Detroit Lions 31, Los Angeles Rams 28
Here are the highest-graded players and top takeaways from the Lions' Week 6 home win over the Rams.
Quarterback grade: Matthew Stafford, 82.4
Efficient day for QB Matthew Stafford to combat Rams' pass-rush
Stafford was fantastically efficient in this game, and was more than willing to take what the Rams' defense was giving him underneath. Of his 31 passing attempts in the game, just five were on throws traveling 10 yards or further downfield. All five of those did result in completions, though, and with four dropped passes, one throwaway, and one pass batted at the line of scrimmage, he finished the day with an adjusted completion percentage of 93.1 percent.
Top offensive grades
OT Taylor Decker, 85.5
C Travis Swanson, 81.1
OT Riley Reiff, 75.0
WR Anquan Boldin, 71.9
WR Andre Roberts, 70.6
Up and down day for Golden Tate
Lions wide receiver Golden Tate was Stafford's favorite target, seeing 10 passes thrown his way over the course of the game. While he made some of the game's biggest plays, he also had two dropped passes, which dragged his grade down. Despite that, he still posted the best yards-per-route-run average in the game, at 4.88, showing the production he has lacked early in the season. Interestingly, free-agent signee Anquan Boldin impressed on short passes, catching all eight targets thrown his way. After dropping three passes from 20 catchable targets over the first four games of the year, Boldin has caught all 12 balls thrown his way over the past two weeks.
Top defensive grades
DT Stefan Charles, 78.2
CB Quandre Diggs, 77.8
DE Kerry Hyder, 76.7
DT A'Shawn Robinson, 76.3
DE Devin Taylor, 75.3
Backup defensive linemen make plays
The Lions have had to deal with several injuries on the defensive line so far this year, and only just got Ezekiel Ansah back in this game, but were still without defensive tackle Haloti Ngata. Thankfully, some of their reserve defensive linemen stepped up to make some plays. Rookie second-round draft pick A'Shawn Robinson had his best game so far as a pro, making a tackle resulting in a defensive stop and batting a pass at the line of scrimmage on 23 defensive snaps. Meanwhile, defensive tackle Stefan Charles and defensive end Kerry Hyder made two and three tackles, respectively, with all of those tackles resulting in a defensive stop.
Quarterback grade: Case Keenum, 82.8
Solid day overall for Rams QB Case Keenum
Before the poor throw to end the game, Keenum was having a very impressive day and, like Stafford, was perfect throwing the ball downfield, going three-for-three on throws 20 yards or further up until the final attempt; he was also two-for-two on throws between 10 and 19 yards. Keenum had just five incompletions in the game, but two of those came as a result of batted passes, giving him an adjusted completion percentage of 90.0.
Top offensive grades
WR Kenny Britt, 86.7
C Tim Barnes, 82.4
HB Todd Gurley, 79.6
FB Cory Harkey, 79.3
OT Rob Havenstein, 73.7
Kenny Britt's big day
Kenny Britt had been having a solid year so far coming into the game against the Lions, but today was his best performance in 2016. Catching all seven catchable passes thrown his way for 136 yards, Britt forced four missed tackles on those seven catches, on his way to a two-touchdown day. Britt was the Rams' best receiver in 2015, and after averaging 4.39 yards per route run today, is well on his way to being their top playmaker at the position again this year.
Top defensive grades
DT Aaron Donald, 83.5
LB Alec Ogletree, 77.2
LB Mark Barron, 77.1
S T.J. McDonald, 74.8
DT Michael Brockers, 74.4
Hill's struggles in coverage continue
Forced into the starting lineup, 2015 undrafted free agent Troy Hill has seen plenty of action, with opposing quarterbacks targeting him often. Stafford went after him seven times, resulting in six receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. Over the past five games, he has seen 29 passes thrown into his coverage; against the Lions, he allowed an average of 3.71 yards per route run, and gave up a perfect NFL quarterback rating of 158.3. He was able to make some plays against the run, though, with two of his three tackles resulting in a defensive stop. Despite those stops, this was a game that will be remembered much more for his coverage struggles.
PFF Game-Ball Winner: Rams WR Kenny Britt
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