LA Rams offense must run the football in 2023

Take the burden off Matthew Stafford

We know that if the game is on the line, and the football is in the hands of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, the LA Rams have a pretty good chance of driving down the field for a game-winning drive. The problem is keeping Stafford healthy enough to have a chance at late-game heroics.

Stafford will sacrifice everything he can to win. It will be up to the coaches, not the quarterback, to prevent him from doing so. Even with a healthy and reinforced offensive line, the Rams offense could do itself a tremendous favor by mixing up pass and running plays to keep opposing defenses off balance.

Stafford may be in the best shape of his short time as the LA Rams starting quarterback, but if he is constantly being thrown to the ground like a sack of feed, his body won't withstand that type of pounding for very long.

Give the defense a chance

As long as the LA Rams can run with the football, that will give the defense a chance to rest and make meaningful adjustments. We have witnessed on plenty of occasions that the Rams' defense will make a great play, stop, or force a punt, and the next series by the offense is either a quick turnover or a three-downs-and-punt scenario.

Just for grins, wouldn't it be wonderful to have an offense that can reliably move the ball? Even if the offense stalls at midfield, the act of digging the team out of deep in their own territory is enough to decide the outcome of some games.