PFF grades: RG Kevin Dotson road graded the 49ers in win

In the rainy San Francisco elements, the Rams leaned on their run game to down the 49ers

On a rainy night in San Francisco, it was always likely that the team who won on the ground would also come out on top of an all-important NFC West divisional battle.

Ultimately, it was the Los Angeles Rams that leaned heavily on their recently healthy offensive line and Kyren Williams to take down the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football. The 49ers’ season is effectively over, as there’s only a remote chance they can make the playoffs and/or take the division crown.

The Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades show how the Rams were able to come away with this win. They saw standout performances from members of the offensive line and tight ends on the offensive side of the ball. On defense, LA also did a stellar job bottling up the San Francisco running game that featured a hobbled rookie in Isaac Guerendo.

Top five grades on offense:

1 – Kevin Dotson, RG: 90.0

Between Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, Puka Nacua, and Matthew Stafford, LA ran the ball a total of 38 times. PFF gave Dotson an elite run blocking grade of 90.8, so he was a huge reason in (1) being able to stick with the run and (2) being effective enough to keep the chains moving.

This clip from X shows Dotson blowing up 49ers to make room for Nacua after a reception:

2 – Hunter Long, TE: 87.1

Long played 22 snaps on offense. Seven of those came on passing plays and the other 15 came in the run game, so it’s clear exactly what his role was for LA on Thursday. While the tight end graded favorably as a run blocker at 67.3, he earned an near-elite receiving grade of 89.8. Long caught both of his targets for 17 yards.

3 – Puka Nacua, WR: 84.1

Nacua was by far LA’s most productive receiver. He caught seven of nine targets for 97 yards while the next closest in yardage was Colby Parkinson at 21. Nacua got behind the defense for the longest play of the game at 51 yards and help set up a Josh Karty field goal.

4 – Blake Corum, RB: 66.1

LA’s rookie back played just nine snaps to Williams’ 56. Corum rushed three times for five yards, which isn’t overly impressive on the surface. However, PFF shows Corum gaining five yards after contact and forcing one missed tackle—which suggests he produced beyond what was blocked for him.

5 – Kyren Williams, RB: 63.9

William rushed 29 times for 108 yards (3.7 average). 67 yards came after contact and the workhorse forced four missed tackles.

You wonder for how long Williams can maintain this workload, but nonetheless it was impressive to watch the back grind out a tough game against a NFC West rival.

Other notes on offense:

While many are calling Matthew Stafford “Mr. December” in the morning after the game, we should be honest about this being the veteran’s worst game of the season. Of course, the rainy elements certainly played a part. Still, in the Rams’ most important game of the season they saw Stafford playing at the low end of his usually inconsistent range. Just last week he probably had his best outing of the season versus the Buffalo Bills.

The box score shows Stafford completing 16 of 27 passes (59% completion for 160 yards). He added another four rushes for 18 yards on the ground, which is a productive outing for him in that facet.

PFF credited Stafford with one big-time throw and two turnover-worthy plays. LA’s signal caller had a shaky first half and then he was good enough to get the win over the final two quarters. Around 60% of the passing production went to Puka Nacua alone, and the second-year receiver really drove production for the offense.

Top five grades on defense:

1 – Kobie Turner, DT: 79.7

Turner led the Rams defense with six pressures on a night where they had 22 in total. The second-year tackle sacked Brock Purdy twice, including on a key third down stop. He also shined in the running game with three run stops. This was one of Turner’s most complete games of the season, and by my eye he was consistently double teamed.

2 – Christian Rozeboom, MLB: 78.6

Rozeboom was stingy in run defense. He finished with five run stops according to PFF—earning him a grade in that facet of 82.5. Rozeboom also finished with a sack on Purdy that closed out their comeback attempt and the game.

3 – Tyler Davis, DT: 78.3

Davis has been coming on strong of late, adding to an already positive rookie class. He played 15 snaps in this game that were divided evenly between the run and pass. The rookie earned a run defense grade of 78.6.

4 – Kamren Kinchens, DB: 77.9

LA’s rookie safety graded out well in coverage at 72.0. As the nearest defender in coverage he was targeted a single time and forced a pass breakup. He didn’t miss a tackle and earned a tackling grade of 79.5.

5 – Jared Verse, OLB: 77.5

Three rookies from LA’s most recent draft class make the list of top five defensive grades. This class continues to look better and better for GM Les Snead.

Verse finished second on the defense to Turner in pressures with five. Rookie Braden Fiske also had five pressures, but struggled in the run game according to PFF.

Other notes on defense:

The pressure was on the corners with Cobie Durant out and Darious Williams coming of a stretch of three or so games where he hasn’t played up to expectations.

Williams was targeted as the nearest defender six times and allowed just three receptions for 48 yards (30 after the catch). He picked off Brock Purdy in the end zone to slow the 49ers’ momentum.

Ahkello Witherspoon, who started on the outside in Durant’s place, was targeted seven times. He allowed four catches for 57 yards (15 after the catch) with three pass breakups.