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Rams hope running game continues to flourish
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_3fe78322-4e8f-505a-9ea9-402909960de2.html
A week ago before playing the Arizona Cardinals, coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti told the media in separate sessions on separate days how close they felt the running game was to a breakthrough.
Yeah, right, was the collective response.
The Rams, after all, were ranked 29th in the NFL in rushing offense through three games. Rookie running back Todd Gurley’s much-anticipated debut had generated a scant 9 yards on six carries against Pittsburgh.
But then it happened in the second half against Arizona. After a first half in which the Rams managed just 9 yards on nine carries, the floodgates opened. With Gurley doing most of the work, the Rams rushed 17 times for 155 yards en route to a 24-22 upset victory. How did that happen?
“I tell you what, I just think it’s perseverance like we’ve talked about every time here,” Cignetti said this week. “You know, every day we’re getting a little bit better.
“My hat goes off to the coaches emphasizing the run game, the offensive line doing a great job. Obviously, the running backs made good, decisive reads, and I think you saw the progress.”
A running game that had produced only one carry longer than 16 yards in three games, had four runs of 20 yards-plus in the second half at Arizona — all by Gurley.
“Gurley’s a real good player,” left tackle Greg Robinson said. “He’s explosive, and he’s hard to take down. But just going throughout the week, we had talked about it in the (meeting) room that there was a chance that the running game would pop.
“And the running backs just needed to trust us to get the holes open and run hard. So Gurley stepped in at a critical moment and he made some big plays obviously. It’s a highlight of a night just to see the numbers that we put up in the second half.”
Turns out the same “we’re close” message the coaches were feeding the media was also delivered in the meeting rooms at Rams Park, albeit in more detail. Hold on to this block a little longer ... a little better technique here ... better footwork there ... and good things would happen.
“It was preached throughout each week,” Robinson said. “Every game they just kept making the big emphasis on ‘we’re close.’ I really feel like we fought through it and just trusted that if we kept using the proper technique, the proper steps, and playing our hearts out, that we would eventually get something going. And we did.”
On what easily is the NFL’s most inexperienced offensive line, that second half in Arizona could be a confidence-builder and generate momentum going forward.
“I think we’re kinda starting to figure out what our identity is, and what we need to do in order to have big explosive plays,” right guard Rodger Saffold said.
“It’s something that the line can build off of,” quarterback Nick Foles added. “As an offense we can continue to improve our run game, improve our screen game, our dropback, and all of that. But it all stems from the run.”
No one expects Gurley to gain 146 yards every week — a total that was more than double what the Rams had been averaging as a team against Seattle, Washington and Pittsburgh. But now that they know they can do it, perhaps better days will continue in the run game.
“It think it gives everyone confidence,” Cignetti said. “There’s nothing like success. ... The victory was big. We want to move on and get another one.”
Run game success won’t come easy this Sunday at Lambeau Field in a noon kickoff against unbeaten Green Bay (4-0). After getting gashed for 189 yards rushing by Chicago in the season opener, including 141 by Matt Forte, the Packers have tightened up considerably.
They have yielded an average of 90 rushing yards a game over their next three contests, and feature backs Marshawn Lynch of Seattle, Jamaal Charles of Kansas City and Carlos Hyde of San Francisco combined for only 110 yards on 34 carries in those three games.
“You can’t run it against ’em,” Fisher said Friday. “You go back and you watch these games — you watch Seattle and you watch San Francisco — they had a hard time running the ball against ’em. So we’re gonna have to find a way to get that done.”
A trimmed down B.J. Raji is tough to budge at 337 pounds in the middle of the Green Bay defensive front. Mike Daniels is quicker playmaker at 310. At linebacker, veterans Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews are more than just pass rushers.
“They’ve got a good defense,” Saffold said. “A bunch of guys that are really good running to the ball. You already know their offense, and the only way to beat their offense is one way: keeping ’em off the field. That’s the only way to do it. So five and six 3-and-outs to start off the game is not gonna help.”
The Rams are getting only 50 plays per game on offense, a league low and a dozen plays less per game than the league average. Their average time of possession, 25 minutes 40 seconds, is the second-lowest in the league ahead of only Philadelphia (22:28).
