Los Angeles Rams versus Minnesota Vikings: Stock up, stock down

Wow. In an indescribable and highly emotional night and contest, the Los Angeles Rams escaped with another win improving their unbeaten record to 4-0.

The game was a high scoring affair that finished with a score of 38-31 for the home team.

Let’s take a look at the stock report:

Stock Down

K Sam Ficken

Once again, it wasn’t all terrible for Ficken. He actually scored all five of his extra points and went 1-for-2 on field goals, though his miss from 28 yards was awful. It came at an awful point in the game as the three points would have put the Rams up by 13, instead they were only up by 10 and the Vikings came right back with a touchdown nearly tying the game.

CB Sam Shields

Shields was not the only defensive back who struggled - matter of fact, majority of the defense did. But it was clear the Vikings loved picking on Shields last night for whatever reason. I wouldn’t say it’s a cause for concern because Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are a downright dominant duo, but Aldrick Robinson shouldn’t be scoring a touchdown on Shields and Marcus Peters in coverage. Also, Shields’ almost-INT-turned-3rd down conversion was a turning point in the game.

OLB Matt Longacre

Matt Longacre is being depended up on to step up with edge Dominique Easley out, but he hasn’t separated himself in any shape or form. Whether it’s the injury or lack of pass rush, Longacre hasn’t been able to distinguish himself at all. The Rams will need more from the co-starter moving forward.

WR Josh Reynolds

Reynolds hasn’t been asked to do much recently, but his rep on the fake-punt-pass was very poor. The only explanation that’s acceptable is he might have lost the ball in the lights, but even then, he didn’t even bother going for the pass which certainly looked catchable. For a guy who’s huge and a jump-ball type receiver, you expect Reynolds to put forth a better effort than that.

Stock Up

WR’s Cooper Kupp, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods

This trio is the best in the league and I’m not sure any other receiving corps is close. Kupp was the lead dog last night pulling a 9-162-2 line and looking absolutely un-coverable all night. Brandin Cooks managed to score his first touchdown as a Ram in his 7-116-1 line. Lastly, Robert Woods started to dial in-in the second half and took advantage of his opportunities registering a 5-101-1 line. These three were absolutely brilliant against a very good Vikings defense.. The trio looks like they might all be able to crack 1,000 yards receiving a piece.

Rams’ OL

Unreal. This offensive line is on something because they continue to put forth the leagues best performance from an OL group. The Rams’ running attack only had 100 yards though that was clearly not the plan of attack. They averaged 5.0 yards per rush which is fantastic. Not only that, but Jared Goff was sacked one single time and was generally given pristine pockets to work from. Anytime your quarterback can close in on 500 yards, you know the offensive line was absolutely dealing.

QB Jared Goff

Elite. These past two weeks haven’t been good from Goff - they haven’t been great either. They’ve been ELITE. Goff continues to prove he’s not just a guy that works well in the system. Some of the pin-point accurate throws he’s making are jaw-dropping. Going 26/33 for 465 yards and 5 TD’s with 0 INT’s, Goff literally looked unstoppable. He was finding open receivers left, right, and center. And when they weren’t open, he was throwing them open. The touchdowns to Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Brandin Cooks were absolute dimes. The corner TD to Kupp defied all the laws of physics.

DT’s Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh

The Rams’ handsomely paid defensive lineman are starting to show out. They started the game by collectively stopping the run - and it worked. The Vikings averaged a measly 3.2 yards per run. Aaron Donald finally managed to register his first legitimate sack - actually, he got two. Also, Ndamukong Suh notched another sack coming off defensive end for his second on the season.