We will officially watch the Los Angeles Rams in the 2025 postseason. They secured a berth with their 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions in Week 15. It remains to be seen whether LA can lock up either
the NFC West or first place in the NFC conference. With three games remaining—including a highly anticipated Thursday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks—it’s going to come down to the wire.
Let’s dive into the Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades from Week 15 and assess who stood out on an individual level:
Top five grades on offense
1 – Puka Nacua, WR: 95.0
This was somehow Nacua’s second-straight game with a 95+ grade. He earned the highest PFF game grade ever for a receiver last week against the Cardinals.
Nacua caught nine of 11 targets for 181 yards. He averaged over 20 yards per reception. 58 of his yards came after the catch point, which would rank third in overall receiving yards on the team behind Colby Parkinson (75) and Davante Adams (71).
2 – Colby Parkinson, TE: 88.9
One major question mark for the Rams offense is who steps up as the third pass catching option behind Nacua and Adams. It took time for us to get our answer, but Parkinson is emerging as this player following Tyler Higbee’s extended absence. Parkinson was regarded as a failed free agent signing from a year ago; however, now it is becoming more difficult imagining him playing elsewhere in 2026. He could enter training camp as LA’s number one tight end.
Parkinson caught two touchdowns from Matthew Stafford and is on a hot streak over the last month.
3 – Kevin Dotson, RG: 80.9
Blake Corum and Kyren Williams combined for 149 rushing yards against a top 10 run defense. LA’s use of heavier personnel is giving defenses fits, and the five starting offensive linemen are creating running lanes. Both Williams and Corum had runs of at least 15 yards and the Rams averaged over five yards per carry on the day with three scores. Doston was dominant.
4 – Davante Adams, WR: 79.9
Adams has battled a hamstring injury and missed practice time over the last two weeks. He re-aggravated that injury running deep downfield Sunday, and now he is likely to miss this Thursday’s game against Seattle.
The Rams need Adams healthy for the playoffs.
5 – Warren McClendon, RT: 77.3
One of the biggest surprises of the 2025 season for the Rams is RT Warren McClendon, who took the job over from Rob Havenstein and hasn’t looked back. McClendon drew an immensely difficult matchup in Aidan Hutchinson (although not for the entire game) and allowed only a single pressure in pass protection. Hutchinson finished with five pressures, meaning four came against others.
McClendon earned a run blocking grade of 84.2 and led the team.
Other notes on offense
We’ve watched Stafford excel when defenses send blitzes this season. The Lions saw this success and took a more conservative approach by dropping additional defenders into coverage. You can look at this and say the Lions found success by lowering Stafford’s completion percentage and forcing him to put the ball in harm’s way. You could also say Stafford threw for 300 yards and two scores to make Detroit pay. Neither are wrong, really.
Will defenses look at the Lions success with limited defensive personnel and use this as a blueprint moving forward?
- Not blitzed: 18/30 (60%) for 300 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 4 BTT’s, 3 TWP’s
- When blitzed: 6/8 (75%) for 68 yards
Top five grades on defense
1 – Josaiah Stewart, EDGE: 82.6
Let’s preface the conversations on the defensive side of the ball with first saying that the grades are overall much lower than we are used to seeing. Two role players led this side of the ball in PFF grading.
Stewart played only 12 snaps but certainly made his presence felt in limited opportunities. He did not have much production rushing the passer, though he made a big hit on a Lions runner that set the tone in the second half. Stewart dropped into coverage on 25% of his plays which helps explain his versatile role.
2 – Omar Speights, MLB: 80.8
Speights is a strong run defender. That’s not where he made his impact in this game.
He rushed the passer twice and earned one pressure for a pass rushing grade of 71.1. Speights dropped into coverage 19 times and allowed a reception on his only target for three yards. His PFF coverage grade was 76.3.
3 – Kobie Turner, DT: 78.2
The defender who made the biggest difference in the second half was Kobie Turner. He pressured Jared Goff on what would have been a 50+ yard completion. Goff took a big hit and still made an incredible through, but Jameson Williams lost the ball as he went to the ground.
Turner sacked Goff on second down with the Lions deep in their own territory that helped LA get off the field with favorable field position. He also made a major tackle for loss on third down draw run that forced Detroit to settle for a field goal late.
4 – Poona Ford, DT: 76.9
Braden Fiske only played 28 snaps. He was seen with trainers on the sideline though no injury was announced by the team. He was noticeably absent for at least the final quarter.
In turn, Ford played a larger role and was on the field for 36 snaps. He wasn’t his usual effective self—according to PFF—in the run game. Instead he pressured Goff three times and earned a pass rushing grade of 85.0. This figure led the defense.
5 – Jared Verse, EDGE: 73.1
Jared Verse led the Rams with five pressures. It was a seemingly quiet day for him. He missed one of three tackle attempts which drew his overall grade lower.
Other notes on defense
As noted by TST’s Kenneth Arthur, it was a rough day at the office for Rams corners. The Lions got nearly everything they wanted through the air, although the run defense likely made the difference in the win for Los Angeles.
- Josh Wallace: 6/8 (75%) for 83 yards, 1 TD, passer rating of 147.4
- Emmanuel Forbes: 5/8 (62.5%) for 76 yards, 1 PBU, passer rating of 93.8 (1 penalty)
- Cobie Durant: 4/4 (100%) for 68 yards, 2 TDs, perfect passer rating of 158.3
- Nate Landman: 5/5 for 63 yards, passer rating of 118.8
