Studs and duds from Rams 37-point win over Broncos…

Studs and duds from Rams' 37-point win over Broncos in Week 16

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva



hockingly, it was the Los Angeles Rams who were the ones putting up all the points. They came out of nowhere and scored 51 points against the Denver Broncos, who entered the week with a top-five defense.

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They cruised to a 51-14 win at home, their fifth victory of the season – and by far the most shocking. Here’s a look at the most notable performances on the Rams’ side, and it was all studs and no duds.

Stud: Cam Akers

Is Cam Akers back to being the player he was in 2020? He sure looked like it against the Broncos on Sunday, rushing for a season-high 118 yards. He became the Rams’ first 100-yard rusher of the season, also scoring three touchdowns for the first time in his career. Denver had no interest in tackling him and Akers took full advantage with an outstanding performance at home on Christmas. It was good to see him get involved as a receiver, too, catching two passes for 29 yards.

Stud: Bobby Wagner

Wagner said back in August that he wanted to sack Russell Wilson and send him home unhappy on Christmas – half-jokingly, we assume. Well, not only did he sack Wilson, but he also picked him off in the first quarter to set up a Rams touchdown. Being Wilson’s former teammate, Wagner probably loved the performance he had against the Broncos on Sunday. He’s been the Rams’ most consistent player all year and that remained true this week.

Stud: Larrell Murchison

Murchison just joined the Rams a couple of weeks ago after being claimed off waivers and this was his first game being active. He delivered with a career-best performance, finishing with two sacks on Wilson (after initially being credited with 2.5 sacks) to go with four tackles. No. 52 has belonged to Terrell Lewis for the last couple of years, and in one game, Murchison nearly matched Lewis’ career-high in sacks in one season (3.0).

Stud: Baker Mayfield

Mayfield looked so comfortable in this offense on Sunday. He started the game by completing his first 11 passes of the game for 112 yards and a touchdown, finishing the afternoon with an excellent stat line of 24-for-28, 230 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t make any costly plays or turn the ball over, operating the offense as it was designed to. For a guy in just his third game with the Rams, Mayfield looked like he’s been playing in Los Angeles for years.

Stud: Tyler Higbee

It was a quiet season for Higbee up until last week when he scored his first touchdown. Then on Sunday, he erupted. He caught nine passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns, bringing his season total to three and giving him the franchise record for career touchdowns by a tight end. Higbee could’ve had another short catch, too, but he dropped it in the flat, which has been a problem for him all year. He was suddenly unguardable and the Broncos had no answer for him in coverage.

Studs: Cobie Durant and Jalen Ramsey

It’s a mystery as to why Durant didn’t get more playing time earlier in the season after picking off Marcus Mariota in his Week 2 debut, riding the bench for most of the year after that – along with battling an injury. But against the Broncos, he came up with a spectacular leaping interception to set up the Rams’ first touchdown of the day. Later on in the fourth quarter, Durant jumped a route and picked off Brett Rypien, returning it 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Rams 51 points.

Ramsey didn’t have a pick-six like Durant, but he did have one interception. He picked off Wilson on a deep shot to the end zone, recovering after Greg Dulcich got behind the defense. Ramsey also pressured Wilson once on a blitz and continued to play well as a run defender, showing he’s still a premier cornerback.

Studs: Rams’ offensive linemen

Let’s give the Rams’ offensive line some credit in what’s been an awful season for just about everyone up front. This was their best performance of the year, creating massive holes for Akers and protecting Mayfield almost perfectly in the pocket. The Broncos only landed one hit on Mayfield all game, which shows how well the offensive line played. Oday Aboushi was great in the running game and the tackles, Rob Havenstein and Ty Nsekhe, thrived in pass protection on the edge.

Duds: None

In a 51-14 win, there really weren’t any notably poor performances on the Rams’ part. The Broncos sure had a bunch of duds in this one, led by Wilson, but this is a Rams site so we’re focused on the winning side only.

L.A. picked a perfect day to go dud-less for the first time this season, spending Christmas steamrolling the Broncos.