Inglewood, Calif. — Justin Rogers grades the Detroit Lions’ performance in their 28-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Quarterback
Jared Goff wasn’t perfect, but he was nearly good enough for the Lions to win, if not for a critical error under duress in the closing minutes of the contest.
Through the first half, he showed poise in the pocket and generally made the right reads, particularly on a drive inside two minutes remaining in the second quarter. That’s when he delivered a perfect deep ball to Kalif Raymond and followed it up with another throw to the same receiver after progressing through multiple reads, leading to a field goal.
Goff misfired a couple of times, but his biggest mistake came with the game on the line, when he forced a pass into a tight window when pressured (and hit) by superstar defensive lineman Aaron Donald, resulting in an interception that allowed the Rams to seal the win. Grade: B
Running backs
D’Andre Swift kickstarted the day for the Lions when he took a short screen pass on third down, managed to keep his feet through an early stumble and burst through the Rams secondary for a 63-yard touchdown. That fueled a 144-yard performance for Swift that was only marred by his inability to convert a third-and-one and fourth-and-one carry on back-to-back plays in the third quarter, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Jamaal Williams continued his efficient season as the backfield complement, gaining 57 yards on 12 carries. Grade: B+
Wide receivers/tight ends
Kalif Raymond dropped the first pass his way, but recovered to deliver the best performance of his career, catching six balls for 115 yards, including three for 49 on a drive at the end of the first half that led to a field goal. He also added an explosive gain in the third quarter that led to another three points.
The other receivers only mustered a single catch for 3 yards on three targets, but Geronimo Allison had a key block on Swift’s 63-yard score and KhaDarel Hodge blocked up the defender on a key third-down conversion late in the fourth quarter.
From the tight ends, T.J. Hockenson contributed a quiet 48 yards on six grabs. Grade: C+
Offensive line
It wasn’t a particularly impressive effort from the ground game, but 25 carries averaging 4.2 yards per pop from the running backs is a decent day at the office. The same can be said for keeping the Rams’ pass rush in check. They did get home for a pair of sacks and two more quarterback hits, including Donald’s game-changer in the fourth quarter, but that’s not too bad given they were stacking the box and often selling out to stop the run. Grade: B-
Defensive line
The Lions kept the Rams in check on the ground, limiting running backs Darrell Henderson and Sony Michel to 49 yards on 17 carries. In terms of the pass rush, the interior didn’t get a whole lot accomplished, giving quarterback Matthew Stafford too many clean pockets to progress through his reads and find open receivers downfield. Grade: C+
Linebackers
Jalen Reeves-Maybin paced the Lions’ linebackers with eight tackles, while Alex Anzalone chipped in seven stops, helping limit the damage the Rams were able to do on the ground. From a pass rush perspective, Detroit aggressively blitzed on third downs, but weren’t able to get home often enough. Reeves-Maybin got through too late on one that led to a conversion on a crossing pattern, while Derrick Barnes was stonewalled by Henderson on another, also leading to a conversion.
On the edges, Julian Okwara quietly had one of his better games, netting a sack on a well run stunt and breaking up a pass on fourth down, getting the ball back to the team’s offense. Grade: B
Secondary
Jerry Jacobs played better than his coverage numbers will probably indicate. He drew a tough-luck flag for a questionable pass interference call that helped the Rams on a touchdown drive, where Jacobs was once again beat, despite relatively tight coverage on receiver Vance Jefferson.
Overall, the Lions conceded too many big plays in the secondary, five gains of 20 or more yards. Tracy Walker wasn’t deep enough in his zone on one and drawn out of position by Stafford looking him off on another, while nickel cornerback AJ Parker got beat in man-to-man coverage by the ultra-talented receiver Cooper Kupp, who lit the Lions up for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Grade: C-
Special teams
It was a banner day for coordinator Dave Fipp’s group, who expertly executed both a surprise onside kick and two punt fakes. Austin Seibert got an excellent bounce allowing Walker to recover the onside kick and Jack Fox, Bobby Price and C.J. Moore all did their jobs to perfection on the fakes.
Seibert also continued to impress in his primary responsibility, making all four of his field goal attempts with a long of 47 yards, while the coverage units were also outstanding, limiting the Rams to a 17.5-yard average on four kickoffs. Grade: A+
Coaches
Detroit’s aggression is its calling card and the players responded with energy and execution after last week’s dismal showing against the Bengals. The biggest complaint would be the rushed fourth down attempt in the fourth quarter that saw Swift stuffed. The Lions leaned too heavily on rookie tight end Brock Wright to get the job done on that play call and it backfired. Grade: B+
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers