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Studs and duds from LA’s Week 5 loss to GB
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Studs and duds from LA’s Week 5 loss to GB

The Los Angeles Rams fell to 1-4 on Sunday afternoon, losing 24-19 to the Green Bay Packers. They showed fight by coming back after falling behind 24-13 and had a legitimate chance to win the game late, but they failed on fourth down and fell just short at home against a good Packers team.

Heading into the bye, the Rams still have a lot of work to do. The offense has only scored more than 20 points once all season and the defense has struggled to get off the field when needed. There were a handful of encouraging performances from players on both sides of the ball, but there were also too many disappointing displays.

Here are our studs and duds from the Rams’ 24-19 loss.

Curl played closer to the line of scrimmage in this game with Quentin Lake as a deep safety, and it worked in his favor. He excelled when given the opportunity to rush the passer, pressuring Jordan Love a few times and completing a pass at the line of scrimmage near the Packers’ own end zone. This change from Chris Shula seemed to work in favor of the Rams safety, who has struggled in coverage this season.

Williams hasn’t been the most efficient runner this season, but he was better on Sunday. He broke off his longest run of the season, a 30-yarder to the right side, and consistently moved the chains along the ground with chunk runs of 5 to 7 yards. He also scored a crucial touchdown on third down after Blake Corum was stuffed at the goal line twice, making it 7-7 after the Rams failed to come away with points in their first red zone trip. Yes, he had a fumble, but he kept the Rams in the game with multiple third- and fourth-down runs for first downs.

Turner will always have high expectations for the man who plays the same position as Aaron Donald, but it’s not exactly fair to him. He has been playing well all season, but big plays have been difficult for him and the Rams defense to make. On Sunday, he collected two sacks and forced a fumble. He was consistently in the Packers’ backfield and did a good job pressuring Love.

It wasn’t perfect in his first game back and he didn’t play every second, but Williams certainly provided a boost to the Rams’ secondary. He came up big late in the fourth quarter on third-and-10, forcing an incompletion in tight coverage on Dontayvion wicks down the right sideline to give the Rams a chance with a final drive.

It may be time for the Rams to make a change at linebacker. Not only does Reeder lack athleticism, but he also doesn’t read plays well, whether it’s against the run or pass. He left Tucker Kraft wide open on his 66-yard touchdown, hit the wrong holes on Josh Jacobs’ runs and couldn’t get off blocks on the inside. Despite getting a heavy dose of the run, Reeder still only had five tackles, four of which were assists.

Hoecht struggled to determine the lead throughout last season and it was a problem again on Sunday. He failed to put the lead on Jacobs’ 1-yard touchdown run, which he bounced outside after failing to find space up the middle. He also bit on a Packers run fake, where Love threw it backwards to Jayden Reed for an easy 11-yard gain.

It’s hard to single out one lineman for their play on Sunday, but the entire unit struggled to keep Stafford afloat. His interception was partly due to pressure in his face, and he was sacked on a critical third-down play in the fourth quarter where the pocket simply collapsed around him. For example, Alaric Jackson definitely needs to play better at left tackle.

In total, Stafford was sacked three times and allowed 10 hits, taking an absolute beating in the backfield.

It wasn’t a very good day for Stafford. He completed 29 of 45 passes for 260 yards with one touchdown and a bad interception where he threw into double coverage and didn’t give Tutu Atwell a chance at all. Granted, it was in third place, but it was a terrible decision. Stafford improved his stats late in the game with a good drive in the fourth quarter against soft coverage, but he was a little inaccurate on his downfield throws even when the guys were open. The sack he took on third-and-long from the Packers’ 35-yard line might also have cost the team three points.

Neither player did much when it came to creating pressure on their own. Young did have a hit on the quarterback that led to the pick-six, but it was a horrible tackle attempt that barely caught Jordan Love off guard. It worked because it led to a touchdown, but he has to attack the ball and wrap up the quarterback.

Verse was also largely a non-factor in this one, as he failed to put the lead on Jordan Love’s 12-yard scramble in the fourth quarter to move the chains on third-and-12.