Packers PFF grades: Best, worst players from Week 9 vs. Rams

The Green Bay Packers used an efficient performance from quarterback Jordan Love and a dominant overall effort from the defense to cruise past the Matthew Stafford-less Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Matt LaFleur’s team led 7-3 at halftime and scored 13 second-half points to pull away.

Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst players from the Packers’ 20-3 win over the Rams in Week 9:

Top 5 defense

1. QB Jordan Love: 83.2
2. LT Rasheed Walker: 76.9
3. WR Dontayvion Wicks: 74.9
4. LT Yosh Nijman: 74.5
5. RB A.J. Dillon: 71.5

Love was excellent from clean pockets, created two big plays against pressure, didn’t have a turnover-worthy play and finished with an adjusted (for drops, throwaways) completed percentage of 87.5, a season-high. Walker gave up just one pressure and earned his highest run-blocking grade of the season over 37 snaps after Nijman left with an injury. Wicks had the fumble but also caught all four of his targets, created three first downs and averaged a team-high 3.27 yards per route run. Nijman didn’t give up a pressure and was strong in the run game over 35 snaps before injury. Dillon created 30 of his 40 rushing yards after first contact and was excellent again as a pass-blocker.

Bottom 5 offense

1. CB Carrington Valentine: 84.9
2. DL Colby Wooden: 82.2
3. LB Isaiah McDuffie: 77.8
4. LB De’Vondre Campbell: 76.1
5. CB Jaire Alexander: 75.2

Rams-Packers PFF Grades: Cooper Kupp was exempt from poor offensive outing - Turf Show Times

Valentine gave up just one catch on eight targets into his coverage, broke up two passes, nearly intercepted a pass and had a stop against the run. Wooden produced one quarterback hurry and had a fourth-down run stop. McDuffie finished with a team-high four defensive stops, made seven total tackles without a miss and wasn’t targeted in the passing game. Campbell made two stops against the run and gave up just one catch in coverage. Alexander allowed six catches but also defensed three passes, including one resulting in Anthony Johnson Jr.’s interception, and finished with three stops.

Bottom 5 offense

1. WR Malik Heath: 32.0
2. RG Jon Runyan Jr.: 42.3
3. RB Aaron Jones: 55.2
4. WR Jayden Reed: 59.7
5. WR Christian Watson: 62.7

Heath dropped a pass on his only route run and was otherwise on the field for seven run-blocking snaps. Runyan was penalized twice, gave up two pressures (including a sack) and earned below average run-blocking grades. Jones averaged under 4.0 yards per run and had the lost fumble. Reed got dinged for a crucial false start penalty. Watson made a contested catch for 37 yards and was open deep in the first half but finished with just one catch on 25 routes run.

Bottom 5 defense

1. DL Devonte Wyatt: 40.9
2. OLB Kingsley Enagbare: 49.7
3. DL Karl Brooks: 55.3
4. DL TJ Slaton : 56.3
5. DL Kenny Clark: 60.2

Wyatt finished with only one pressure over 23 pass-rushing snaps and one total tackle over 34 total snaps. He was the team’s lowest-graded pass-rusher. Enagbare had a run stop but also missed a tackle and gave up a 15-yard completion into his coverage. Brooks batted down two passes and had two hurries but got dinged for a low run-defense grade. Slaton held up fine against the run but didn’t have a pressure over 18 pass-rushing snaps. Clark had just one tackle and zero pressures over 15 snaps before exiting with an injury.

Special teams

Zayne Anderson, Eric Wilson, Jonathan Owens, Corey Ballentine and Tucker Kraft all made special teams tackles. No player had a miss. The lone penalty was holding on Kingsley Enagbare. Dallin Leavitt played 15 snaps, assisted on a tackle and earned the top special teams grade (85.1). Keisean Nixon had a 51-yard kickoff return and a 15-yard punt return, Jayden Reed had a 22-yard punt return, Anders Carlson made two of three field goals and Daniel Whelan had a net punting average of just 34.3 despite putting two inside the 20.

Quarterback

Jordan Love: 83.2

His highest grade of the 2023 season. Love completed 6 of 8 passes thrown 10 or more yards in the air, including two completions on passes 20 yards or more, and he didn’t have a turnover-worthy play. He was solid from clean pockets. Discounting drops and throwaways, Love had a completion percentage of 87.5, by far his best of the year. The Packers protected him well, allowing pressure on just seven of 31 dropbacks.

Stat to know

How good was the run defense? The Packers produced 14 stops on only 22 run defense snaps. Remember, PFF considers a “stop” to be any tackle creating an offensive failure. On roughly two-thirds of the Rams run attempts, the Packers created a failure. Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie led the way with four run stops, but he was far from the only one. Nine different Packers defenders had at least one run stop vs. the Rams.