loss to Steelers...

Studs and duds from Rams' Week 10 loss to Steelers

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

The Los Angeles Rams had a chance to go on their second three-game winning streak of the season Sunday, needing a victory over the Steelers to make it happen. They couldn’t get the job done, though, falling 17-12 to the suddenly hot Steelers.

It was an embarrassingly bad performance by the offense, which went 1-for-14 on third down and only gained 313 yards with zero touchdowns. There were some players who had standout performances, but there were far more who failed to impress.

Here are our studs and duds from Week 10.

Studs

Aaron Donald

Donald has nothing left to prove, but he put together a great performance in front of his friends and family in Pittsburgh this weekend. He finished the game with five tackles, a half-sack, three quarterback hits and two tackles for loss. His half-sack came on a play where he and Clay Matthews brought Mason Rudolph down in the end zone for a safety. Donald made several plays that didn’t show up in the box score, too, like one where he forced the running back outside and created a TFL by Taylor Rapp.

Todd Gurley

Despite only getting 12 carries, Gurley had a productive day. He averaged more than 6 yards per carry (73 total yards) and had a long rush of 22 yards, doing a great job of finding running lanes and holes when the offensive line presented them – which wasn’t often. He should’ve had a few catches, too, but one of his targets was a bad throw by Goff and another was simply dropped by Gurley.

Clay Matthews

Matthews played well in his return to the field, recording 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and a batted pass at the line. He also assisted Donald on the Rams’ safety. He had his way with Chukwuma Okorafor off the left side of the defense, generating pressure on Mason Rudolph throughout the second half.


Duds

Troy Hill

Hill did turn things around as the game went on, specifically in the second half, but he still didn’t have a very good showing. On the second drive of the game, he allowed three catches, including a touchdown, and it should’ve been four if not for a drop by Diontae Johnson. He also missed a tackle after a drag route across the field, which allowed the Steelers to convert on third down.

Sean McVay

McVay deserves some blame for this loss. He called a fake punt deep in the Rams’ own zone, which resulted in an interception. He challenged a pass interference call that was upheld and would’ve only saved the Rams 14 yards. McVay also ran the ball twice on third-and-long, showing very little confidence in Jared Goff. His decision to complete abandon Gurley in the fourth quarter was especially controversial, considering Gurley had 73 yards on 12 carries.

Offensive line

The offensive line is a complete mess right now. Brian Allen left the game with a knee injury, which forced Austin Blythe to move to center after already switching to left guard to start the game. Rob Havenstein is consistently getting beat by edge rushers, and no matter who lines up at center, Goff is getting pressured in his face constantly. The Rams have a lot of evaluating to do on the offensive line, but they don’t have many other options up front.

Jared Goff

Goff simply doesn’t look like the same quarterback he was last year. A lot of that is because of the offensive line’s struggles, but he’s missing open targets and has shown a concerning lack of ball security in the pocket. He turned it over twice more on Sunday, including a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. His interception was a terrible read and throw, trying to force a ball into double coverage. The Rams will only make the playoffs if he improves, but he’s shown very few signs of that happening – at least not against the better defenses in the NFL.

Cooper Kupp

After erupting for 220 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals in Week 8, Kupp was blanked by the Steelers. He caught none of his four targets and had the worst game of his career, dropping one target over the middle. It’s hard to imagine him going an entire game without a catch, but Pittsburgh did a good job shutting him down.

Jalen Ramsey

Ramsey played extremely well for the Rams in his first two games with the team, but he didn’t have a great performance in this one. He was called for pass interference twice – although both were questionable – and allowed a few catches to receivers in coverage. It wasn’t a terrible performance by him, but the Steelers did have some success throwing it his way.