Winners & Losers: Poona Ford and Tyler Davis form the great wall of LA

When the NFL schedule was first released, no one realistically thought the Indianapolis Colts would start the season 3-0 and challenge the Los Angeles Rams on the road. The league is full of surprises, and we saw many on Sunday.

The Rams scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to come from behind and take down Indianapolis. LA advances to 3-1 on the season.

The victory took strong performances from unexpected individuals, and huge production from those who seem to step up every single week.

Winners

Puka Nacua, WR

Outside of Josh Allen, there might not be a single player in all the NFL to start the season as hot as Puka Nacua. He is the Rams offense, and that held true for most of the day against Indy.

Nacua caught 13 of 15 targets for 170 yards and a game-tying touchdown. He’s already eclipsed 500 yards in four games while adding another 50 yards and a score on the ground.

When we consider who is on pace to win the NFL’s MVP award, Nacua must be on the short list.

Kamren Curl, DB

Before today, Kam Curl hadn’t intercepted a pass since 2020. He stole the ball away on deep shots from Daniel Jones twice today and effectively ended the Colts’ comeback attempt.

Curl also led LA in total tackles with nine.

Jared Verse, EDGE

Jared Verse lived in the Colts backfield and brought constant pressure against Jones. He also played a major role in bottling up Jonathan Taylor (more to come).

While Verse is not filling up the stat sheet so far in 2025 (only two sacks)—and that was also the case last year—he’s a disruptive force that can wreck the opposing offense’s game plan. The sacks are soon to follow.

Poona Ford & Tyler Davis, DT

The Rams did an excellent job slowing Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles’ running attack last week. The stats may not have been as encouraging against Taylor and the Colts today; however, Taylor never dominated the game and was held out of the end zone. The damage was minimal and Taylor was kept in check to the tune of 17 carries for 76 yards and five receptions for 20 yards.

The tough running back matchups will continue for Los Angeles, including Christian McCaffrey on Thursday night. Ford and Davis will play important roles in slowing them down. They’ve been successful so far and must keep up this level of performance.

Tutu Atwell, WR

Tutu Atwell is a ticking bomb that can go off at any point. He’s liable to take the ball the distance on any given play.

Today was no exception. Atwell came into Week 4 with only one catch for four yards on his season stat sheet. He then hauled in the game-winning touchdown from Matthew Stafford and raced 88 yards for the score.

Justin Dedich, LG

Something worth keeping an eye on:

Steve Avila was declared healthy and was active for this game. Justin Dedich instead got the start. Dedich had struggled over the last two weeks in replacement of Avila, but today represented a complete turnaround. Dedich protected his signal caller and made a difference in the run game, which was overall efficient and effective.

Did the Rams sit Avila because he’s not yet 100% healthy, or do we have a left guard controversy on our hands?

Losers

Emmanuel Forbes, CB

Over the last two weeks Forbes has been outmatched by larger, more physical receivers. Last week it was AJ Brown, on Sunday it was AD Mitchell and Michael Pittman. Forbes effectively allowed a long touchdown to Mitchell before the Colts receiver inexplicably lost control of the ball before he crossed into the end zone.

The Colts and Eagles aren’t the only two teams that have big, physical receivers. Do the Rams have an answer? At present they seem to be too short-handed.

Blake Corum, RB

It’s positive that Corum has a role in this offense behind Kyren Williams. It’s not positive that he dropped multiple passes and batted the ball into the air as this often can turn into opportunities for takeaways by the defense. Corum was noticeably less efficient on the ground compared to the hot hand in Williams (Corum 2.3 yards per rush vs Williams’ 5.9).

Omar Speights, MLB

Nate Landman looks like a keeper in the middle of the defense, though he didn’t make as big of an impact this week against the Colts. On the other hand, Omar Speights is a glaring weakness on the Rams defense in both the run and pass games. It might be time to give opportunities to someone else—possibly rookie UDFA Shaun Dolac.