Those aren’t numbers conducive to keeping quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense on the sideline. If ever there was a time for more from the running game, this is it.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_3fe78322-4e8f-505a-9ea9-402909960de2.html
A week ago before playing the Arizona Cardinals, coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti told the media in separate sessions on separate days how close they felt the running game was to a breakthrough.
Yeah, right, was the collective response.
The Rams, after all, were ranked 29th in the NFL in rushing offense through three games. Rookie running back Todd Gurley’s much-anticipated debut had generated a scant 9 yards on six carries against Pittsburgh.
But then it happened in the second half against Arizona. After a first half in which the Rams managed just 9 yards on nine carries, the floodgates opened. With Gurley doing most of the work, the Rams rushed 17 times for 155 yards en route to a 24-22 upset victory. How did that happen?
“I tell you what, I just think it’s perseverance like we’ve talked about every time here,” Cignetti said this week. “You know, every day we’re getting a little bit better.
“My hat goes off to the coaches emphasizing the run game, the offensive line doing a great job. Obviously, the running backs made good, decisive reads, and I think you saw the progress.”
A running game that had produced only one carry longer than 16 yards in three games, had four runs of 20 yards-plus in the second half at Arizona — all by Gurley.
“Gurley’s a real good player,” left tackle Greg Robinson said. “He’s explosive, and he’s hard to take down. But just going throughout the week, we had talked about it in the (meeting) room that there was a chance that the running game would pop.
“And the running backs just needed to trust us to get the holes open and run hard. So Gurley stepped in at a critical moment and he made some big plays obviously. It’s a highlight of a night just to see the numbers that we put up in the second half.”
Turns out the same “we’re close” message the coaches were feeding the media was also delivered in the meeting rooms at Rams Park, albeit in more detail. Hold on to this block a little longer ... a little better technique here ... better footwork there ... and good things would happen.
“It was preached throughout each week,” Robinson said. “Every game they just kept making the big emphasis on ‘we’re close.’ I really feel like we fought through it and just trusted that if we kept using the proper technique, the proper steps, and playing our hearts out, that we would eventually get something going. And we did.”
On what easily is the NFL’s most inexperienced offensive line, that second half in Arizona could be a confidence-builder and generate momentum going forward.
“I think we’re kinda starting to figure out what our identity is, and what we need to do in order to have big explosive plays,” right guard Rodger Saffold said.
“It’s something that the line can build off of,” quarterback Nick Foles added. “As an offense we can continue to improve our run game, improve our screen game, our dropback, and all of that. But it all stems from the run.”
No one expects Gurley to gain 146 yards every week — a total that was more than double what the Rams had been averaging as a team against Seattle, Washington and Pittsburgh. But now that they know they can do it, perhaps better days will continue in the run game.
“It think it gives everyone confidence,” Cignetti said. “There’s nothing like success. ... The victory was big. We want to move on and get another one.”
Run game success won’t come easy this Sunday at Lambeau Field in a noon kickoff against unbeaten Green Bay (4-0). After getting gashed for 189 yards rushing by Chicago in the season opener, including 141 by Matt Forte, the Packers have tightened up considerably.
They have yielded an average of 90 rushing yards a game over their next three contests, and feature backs Marshawn Lynch of Seattle, Jamaal Charles of Kansas City and Carlos Hyde of San Francisco combined for only 110 yards on 34 carries in those three games.
“You can’t run it against ’em,” Fisher said Friday. “You go back and you watch these games — you watch Seattle and you watch San Francisco — they had a hard time running the ball against ’em. So we’re gonna have to find a way to get that done.”
A trimmed down B.J. Raji is tough to budge at 337 pounds in the middle of the Green Bay defensive front. Mike Daniels is quicker playmaker at 310. At linebacker, veterans Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews are more than just pass rushers.
“They’ve got a good defense,” Saffold said. “A bunch of guys that are really good running to the ball. You already know their offense, and the only way to beat their offense is one way: keeping ’em off the field. That’s the only way to do it. So five and six 3-and-outs to start off the game is not gonna help.”
The Rams are getting only 50 plays per game on offense, a league low and a dozen plays less per game than the league average. Their average time of possession, 25 minutes 40 seconds, is the second-lowest in the league ahead of only Philadelphia (22:28).
Those aren’t numbers conducive to keeping quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense on the sideline. If ever there was a time for more from the running game, this is it.
