Studs and duds from Rams’ dominant playoff win vs. Cardinals

The Los Angeles Rams ended last week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers in embarrassing fashion, blowing a 17-0 first-half lead. They came out motivated in Monday’s playoff matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, though, more than making up for their Week 18 loss.

The Rams crushed the Cardinals, 34-11, cruising to a win and securing a spot in the next round of the playoffs. Given the lopsided affair, there isn’t much to be upset about when it comes to the Rams’ performance, making this week’s list of studs and duds extremely stud-heavy.

Here are the best and worst performers from Monday’s victory.

Stud: Cam Akers

Welcome back, Cam Akers. The second-year back rushed for 55 yards on 17 carries and had a 40-yard reception from Odell Beckham Jr., taking on a much bigger role than he had last week in his miraculous return. He had runs of 17 yards and 11 yards negated by a holding penalty, too, also losing out on a 14-yard reception because of a penalty. So his numbers could’ve been even better than they already were.

He provides a spark for the offense with a little more burst and explosiveness out of the backfield, which will be valuable as the Rams continue their march to the Super Bowl.

Stud: Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham’s agility and athleticism adds a different element to the Rams offense, and it showed on Monday night. His touchdown grab was a highlight-reel catch over the defender, and then he had another 31-yard gain in the first half after breaking wide open on a wheel route.

Cooper Kupp is still the No. 1 receiver in this offense, but Beckham is moving closer to being 1A similar to the way Robert Woods was. Whether it’s on crossers, wheel routes or fades in the end zone, Beckham brings a ton of value to this offense.

Oh, and he has a cannon of an arm, which the Rams utilized with a trick play that resulted in a 40-yard gain from Beckham to Akers.

Stud: Matthew Stafford

Stafford wasn’t perfect, but he was close to it. He threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns, but most importantly, he didn’t make any costly mistakes. He also had a rushing touchdown and 22 yards on the ground, showing off his wheels on a few occasions.

Of his four incompletions, three of them were dropped by Tyler Higbee, Cooper Kupp and Akers, too.

This is the version of Stafford the Rams need moving forward. If he plays within the offense and doesn’t force the issue too often, the Rams are going to be in great shape. It helps when he gets more than 100 yards rushing from his running backs, but Stafford was a big part of this win himself.

Stud: Johnny Hekker

Hekker didn’t have the best season, but he stepped up in a big way against the Cardinals. His first punt pinned the Cardinals at their own 9-yard line, which led to a three-and-out. On his next punt, he got excellent hangtime and allowed Ben Skowronek to get down the field and field it on a hop at the 1-yard line.

In fact, all five of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. The Rams couldn’t have asked for much more out of Hekker in this one.

Stud: Von Miller

Von Miller has been worth the price the Rams paid to acquire him before the trade deadline. He continues to get better with each passing week, playing one of his best games of the season against the Cardinals. He finished with six tackles, one sack, three tackles for a loss and one hit on Kyler Murray, living in the backfield all night.

The combination of Miller, Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd has been terrific this season and their ability to pressure Murray is a big reason the Rams won this game. They never let Murray get comfortable in the pocket and when he did scramble, there was nowhere to go.

Stud: Jalen Ramsey

Ramsey was barely targeted in this game, a sign of the respect Murray and the Cardinals have for him. But when he did have passes thrown his way, he didn’t give up anything. He allowed just 14 yards on two catches, being targeted only three times in the win.

That’s according to Next Gen Stats, but Pro Football Focus says he didn’t allow a single catch to A.J. Green on three targets in coverage. Regardless, he played extremely well, also adding four tackles to the box score.

Stud: A’Shawn Robinson

Robinson was a wall up front in this one. He made a team-high seven tackles and didn’t give the Cardinals’ running backs any room in the middle, combining with Donald and Greg Gaines to clog up everything between the tackles.

He’s still not going to be a great pass rusher for the Rams, but Robinson is doing his job as a run-stuffer. And that’s exactly what Los Angeles is paying him to do.

Dud: David Edwards

Edwards struggled for the second week in a row. He was called for holding twice, negating gains of 17 and 11 yards by Cam Akers. He also got beat a few times in the running game, something he’ll need to clean up before the Rams head to Tampa Bay to face a stout defensive line.

His play will be even more critical if Andrew Whitworth is unable to play next week after suffering a knee injury in the win over Arizona.

Dud: Officiating

The Rams won the game so they don’t have anything to complain about, but the officiating was atrocious in this game – and that goes for both sides. Sean McVay had to waste two challenges on calls that were obvious to everyone watching: Stafford’s touchdown on the sneak and the incompletion intended for Green that Nick Scott broke up.

D.J. Humphries was called for a phantom holding penalty, Edwards’ first holding infraction was questionable and every review seemed to take far longer than it should have.

1

1