Rams PFF grades: Jaylen Watson & Puka Nacua earn top marks vs Bills

The sting of the Los Angeles Rams’ overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills still has not faded. LA fell to 2-3. They are currently third in the NFC West and outside of the playoff picture.

Sure, the schedule lightens up over the next two months. The Rams have not been who we thought they’d be through five games.

Let’s dive into the Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades and advanced metrics. Who can the Rams rely on to get back on track?

Top five grades on offense

1 – Puka Nacua, WR: 85.3

It was clear the Rams intended to get the ball to Nacua often. He was targeted a whopping 24 times and caught 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. Buffalo stuck with their soft zones. Nacua took advantage. He was often targeted on screen plays as well.

Nacua did most of his damage against Davison Igbinosun. He caught six of eight targets for 52 yards with the score. Nacua caught a pass against seven different defenders.

2 – Blake Corum, RB: 74.9

Blake Corum also did his best damage as a receiver. He caught three of four targets for 53 yards. 49 yards came after the catch point.

Corum’s opportunities were limited as a runner, although he did find the end zone as did Kyren Williams. Corum rushed five times for 19 yards and broke one off for more than 10 yards.

3 – Alaric Jackson, LT: 73.2

Jackson earned a good/great run blocking grade of 83.0. The Rams still made it their third-straight game with over 50 pass attempts. On a per average basis the rushing attack was less effective on Monday night.

The bigger concern with Jackson is his two-game suspension following a post-game altercation with EDGE defender Bradley Chubb.

4 – Steve Avila, LG: 71.8

Coleman Shelton earned LA’s top pass blocking grade at 87.1. Avila wasn’t far behind at 83.2. Neither allowed a pressure in pass protection.

5 – Matthew Stafford: 69.0

The box score was more kind to Stafford than the PFF grading. The veteran signal caller completed 40 of 54 passes (74.1%) for 383 yards and three touchdowns. PFF credited him for one big-time throw and dinged him for one turnover-worthy play. Stafford got rid of the ball quickly at 2.55 seconds on average. This helped mitigate pressure as he was pressured only 13 times on 56 drop backs. His average depth of target (ADOT) suffered as a result at 6.9 yards.

Applying a 50% drop back threshold, Stafford is currently PFF’s 17th ranked quarterback by passing grade at 67.4. He has more turnover-worthy plays (nine) than big-time throws (eight). Cam Ward ranks 24th, and he’s in jeopardy of getting benched by the Tennessee Titans.

The Bills defense was an opportunity for the Rams offense to get back on track. Instead, it was more of the same. Don’t let the box score fool you. This was not a tremendous game by Stafford.

Other notes on offense

Tutu Atwell played 32 snaps on offense and seems to have a hold on the WR#3 role within the offense. We will see how long it lasts. This was a larger workload than he saw in any game last season and tied the 2024 regular season finale against the Seattle Seahawks where the Rams rested key players. If we are only counting games where LA tried to win, we’d have to go back to his 43-snap effort in Week 5 of 2024.

Top five grades on defense

Players with at least five snaps only

1 – Jaylen Watson, CB: 89.9

The Rams limited Buffalo’s receivers to just 30 yards on three receptions. Coverage was sticky and Josh Allen was forced to turn to either his legs or his running backs and tight ends. It worked until Allen inevitably caught the defense on their heels with a backbreaking scramble. That isn’t Watson’s fault. He did his part.

Watson’s first game back validates just how important he is for the defense. He and Trent McDuffie have been as advertised so far.

2 – Nate Landman, MLB: 79.0

Landman earned a rough PFF coverage grade of 29.7 despite not being targeted. His run defense of 94.5 is stellar.

Landman forced two fumbles on running back James Cook. The second punch out ended a Bills overtime offensive possession in Rams territory and probably should have swayed the outcome in favor of LA.

It has been a long while since Landman has made this list. His return is welcome.

3 – Tyler Davis, DT: 68.0

It’s telling that the rest of the Rams defense graded in the 60’s or worse. Buffalo was effective in the traditional run game as well as Allen making them pay with his legs. The pass defense limited the damage enough to keep things close.

Davis earned the second-highest run grade behind Landman at 69.4. Poona Ford, who usually excels in this role, was far down the list at 54.1. At least the Rams were able to depend on Davis against the Bills.

4 – Trent McDuffie, CB: 60.3

5 – Omar Speights, MLB: 58.4

Other notes on defense

Credit to Quentin Lake for fighting through an injury to be available on Monday night. It still wasn’t his best performance. He was the lowest graded player on defense despite playing all 63 defensive snaps. He finished with a mark of just 28.4 and allowed three receptions for 81 yards on five targets.