Why the LA Rams must continue to feed RB Royce Freeman the football

The LA Rams may or may not have a date with destiny to compete for a berth in the NFL Playoffs at the end of this season, but that does not impact what I am about to suggest for the Rams offensive strategy going forward. You see, the LA Rams running back room has not exactly been a bastion of health and consistency. As a result, the Rams have involved six different running backs this season.

It has not simply been a matter of the LA Rams not finding success at running the football this year. In fact, the opposite is more likely true in 2023. The LA Rams success this season has been almost entirely dependent on the offense running the ball effectively. That may not please everyone on the Rams coaching staff, but it is certainly the way the Rams planned to improve their ability to score this year.

It seems odd to suggest this as a condition of winning for an LA Rams (4-6) that has struggled to win consistently, but if the Rams run with the football, they win. Can it be that simple? Can success simply come down to how often the LA Rams run with the football? Let's examine the play distribution of 10 games so far, and see if any trends develop?

Distribution table proves what we already know

With the aid of a simple data distribution table, we can quickly determine whether the Rams commitment to running the football has any correlation to success this season. And if that proves to be the case, what is the threshold of how often the Rams must run in order to trigger an spike of success?

Several conditions seem to appear from the simple distribution table shown above. First of all, the Rams seem to have success whenever the team rushes 27 or mor times per game (4-1), while running fewer than 27 times has a different outcome (0-5). Of the times when the Rams did rush for more than 27 times, the lone loss occurred against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game in which the Rams committed the lone turnover in the game, and a horrible fourth down spot for the Pittsburgh Steelers allowed them to extend an offensive drive that led do their victory.

Of course, if the Rams run the football, but without any threat to pass the football effectively (Week 10 vs. the Green Bay Packers), the Rams' offense sputters as well. But if Matthew Stafford is under center, and the Rams do commit to the run, good things happen. And that is something that every LA Rams fan knows this season already.

Or should by now.