USA TODAY International Edition
Gurley proves he can still ‘ pound the rock’
LOS ANGELES – About the time NBC was cueing up Carrie Underwood’s theme song, Sean McVay was tuning up Todd Gurley. After more than half a season of managing his workload, the Rams’ head coach let his $ 60 million running back know he was the centerpiece of the game plan in the moments before kickoff on Sunday night at the Coliseum. “Coach told me like 10 minutes before the game,” Gurley said. “He just said ‘ I’m going to pound the rock,’ so I just had to get ready.” With receivers Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods inactive for a potential elimination game in the NFC playoff race, McVay gave his star running back his biggest workload in more than a calendar year, powering the Rams to a 17- 7 win over the Bears. One week after not seeing the ball in the fourth quarter of a 17- 12 loss in Pittsburgh, Gurley touched the ball on nine of the Rams’ first 10 offensive plays along the way to a season- high 133 yards from scrimmage. On the day Woods was a surprise inactive for what the Rams called a “personal matter,” Gurley had 28 touches, his biggest workload since a 29- 27 win over Green Bay on Oct. 28, 2018. “I think we kind of knew what type of game it was going to be,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “It worked really well.” After an offseason and more than half an NFL season spent reconciling his new complementary role as the team attempted to manage his body over the span of his new four- year contract, Gurley proved he can still carry the load, rushing for 97 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries and catching three passes for 55 yards. “I think you always have a plan as the week evolves,” McVay said, “but you certainly never know exactly how a game’s going to unfold and sometimes it changes. “I didn’t think I did a good enough job against the Steelers of kind of recognizing the way that he was running and you don’t want to make the same mistake twice.” McVay stuck with Gurley despite his fumbling away possession on the Rams’ first play from scrimmage, and Gurley responded. “After we put the first carry on the ground, he didn’t flinch,” McVay said. “He came back and had some good, tough, physical runs.” Playing behind a reshuffled offensive line that featured the debut of rookie tackle Bobby Evans to positive reviews, Gurley had runs of 13, 10 and 9 in the first quarter, as well as a 23- yard reception. “Man, that was great,” receiver Cooper Kupp said. “Especially early on the run game was popping. Getting some good chunks, you see that kind of stuff should open up things in the pass game as well with play actions.” After Kupp was ruled out of bounds at the Chicago 1- yard line upon review on his 50- yard catch and run from Goff, Gurley plowed into the end zone for a 1yard run to give the Rams a 10- 0 lead with 3: 28 left in the first half. “It was great to be able to move the ball like that,” Kupp said. “We love being able to run downhill and see Todd lowering his shoulder again. It’s fun stuff.” Gurley hit a couple of milestones on the night, becoming the sixth Rams’ running back to reach 5,000 career yards and the 26th receiver to reach 2,000 yards receiving. Cooks, who ran pass routes in pregame two hours before kickoff wearing a helmet, was expected to miss his second consecutive game after suffering his second concussion of the season Oct. 27 in London against Cincinnati. But Woods was a surprise, leaving the Rams with only one of their three starting receivers, and even Kupp missed practice Friday due to a stomach bug. “It was a personal matter,” said McVay, addressing Woods’ situation. “That’s all we are going to say about that. We love him, respect him, we are with him and his family all the way, and that’s really where we will leave that at.” Gurley’s production represented nearly half the Rams’ 283 yards of total offense. His performance, coupled with another excellent night from the Rams’ defense, was enough to help the Rams improve to 6- 4 and stay within two games of NFC West foe Seattle. “I hope we feed Todd all the time and let him do his thing,” said newly- acquired All- Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who was making his home debut. It might not have been vintage performance from the Rams’ offense, but it was a step in the right direction for a group that was kept out of the end zone in Pittsburgh last week and against the Bears last December in Chicago. Asked whether he was going to continue to “pound the rock” going forward, McVay was noncommittal. “I think so,” McVay said. “That’s an ideal situation, but we’ll continue to look at this film and we’ll see how we want to put together our next game plan. “Anytime you get Todd involved like that, it’s usually always a good thing for our offense.”