Rams-Bears: Position grades for LA in their 24-10 win on Monday Night

The Los Angeles Rams are 5-2 and they feature one of the NFL’s best defenses through the first seven weeks of the 2020 season. That was fully on display in Monday night’s 24-10 win over the Chicago Bears, a team known for its defense but who got outshined by Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey as the superstars for LA.

Here again this season are some requested position grades based on what I believe but please add your corrections to my thoughts in the comments below.

QB - Jared Goff

Grade: C+

With the way the NFL is going these days, we can’t assume that 23 of 33 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions is as good as it used to be. Goff mixed in some of his best plays of 2020 in this game with some of his worst throws and the accuracy issues of Week 6 seemed to creep into Week 7.

Goff averaged 4.3 completed air yards per completion, his lowest mark since facing the Giants and he had five “bad throws” despite rarely being under pressure, which is usually the case.

It’s not that Goff had a terrible game but the standards have to be higher both because it is 2020 and because we know that Goff is capable of better than what he’s shown in the last two games.

RB - Darrell Henderson, Malcolm Brown

Grade: A-

Henderson was credited with three broken tackles on Monday (he had two all year coming into the game) and Brown had four (had three coming into the game.) They got the job done and perhaps better than they have all year long.

WR - Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Josh Reynolds

Grade: C

It’s been a struggle for Kupp to pick up receiving yards over his last 15 games: 73 receptions, 786 yards, 10.7 yards per catch and 8 yards per target. Kupp’s single game best in that stretch is 107 yards (on nine catches) and he’s been held to 45 yards or less eight times, including Monday against the Bears.

Woods hasn’t had as difficult a time obtaining yards, but over his last six games he has 246 of them (41 yards per game) and only 6.5 yards per target. Woods had 22 receiving yards against the Bears and he has 51 over the last two games despite being targeted 15 times.

Instead, Reynolds brings up the grade here. He was even the deep threat for Goff against Chicago and one of the most valuable receivers of the week in that regard.

TE - Gerald Everett, Johnny Mundt

Grade: A-

With Tyler Higbee as a mildly surprising inactive, Everett caught four of five targets with a touchdown and Mundt had the reception of the day perhaps with his 34-yard scramble. Mundt finished with three catches on three targets for 47 yards. They earned every bit of this grade and I think we ALL want to see more of Johnny Mundt.

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OL - Andrew Whitworth, David Edwards, Austin Blythe, Austin Corbett, Rob Havenstein

Grade: A

They seemed to be getting it done again and that’s not easy against Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and Robert Quinn.

DL - Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, Morgan Fox, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Greg Gaines

Grade: A-

Donald is an A+ always and I have few critiques of the other linemen, other than the fact that it’s just not that strong of a group sans Donald. That could change a little bit if A’Shawn Robinson returns in the next couple of games.

LB - Micah Kiser, Leonard Floyd, Kenny Young, Terrell Lewis, Samson Ebukam, Justin Hollins, Jachai Polite

Grade: A+

Kiser reportedly had one missed tackle but this group combined for three sacks (two by Floyd, one by Hollins) and Lewis had a key stop on fourth down. A strong game by a group that needs more strong games.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

CB - Jalen Ramsey, Troy Hill, Darious Williams

Grade: A+

Throws at Williams were 1 of 2 for eight yards. Throws at Hill were 7 of 9 for 63 yards and a pass defensed in the end zone for an interception. Throws at Ramsey were 2 of 5 for 50 yards and an interception. Ramsey had a key stop on a perfect tackle. An elite game by one of the NFL’s best corner trios.

S - John Johnson, Taylor Rapp, Terrell Burgess

Grade: B-

Rapp’s interception was delivered to him by Hill. Burgess helps the grade here a ton but unfortunately was lost for the season with a broken ankle. Pro-Football-Reference’s advanced stats say that Rapp and Johnson missed two tackles each. Hard to criticize any part of a defense that played this well, but what errors that did happen Monday seemed to come from this group.

Special Teams: Johnny Hekker, Sam Sloman, Raymond Calais, Nsimba Webster

Grade: A-

The kicker may have played his final game in a Rams uniform, but Hekker had one of his best games with the franchise and that’s saying something for a potential Hall of Fame punter. The only reason it’s not an A+ is obviously because of Sloman’s blocked kick.

I think Calais and Webster both look fine in their roles on returns.