The Los Angeles Rams managed to bounce back in spectacular fashion with a dominant win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 thanks to a career-day from wide receiver Robert Woods.
Woods wasted no time in establishing himself as the safety net for quarterback Jared Goff in the passing game with seven receptions for 76 yards in the first quarter. He ultimately wound up finishing the game with 13 catches for 172 yards in the 34-7 victory in their first NFC West matchup with Arizona.
His integral role in the offense certainly paid huge dividends for Goff after getting back on track with a stellar performance of his own. He completed 32-of-43 passes for 424 yards and two touchdowns with the bulk of his attention going to Woods.
Goff admits he could not help but get the ball to Woods with how often he was open, via Gary Klein of the L.A. Times:
“He was just in the zone,” Goff said, “as was I with him. He was able to get himself open a lot and came into my vision a lot. It was great.”
Woods also had a screen pass that he made something out of nothing, completely reversing fields for a 48-yard gain. Goff got out as a lead blocker on that play, so Woods showed his quarterback some love for helping him spring the big play:
“Saw Jared out in front of me, trusted his block and just able to just run,” Woods said.
It is undoubtedly encouraging to see such significant improvement in the offense coming off a horrendous outing against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12. While they have endured their fair share of struggles as of late, this group will finally have something to build off of after essentially clicking on all cylinders against Arizona.
Woods and tight end Tyler Higbee proved to be quite the duo with the latter enjoying a breakout game of his own by hauling in eight receptions for 107 yards. Meanwhile, Los Angeles also did a solid job of establishing some balance in their approach after running back Todd Gurley gashed the defense for 95 yards and a touchdown on 5.0 yards per carry.
A potential resurgence on offense could not have come at a better time for the Rams as they get set to host the Seattle Seahawks in a pivotal NFC West showdown on Sunday Night Football in Week 14. Although their performance against the Cardinals was certainly a promising sign, they will need to make it happen during this final stretch of the 2019 NFL season if they hope to keep their playoff hopes alive.
