https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/14/d...ms-chiefs-coaching-carousel-kyler-murray-mmqb
C.J. ANDERSON AND THE SOUL OF THE RAMS
By Albert Breer
If you told C.J. Anderson a month ago that he’d be tearing up divisional playoff weekend? Would he have believed you?
“I thought [2018] was over,” the Rams running back said, just after midnight on Saturday, following L.A.’s 30-22 win over Dallas. “It was late in the year, teams had their backs that they’d been having all season, that’d been on their roster. I thought my résumé, just being a very productive back in 2017, would get me a fair deal and get me an opportunity to compete for a starting job next year, and I was going to bank on that.”
In fact, when the Rams called in mid-December, in the wake of an injury to Todd Gurley, Anderson was moving his stuff out of the house he’d rented in Charlotte (for his stint with the Panthers) and shipping it off to his permanent home in Texas, and planning to head to Florida to do some work for his foundation.
It’d be hard to blame him for taking that approach. An April cap casualty in Denver, where he’d rushed for 1,007 yards in ‘17, Anderson signed with Carolina in May. But by midseason in Carolina he was collecting cobwebs, as Christian McCaffrey piled up yards, and he was cut on Nov. 12. Anderson hooked on with Oakland on Dec. 5, didn’t play that week, and then was cut when the Raiders needed to go find an offensive lineman.
In nine games this year before signing with the Rams, Anderson had 24 carries for 104 yards, total. In three games since joining L.A.:
• 20 carries, 167 yards against the Cardinals.
• 23 carries, 132 yards against the Niners.
• 23 carries, 123 yards against the Cowboys.
What the Rams learned about Anderson from the first two of those games assured him his role for the third, even with Gurley back in the lineup. And so did this: From the jump, the coaches were impressed with how ready Anderson was for everything they threw at him.
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/REX/Shutterstock
“It’s the type of player of I am,” Anderson said. “I had a lot of amazing vets [as teammates]. One of those amazing vets is Peyton Manning, who was probably the best when it came to preparation and playing his game. And I got to learn from him in the first three years of my career. I got to learn from him as much as I possible could, and you know, I feel like it’s a disservice if you don’t take something from really Hall of Fame vets.”
On the Rams’ first three possessions on Saturday night, Anderson played the closer in spelling the returning Gurley. And his presence—remember, he was really brought in initially to be the equivalent of a temp—gave Sean McVay and his staff the artillery to keep jamming the ball down the throat of an aggressive Dallas front.
The Rams wound up controlling the game as a result, running 76 plays to Dallas’s 55, and piling up 30 first downs and 459 yards despite Jared Goff throwing for just 186 yards. Gurley had 115 yards on his 16 carries, to add to Anderson’s output. Which, of course, wound up being plenty to quiet a Dallas team that had been talking about
snatching the Rams’ soul during the week.
“I heard the ‘soul’ comment,” Anderson said. “I also heard the ‘Oh, C.J. Anderson, he had two games against the Niners and the Cardinals’ comment. You don’t look into that. I let my game speak for itself. Obviously the O-line took that personally. So we just let our game speak for itself. Every team is going to have a player, whoever that is, that’s gonna jawjack. And, of course, we have some jawjackers on our team too.”
I asked C.J. Anderson about #McVayMania on the coaching carousel, and what’s impressed him to this point about his new head coach. His answer will make Jets fans feel pretty good: “What people miss is him at 4:30 in the morning. When I pull up and I see his car already parked—and I’m there at 5:30—you know the preparation that Sean goes through.
Super cerebral. Smart. Understands the game. I think the biggest thing he does, he listens to the players. He listens to myself and [Andrew] Whitworth and what we say. And Jared [Goff], even though he is the ultimate play-caller. I think that’s what people want and what people are trying to grab.
There’s only one other coach that’s been like that for me, and that was Adam Gase. [McVay] and Adam Gase are probably the two smartest coaches I’ve been around when it comes to planning and preparation and trying to put their matchups together and their team in the best position.”