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The Rams’ hunt for a steadfast crushed crippled has seen them thin connected 1 pb moving backmost aft different since Todd Gurley carried them to the Super Bowl pursuing the 2018 season.
Look nary further than games against the Arizona Cardinals. Gurley, Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson each led the Rams successful rushing successful 1 oregon 2 of the 5 meetings with the Cardinals successful 2019, 2020 and 2021. Sony Michel could beryllium adjacent erstwhile the teams successful Glendale, Ariz., connected Monday night.
With Henderson resting a sore leg, Michel ran 24 times for 121 yards and a touchdown successful the 37-7 triumph implicit the Jaguars connected Sunday, the champion crippled by a Rams backmost since Akers’ 131 yards and a TD successful the January playoff triumph implicit the Seahawks.
Kliff Kingsbury, the Cardinals’ manager since 2019, has been watching what Rams manager Sean McVay is doing.
“Sean has ever been able, whoever his backmost is, to get the astir retired of him and tally worldly they’re bully at,” Kingsbury said Wednesday successful a league telephone with Rams bushed writers. “Sony Michel had a large game, he’s a precise talented runner, and I expect to spot a dense dose of him this week.”
Michel wasn’t the lone quality successful the Rams moving crippled arsenic they snapped a losing streak astatine 3 games.
McVay added tally blocking by inserting backup tackle and defender Joe Noteboom successful the tight-end spot connected immoderate plays, giving the Rams a sixth lineman. The determination helped to marque up for not having choky extremity Johnny Mundt (injured successful Week 6) and wide receiver Robert Woods (hurt successful Week 10) to block. And it was an reply to critics who accidental McVay was dilatory to marque adjustments during the Rams’ drop-offs successful November and December successful caller years.
“Really, immoderate of those were, ‘You cognize it’s a run, we cognize it’s a run, and we consciousness similar we tin out-execute (you),’ ” Rams near tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “That’s thing you saw america bash successful 2018 aft we mislaid to the Bears and Eagles. I retrieve successful ‘19 erstwhile we mislaid immoderate guys, we did thing similar.
“It’s thing I deliberation has been benignant of brewing (after) losing immoderate of the accomplishment guys, and immoderate changes. It’s 1 of those things that are a large changeup for us.”
An improved tally crippled helped backmost Matthew Stafford person his champion passing crippled successful much than a month.
More effectual moving acceptable up the Rams to usage play-action passes much often than they had been doing this season, astir memorably connected the 43-yard walk play from Stafford to Cooper Kupp that sparked the team’s second-half onslaught.
“We did a large occupation of staying businesslike successful the tally game. It decidedly takes an effect connected the defense, I think,” said Stafford, who made a constituent of praising McVay for a “great crippled plan.”
Michel gained 40 yards connected 8 carries connected the Rams’ archetypal 3 drives against Jacksonville, contributing to an aboriginal pb that allowed him to support running.
“We were capable to enactment connected schedule. We were capable to support radical disconnected balance,” McVay said. “I thought it was bully to beryllium capable to premix up a batch of antithetic unit groupings, truly utilize each hands connected deck.
“It was bully to get Joe Noteboom successful there. Sony was great. That was precisely what we had talked about, and it was bully to spot it travel to life.”
The Rams (8-4) request much of that against the Cardinals (10-2) connected Monday successful a crippled that volition determine if there’s inactive a contention for the NFC West title. The Cardinals are giving up 4.7 yards per carry, 30th successful the league. (The Jaguars springiness up 4.1, ninth successful the league.)
When the Rams mislaid to Arizona 37-20 astatine SoFi Stadium successful Week 4, 1 happening they did each close was run, Henderson (89 yards) and Michel averaging 5.9 a carry.
Henderson could instrumentality aft missing the Jaguars crippled with a thigh injury, but McVay said Michel has astatine slightest solidified a salient role.
“There’s thing that says that you can’t find a mode to person some those guys successful the crippled astatine the aforesaid time, arsenic well,” McVay said. “You spot Dallas bash an outstanding occupation with Zeke (Ezekiel Elliott) and (Tony) Pollard playing together.
“But it volition beryllium bully to proceed to get Sony going, get him into a rhythm, and play the mode that helium played yesterday, portion besides utilizing Darrell if he’s disposable this week oregon not.”
NOTES
Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, who leads the league with 100 catches, 1,366 yards and 11 touchdowns, is the archetypal NFL subordinate to person 100 oregon much catches and 10 oregon much TDs successful his team’s archetypal 12 games of a season. … Andrew Whitworth, who turns 40 Sunday and volition go the archetypal tackle to play astatine that age, again is the Rams’ nominee for the yearly Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which recognizes assemblage work arsenic good arsenic on-field excellence. … The Rams waived wide receiver J.J. Koski. He was successful the tract for 1 play successful Sunday’s triumph implicit the Jaguars aft fumbling a punt successful the nonaccomplishment to the Packers. … Ex-Rams backmost Jared Goff was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week aft throwing the winning touchdown walk successful the Lions’ archetypal triumph of the season. Goff won the grant with the Rams successful 2017, 2018 and 2019.
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