Studs and duds from Rams’ 26-10 loss to Chiefs
The Chiefs did exactly what just about everyone expected them to on Sunday: They took down the Rams in blowout fashion, winning 26-10 at home.
The sad thing is the Rams played about as well as they could have, particularly on defense, and still lost by 16. With as many players as they were missing, and with as poorly as the offense has played all year, the Rams actually kept the game closer than anticipated.
But just as it’s been all season, there were only a few positive performances from Rams players on Sunday.
Stud: Riley Dixon
Dixon and Jacob Harris turned in one of the highlight plays of the game for the Rams, converting on fourth down with a fake punt. Dixon hit Harris for a 6-yard gain on fourth-and-5 to move the chains and keep the offense on the field. Unfortunately, the Rams didn’t turn that conversion into points later on that drive, but it was still a positive play on special teams.
On that same possession, Dixon hit a 48-yard laser of a punt that bounced out of bounds at the 4 to pin the Chiefs deep.
Stud: Aaron Donald
Donald didn’t get to Mahomes for a sack in this one, but he was consistently in the backfield. He did appear to come up with a clutch sack on third down in the fourth quarter but it was called back due to a facemask penalty as he was attempting to get the quarterback on the ground. It was just an unlucky play, but Donald did everything he could in this game to disrupt the Chiefs offense.
Stud: Nick Scott
The Rams did a good job on defense against an explosive Chiefs offense, and Scott was a part of that. He came up with a big interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter, keeping the Chiefs out of the end zone. And after Kansas City got the ball back, Scott laid a huge hit on Isiah Pacheco to limit his yardage up the middle. He’s a tone-setter and an impactful player for the Rams, showing up in a big way Sunday.
Dud: Matt Skura
Skura started again at left guard but it was a rough outing for him. He expectedly struggled against Chris Jones on the interior, which is a really difficult matchup for any offensive lineman. On one sack he allowed to Jones, the stud defensive tackle was in Perkins’ lap in about a half-second, so the quarterback had no chance to avoid the rush.
Duds: Derion Kendrick and David Long Jr.
The Rams’ No. 2 and 3 cornerbacks had a long afternoon against Mahomes and the Chiefs’ wide receivers. Kendrick gave up far too many completions to both Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster, while also being called for defensive holding one time on the outside. He wasn’t competitive enough on a sideline throw to Smith-Schuster and also had poor effort tackling on Kelce’s touchdown. Long struggled in coverage, too, at one point allowing three receptions on one drive.
Dud: Leonard Floyd
Floyd had another quiet game on the edge. He finished with just two tackles and didn’t get close to Mahomes as a pass rusher, failing to land even one hit on him. Like many other players on the Rams this season, it’s been a rough year for Floyd. The Rams really need him to play well now with the defense being so thin at outside linebacker following Justin Hollins’ release.
