The Morning After: Todd Gurley's Arrival
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the Rams’ 2015 fortunes hinged on Todd Gurley. Jeff Fisher’s squad entered Week 4 29th in passing and 29th in rushing. Tre Mason and company were averaging 3.8 yards per carry, and had yet to bust a run longer than 24 yards. Fisher had to have offense, and if his risky first-round pick — Gurley is still less than a removed from tearing his ACL — wasn’t going to provide it, no one was.
Gurley provided it on Sunday, rushing 19 times for an eye-popping 146 yards. Gurley averaged 7.7 yards per carry, and almost single-handedly subdued a Cardinals team that had looked like the NFL’s best through the season’s first three weeks. Gurley moved the chains when the Rams needed it most, ripping off gains of 23, 12, 52, 20 and 30 yards in the second half. The 30-yarder ended the game, with Gurley slicing through the left side of the Cardinals’ defense before having the presence of mind to go down in bounds and kill the clock when he might have been able to finish off the run in the end zone.
Not that it was a perfect day for the Rams’ rookie runner. He was feast or famine, gaining 137 of his yards on five carries. He managed nine total yards on his 14 other totes. But, that’s a small problem when, you know, you’re gaining 137 yards on your five best carries. Not to mention, this was a back making his second career appearance on the road against a run defense that had been permitting just 3.5 yards per attempt.
The Rams drafted Gurley to carry their offense, and it took him only two games to do so. He won’t be able to do it every week, but Gurley gives the Rams their ace in the hole, their fallback option. For years, Fisher’s teams have lacked an answer to the question: Who gets the ball when we need a play the most? Now they have it, and fantasy owners have an RB2 where their RB3 flier used to be. Winners all around.
Five Week 4 Positives
Devonta Freeman. Freeman has 44 carries over the past two weeks. 13.6 percent of them have ended in touchdowns. Freeman has rushed for nearly as many yards in his past two games (209) as he did his entire rookie season (248). He could have easily bested his 14 carries for 68 yards on Sunday had coach Dan Quinn not started pulling his starters midway through the third quarter. Freeman has carried the Falcons and fantasy owners alike, and changed the game in Atlanta’s backfield. No. 1 status was third-rounder Tevin Coleman’s to lose. Instead, Freeman has gone and won it while Coleman nurses a rib injury. Freeman was supposed to be the bit player to Coleman’s bell-cow, but things will be the other way around whenever Coleman finally returns. Even in a tough matchup with the Redskins, Freeman will be on the RB1 radar for Week 5.
Ronnie Hillman’s performance. Hillman out-rushed C.J. Anderson for the third time in four games, scoring a 72-yard touchdown and becoming the first Broncos’ rusher to cross the century mark in 2015. Hillman will still never be a between-the-tackles banger, but neither is Anderson right now. CJA is averaging a pathetic 2.7 yards per carry, more than two yards off Hillman’s 4.9 mark. CJA’s fantasy season can’t be pronounced dead just yet, but it’s hard to see how he earns Peyton Manning’s trust over Hillman in Week 5.
C.J. Spiller’s awakening. Spiller entered Week 4 with 52 yards on seven touches. He had played 22 total snaps in two games as a Saint. Sunday, with the Saints trying to snap a six-game home losing streak, Spiller walked his team off. Spiller caught an 80-yard touchdown on the second play of overtime, bringing his final line to 109 yards on seven touches. Still not the kind of usage Sean Payton envisioned when he gave Spiller a four-year, $16 million contract, but a good start for fantasy owners who were about to give up the RB3 ghost. With Mark Ingram struggling and Drew Brees having trouble driving the ball, more Spiller should be a Week 5 prescription against the Eagles.
Doug Martin’s return from the brink. Martin finally broke out against the Panthers’ stout defense, taking the rock 20 times for 106 yards and a score, adding five catches for an additional 37 yards. Even with the Bucs playing from behind all afternoon, Martin out-touched Charles Sims 25-9. He flashed quick feet, and gained a good amount of yardage after first contact. The 100-yard day on the ground was just Martin’s third in the past three seasons, while his 5.3 YPC was his third highest since 2012. Sims isn’t going away, but Martin’s RB2 status lives to fight another week.
Sam Bradford’s deep ball. Battered in the first half, Bradford was moving closer to a benching than salvation. Then he found Riley Cooper for a 62-yard touchdown before hitting Miles Austin for a 39-yard score, and stabilized his standing at the head of Chip Kelly’s offense. Bradford narrowly missed a third long touchdown to Jordan Matthews, and had a second-quarter strike to Zach Ertz called back by penalty. You can’t pop champagne for a player who’s basically played two good halves out of eight, but you can’t leave him for dead just yet, either. New Orleans’ burnable defense looms as a juicy Week 5 matchup.
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