There has been plenty of speculation regarding the lack of touches for Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley and the issue has now been seemingly brought to the forefront following their first loss of the 2019 NFL season.
Despite scoring two touchdowns, Gurley’s minimal role in the offense was as prevalent as ever with only 16 yards on five carries. Although he did manage to haul in seven receptions for 54 yards, the offense has clearly struggled due to their inability to establish a strong run game thus far.
As a result, there continues to be concern regarding head coach Sean McVay’s decision not to feed Gurley. While McVay himself has acknowledged these shortcomings, it appears Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll feels the criticisms may have been blown out of proportion.
According to ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry, ahead of their Week 5 matchup on Thursday night, Carroll feels Gurley is being used quite efficiently thus far:
Pete Carroll on Todd Gurley: "We’ve got him carrying the ball 50 times to Brown’s 25 times, so he’s getting two-thirds of the work there. Looks like they’re just mapping out a course for the season and keeping him healthy and fresh. He looks pretty darn good to me."
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) October 1, 2019
There is certainly plenty of truth to Carroll’s comments. Although Gurley’s workload has been lightened this season, he is still garnering the lion’s share of the touches out of the backfield. The problem is that the tempo on offense has favored the passing game at the cost of the run game.
This was extremely evident against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they fell behind early and spent most of the game trying to catch up without wasting too much time off the clock. Los Angeles completely abandoned the run and it resulted in a career-highs for quarterback Jared Goff in attempts (68) and yards (517). Regardless, it was still far from an efficient approach from an offensive standpoint.
Carroll’s comments indicate that he is not overlooking the prospect of the Rams suddenly deciding to have Gurley serve as the focal point of the offense in Week 5 since he is more than capable of doing it. Despite his modest workload, the All-Pro has still shown flashes of being at full strength with a number of impressive runs this season.
As a result, the Seahawks will likely try to follow the same recipe for success the Bucs did by taking an early lead and letting the ground game keep the Rams offense off the field. Otherwise, they could risk having the tables turned with Gurley as the aggressor.
