The Rams trailed this game 28-7 and the only reason it feels any closer than that is because there was still 33 minutes remaining at that point. Los Angeles didn’t allow the Dolphins offense a drive longer than 33 yards but all the first downs in the world couldn’t make up for four costly turnovers.
Winners
Aaron Donald
Even better for his MVP argument: though they lost, LA’s best player and best chance to win was once again Donald. He handed the Rams their first touchdown and later got on the only sack on Tua Tagovailoa. The entire defense is “winners” this week except for the final score.
Troy Hill
It felt like Hill was all over the field and he took part in a few notable plays, even as an assistant. Similar to the interception he forced in the end zone last week. Hill’s a free agent in 2021 and I know I’ve waffled on his value a lot this year, but that feels like a big loss if he goes.
Robert Woods
Cooper Kupp won the most targets, but Woods may have had the better day. Though Kupp caught 11 of 21 targets for 110 yards, Woods was more efficient: seven of eight targets were caught, gaining 85 yards and a touchdown. He also scored on an end-around.
Losers
Jared Goff
Goff will be better than this but there’s not much to dissect here as to why his play was an issue against the Dolphins. It wasn’t that Goff had four first half turnovers, it’s that he was directly responsible for the mistakes and there should have been at least three more interceptions. Even when his offensive line was breaking down, that’s not an excuse for throwing an interception to avoid a sack or losing control of the football as you’re being sacked. It was a lose-lose scenario for Goff against Miami’s really good defense.
Rams o-line
One of the top rated in the league for the first seven games, the Rams front-five wasn’t giving Goff many opportunities for success. He shouldn’t have turned it over so many times but how many plays did Goff actually have where it seemed like “more” was available to him? They were manhandled by a defensive line featuring Emmanuel Ogbah, Shaq Lawson, Christian Wilkins.
Sean McVay/Kevin O’Connell
This is a three-headed team effort and it goes from Les Snead to McVay to O’Connell to the offensive line to Goff and on down. The Dolphins out-coached the Rams and McVay isn’t going to deny that. Brian Flores has his team with a 9-7 record over their last 16 games and a few notable victories. McVay’s team is also 9-7 over the last 16 games. Same as their record last season. Have they improved?
NEW @thephinsider radio @jmendel94 & i breakdown the @miamidolphins dominant defensive performance vs the @ramsNFL +
— josh houtz (@houtz) November 2, 2020
-no-name #elite defense
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