Behold, what the new LA Rams ground-centric offense looks like in 2024

If you scroll back to the LA Rams offense in 2023, perhaps the success of the young team to finish with a record of 10-7 should not have come as a surprise after all. You see, after years of lobbying the team to run the ball more often, particularly when running the football was effective, it appears that the team finally paid attention and did exactly that.

What I man is that the Rams seemed to stick to the running game in 2023, and success eventually followed suit. But does running the football mean winning games? Let's drum up a data table to see if there is any correlation between running and winning since the team hired HC Sean McVay:

Year	Passes	Runs	% Runs	Avg per catch	Avg per run	Record	Playoffs?
2017	518	454	46.7 %	12.6	4.3	11-5	Yes
2018	568	459	44.7 %	12.9	4.9	13-3	Yes
2019	632	401	38.8 %	11.8	3.7	9-7	No
2020	590	473	44.5 %	10.7	4.3	10-6	Yes
2021	607	420	40.9 %	12.1	4.0	12-5	Yes
2022	531	411	43.6 %	10.1	4.0	5-12	No
2023	583	477	45.0 %	11.9	4.3	10-7	Yes

(be sure to scroll right in the data table above to see all 8 columns)

Of course, the Rams started the 2023 NFL season with a record of 3-6, finishing out in Week 9 without an injured Matthew Stafford and on the road against the Green Bay Packers. In that game, the Rams passed 28 times and ran 26 times. Curiously, a bit of information was shared on social media that suggests that the Rams abandoned the pass when down in the second half last season.

Call me skeptical.

teams that called run plays the most often when losing in the 2nd half:

1. ATL
2. CHI
3. BUF
4. LAR
5. PIT
6. IND
7. TEN
8. NE
9. CAR
10. DET
11. DAL
12. CLE
13. PHI
14. NO
15. MIA
16. LAC
17. DEN
18. ARI
19. NYG
20. BAL
21. GB
22. SEA
23. LV
24. HOU
25. WAS
26. CIN
27. KC
28.…
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) June 16, 2024

Because this information has no referenced source, you have to assume that it was compiled manually by going through each game play-by-play and manually counting the number of running plays versus the number of passing plays when the team was trailing on the scoreboard.

Call me skeptical.

Yes the Rams did run the football more often in 2023 than at any other time in the team's recent history. But considering other factors, there were good reasons for it. The defense was young. The Rams offense ran the football effectively. The team had an injured Matthew Stafford by Week 9, and wisely opted to use the ground game to help preserve their quarterback. And featured RB Kyren Williams proved to be one of the NFL's most dangerous offensive weapons in 2023.

Curiously, you may have expected this team to refurbish the WR room to return to a more pass-centric offense. But the front office appeared to invest heavily in expanding the team's capacity to run the football even more often and effectively in 2024.

The Rams invested heavily in the offensive line, adding veteran left guard Jonah Jackson to the roster. The front office also added a huge tight end in Colby Parkinson who has untapped skills in both blocking and receiving.

The team even drafted one of the NCAA's most prolific scoring running backs in Michigan's Blake Corum. Like it or not, it does not appear as though the Rams will revert to a passing offense anytime soon.

And yes, I like it.

As always, thanks for reading.

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